“What about you? Have you ever been in love?”

 

The girl shook her head almost immediately. “I've been a little too preoccupied with other things to fall in love.”

 

The blonde smiled at her. “You never really plan on falling in love. Whether you're too preoccupied with other things or not, sometimes it just happens in the place you least expect it.”

 

 

“Tell me again why we decided to celebrate at my place?”

 

“Because you’re barely ever here anyway and you were too nice to refuse?”

 

Yuri rolled her eyes at the response. “That was a rhetorical question, Yoona.”

 

“I knew that.”

 

The girls helped Yuri clean up the mess that was left over from the party that ended just over an hour ago. Well, it was really only Amber helping while everyone else lazed around and picked up one piece of trash off the ground every once in a while.

 

“Unnie, I have to get going.”

 

“What? You can’t go! You’re the only one helping me out here!”

 

“Sorry unnie, I really need to go.”

 

Yuri sighed and relented. “Alright, alright…” Yuri maneuvered her way through the seemingly never-ending mess on the floor and placed a hand on the doorknob before turning back to face Amber. “Are you sure you need to –”

 

“Yes, I’m sure I really need to go,” Amber said, not being able to hold back a laugh at how persistent Yuri was. Yuri grinned sheepishly at her before turning the knob and opening the door. The two girls were shocked to find a person standing outside the door already who had a hand held awkwardly in the air as she was just about to knock.

 

“Oh, hey guys,” the girl outside said with a smile. “I was just looking for my sister. Is she in here?”

 

“Yup, right over there,” Yuri replied as she pointed to the room where Jessica was.

 

“Okay thanks. What were you guys doing?”

 

“Well Amber here was just about to –”

 

“Take out the trash for Yuri unnie,” Amber interrupted before she grabbed the trash bag from Yuri’s hands and grinned at the newcomer. “Nice to see you again Krystal,” she said in English.

 

Krystal politely smiled back at her. “You too,” she answered before walking off towards her sister. Amber let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when Krystal passed her. Yuri grinned at her and wiggled her eyebrows.

 

“I thought you really had to go.”

 

“Yeah well…” Amber glanced back at Krystal. “I guess I can stay for a little while longer…”

 

Yuri laughed at her friend and threw an arm around her. “You do realize she’s still underage, right?”

 

“Oh shut up,” Amber said before she walked out holding the trash bag. Yuri let out another laugh as she watched Amber walk away with heavy steps before she shut the door. She turned around to face the group of lazy girls.

 

“So are any of you actually going to help me?”

 

All Yuri got in response was a chorus of halfhearted ‘Sure’s and grunts. Yuri only laughed and rolled her eyes at the group. She didn’t mind cleaning up by herself. She had gotten used to it and she knew that everyone else was burnt out. She always had the most stamina out of everyone. Even Seohyun, who was usually the first to lend a helping hand, was completely exhausted. They always celebrated after the last showing, and they decided to go all out this time since it was Taeyeon’s first production. Obviously, it seemed to have taken its toll on everyone.

 

“I’ll help you out unnie. Jessica unnie doesn’t look like she’ll be waking up anytime soon anyway,” Krystal said as walked out of Yuri’s room, failing to wake her sister up.

 

“Thanks,” was the last thing said before the room went silent again, which was rare for these group of girls. Yuri welcomed the rare bout of peace and quiet and happily cleaned the apartment. A couple minutes later Amber came back and happily worked alongside the two without a complaint. The room was still silent. The only noise came from the light conversation Amber tried to strike up with Krystal. Yuri smiled at the two, deciding to out and let Amber have her chance with the girl she had been crushing on ever since Krystal had come to visit Jessica one day.

 

“So, Yuri unnie,” Krystal said suddenly. Yuri looked up curiously to see the two kids grinning widely at her.

 

“What is it?”

 

“My sister seems pretty happy lately and from what Amber just told me, she seems to be warming up to guys a lot. Especially you,” she said with a smug grin. The others, who seemed to be completely out of it, immediately jumped up after hearing the topic of the conversation.

 

Yuri innocently shrugged. “I guess so.”

 

“Is that all you have to say about this?” she asked with that grin still plastered onto her face. Yuri mimicked her grin in response.

 

“Yes,” she plainly stated before going back to cleaning. She took a quick glance around the room to see that the three of them had pretty much finished and grinned proudly before stretching out her tired muscles from the tedious work. Yuri began to prepare herself for the onslaught of questions that she knew were about to be fired at her.

 

“So hey, what happened that one night when we found you guys asleep in the theater?” Sooyoung asked curiously. Yuri couldn’t hold down a blush at the memory of waking up in the blonde’s arms and seeing her sleeping peacefully next to her. She unconsciously grinned as she remembered how it felt to hold her so close, as if she were actually hers to hold.

 

“Yah! Stop fantasizing and answer the question!” Hyoyeon said interrupting Yuri’s thoughts. Yuri said nothing to deny the assumption that she was fantasizing about the girl. She knew denial would get her nowhere.

 

“Honestly, I have no idea what happened. I was drunk that night. You’re better off asking her what happened,” Yuri said in response. It was half the truth. She vaguely remembered certain tidbits from that night, but nothing had really stuck with her. All she remembered was that she drank, a lot. The others pressed on curiously, persistently, and most importantly – in Yuri’s opinion – annoyingly.

 

“She never told you?”

 

“I asked her a couple times that week, but she never gave me a straight answer. I decided not to push it,” Yuri answered with a shrug. It wasn’t that Yuri was curious herself. After all, she would love to know how they had gotten to be in that position, but every time she tried to ask Jessica about it the topic always changed its course. It was the sly work of none other than Jessica herself. If there was one thing she could admire about the girl it was the fact that she could almost always find a way to skillfully avoid answering what she didn’t want to without being a complete jerk about it. Well, you could also admire how gorgeous she looked in almost anything, but Yuri shoved the thought from her mind, as it often derailed her original train of thought.

 

“Well I have to say, you two caused quite an uproar that day,” Taeyeon said with a smirk.

 

“Don’t remind me.”

 

After waking up to the peaceful sight, something she wouldn’t mind waking up to again, the view was replaced with questioning eyes and curious stares when she looked up at the people gazing down at the two of them from the stage. Yuri’s eyes automatically flickered to the room that the girl was sleeping in. She remembered how embarrassed the two of them were and the blushes that failed to go away on either of them every time they saw each other that day. Yuri unconsciously smiled at the thought that at least the embarrassment was mutual.

 

“So what exactly are you guys?” Yoona asked. Everyone in the room listened intently. Yuri couldn’t remember another time where all the girls were this focused on something.

 

“What do you mean? We’re friends.”

 

“Is that it?”

 

“Yes, that’s it.”

 

“Don’t lie to us Kwon Yuri!”

 

“I’m not lying.”

 

“You sure about that?”

 

“I’m sure!”

 

The group of girls stared knowingly at her and she sighed frustratingly and threw her arms in the air out of irritation.

 

“Look, we’re friends. Would I like to be something more than that? Yes, of course I would. Does she? Obviously not. So let’s just drop the whole thing, shall we?”

 

Yuri sighed in relief when the girls had finally gotten the not-so-subtle hint that she didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Jessica anymore.

 

“Oh yeah, great show Taeyeon unnie. Jessica unnie made me watch it five times.”

 

Taeyeon laughed. “Thanks Krystal.”

 

“So…”

 

Yuri blanked out as the rest of the girls continued their idle conversation and her gaze lingered on the door to her room.

 

“Yuri?”

 

Yuri wasn’t sure who was calling out to her, but she didn’t exactly care much at the moment. The only thing that was on her mind was the girl in the next room. It felt as if there was a magnetic pull that Yuri just couldn’t resist.

 

“Hm?” she lazily replied as she started walking towards the door.

 

“Mind if we all crash here? It’s really dark and –”

 

“Yeah, yeah, do whatever you guys want,” Yuri said half-heartedly before walking into the room and closing the door softly behind her, leaving behind a confused group of girls.

 

Yuri couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Jessica sleeping. It amused her every time she saw the familiar position. One arm always found its place above her head. Yuri walked towards the bed and sat on the edge, not letting her eyes leave the sight in front of her. She reached forward to brush a strand of hair out of her face, but stopped midway as she realized what she was doing. She sighed and continued anyway, deciding that if she had already fallen this hard then falling a little more couldn’t hurt much.

 

Jessica shifted under her touch and opened her eyes to see Yuri sitting a respectable distance away from her. Yuri grinned down at her.

 

“Hey there, beautiful.”

 

Jessica rolled her eyes at the girl and swatted the hand away from her face.

 

Though, she hated to admit that a part of her enjoyed the comment.

 

Yuri let out a laugh at her reaction before throwing her legs up on the bed and leaning her back against the headboard. Jessica moved to sit up next to her. They sat there in silence for a couple minutes, neither of them wanting to disturb the comfortable atmosphere. Jessica could feel Yuri’s piercing gaze on her, and it scared her how much she enjoyed the attention from the taller girl.

 

“Yuri-yah,” she started, turning to look at the girl. Yuri’s gaze remained calm and steady even when Jessica finally looked her in the eye. “Do you like me?” she asked directly. Yuri blinked in confusion.

 

“Of course I like you.”

 

“No, I mean, like like me.”

 

Yuri smiled at her. “Well I thought I made that pretty obvious, don’t you think?”

 

Jessica wasn’t too surprised. Yuri was the type to be extremely direct and up front with things like this. “Just making sure.”

 

Another moment of silence passed by them. Neither of them minded.

 

It scared Jessica a little though. It scared her how comfortable she was with a girl that she had only known for a little over six months; it scared her how these feelings seemed to evoke in her whenever the other girl was around; it scared her how she wanted to stay with the other girl for as long as possible even if meant going out of her way to do so – like pretending to be asleep when your sister tried to wake you up, for example.

 

Jessica Jung was scared.

 

It was funny though, she thought, how she could feel both scared and safe around Yuri, how two conflicting emotions could rage inside her at the same time.

 

Jessica stared into Yuri’s eyes.

 

It was an odd feeling, she concluded, and it was all because of the girl sitting next to her.

 

She never thought she’d be happy to have someone who made her feel such complicated things, but there she was, happy as she could be just sitting next to the girl.

 

“Do you?” Yuri asked suddenly as she stared down at her hands that were fidgeting nervously in her lap.

 

“Do I what?”

 

“Do you like like me?”

 

It was silly for two adults to be having this conversation, to be using those words to see if the other was interested. It was silly, the both of them thought. Yuri had never really been in a serious relationship before, as she’s always been too busy to do so. The most she had done was kiss a couple guys, and even a couple girls, but that was it. Yuri was completely new to this. Jessica, on the other hand, was supposed to be the more experienced one, the ‘expert’ in this area, but the emotions she had felt this time around were all so completely foreign to her that it felt just as new to her.

 

“Does it matter if I do?” Even Jessica knew how stupid her question was.

 

“Yes it does. Because if you did then we could be ‘in like’ with each other,” Yuri stated simply. Jessica giggled at the childish response.

 

“And what happens then?”

 

“Then,” Yuri started, still staring at her hands, “we could hold hands; we could stay up all night talking to each other; we could argue over stupid things and then make up a couple days later...get jealous when one of us is out with someone else, buy each other gifts for no reason, say cheesy things to each other...we could go out on dates with each other, fall asleep next to each other and wake up next to each other the next morning, laugh at inside jokes that only we would understand, eat off of each others’ plates, watch those stupid romance movies that you like so much; we could…we could be together…we could…we could…” Yuri finally looked up from her hands and shyly smiled at Jessica as the next five words came out as a whisper.

 

“We could fall in love.”

 

Jessica nodded and leaned her head on Yuri’s shoulder as a way to avoid looking at Yuri’s face. She couldn’t help but smile at the innocent way she had described a relationship. “We could.”

 

“All we have to do is be ‘in like’ with each other, and the rest will follow. So tell me Sica, do you like me?” Jessica felt Yuri lean her head against hers and she automatically wrapped her arms around Yuri’s waist.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“I’m sorry, Yuri.”

 

Yuri smiled. “I know. Me too.” Yuri knew the feeling wasn’t mutual from the start. “It was worth a shot,” she mumbled before she placed an arm around Jessica’s shoulders.

 

“I really am sorry. I just – I don’t…”

 

“It’s okay. I mean, I never…”

 

“You never what?”

 

“It’s nothing. Never mind,” Yuri said with a sigh. She patted Jessica’s head. “Just go to sleep, Sica.”

 

“But –”

 

Yuri shifted their positions so that they were lying on the bed and pulled the covers over them. “Just…go to sleep, please?”

 

Jessica decided not to argue and made herself comfortable, her actions contradicting her words. She closed her eyes and let herself drift off to a relaxing slumber.

 

Yuri looked down at the girl lying peacefully in her arms and she couldn’t think of a better place to be in than right there at that moment. Yuri let out what felt like her millionth sigh that day and made sure Jessica was still asleep before letting the words flow out of , not wanting to keep it inside for much longer. At least she’d be telling her, she reasoned with herself, even if she was asleep.

 

“I never thought I’d like you like I do now. At first, all I wanted to do was get to know you, get to know that stranger I met a year and a half ago. I mean, yeah, you were insanely pretty, but that was it, or at least I thought it was.” Yuri paused to collect her thoughts. “My goal was for you to act like you did to me that night, and I think I’ve reached that goal. Look at you now, Sica. You’re part of our family now; you’ve been integrated into our group so nicely that no one even noticed the addition. All you had to do was show a little of your real self,” Yuri said with a chuckle.

 

“But…I don’t think I want that goal anymore. Somewhere along the way something changed. I wanted to be with you all the time for reasons I didn’t understand. Even if we were just sitting in silence, I would’ve preferred it over going out with the girls. I wanted to know more about you. You made me happy, you still do. I hate that about you, you know?” Yuri tried to lighten up the one-sided conversation. “But I also really like that about you, so I guess it all balances out.

 

At first, you were the pretty girl that saved my life. Then you grew into something different the more I got to know you. I realized you were nothing like how I thought my savior would be like. I thought you’d be polite, shy, wise, patient…and so many other things. But instead, you turned out to be stubborn, blunt, short-tempered, and just a little moody.” Yuri wasn’t able to hold back her laugh. “But you were still the same kind-hearted soul I remembered.

 

You weren’t just my savior anymore. Somewhere along the way, you became something so much more than that. You were no longer the beautiful girl in the red dress. You were you. Jessica Jung.

 

And, in my opinion, Jessica Jung is a million times better than the beautiful girl in the red dress.”

 

Yuri looked down at the figure again to make sure she was still sleeping. Yuri couldn’t hold back a smile.

 

“Sica…I know you said you never saw yourself getting into another serious relationship, but every now and then I hope that I’ll be the reason you change your mind.”

 

Yuri was glad that the girl in her arms was still asleep, but a part of her wished that just a bit of what she had just confessed had gotten through to her.

 

Yuri leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

 

“Good night, Jessica.”

 

 

“Do you think we can do it?”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Fix ourselves.”

 

“Well, let me ask you this. Are you going back to that bridge tomorrow?”

 

“I think I’ll be too sick to get out of bed tomorrow.”

 

The blonde laughed. “Well, start from there then.”

 

The girl tilted her head to the side and stared at the stranger cluelessly. “What?”

 

“You won’t jump tomorrow, that’s the point. Whether it’s because you’re too sick to move, or, say, I don’t know, a gorgeous woman comes up to you and stops you from doing it,” she grins, “the point is you’ll be alive. Isn’t that the whole point? To stay alive and live your life. Start from tomorrow and take it from there.”

 

“What if your life isn’t worth living?”

 

The blonde sighed and leaned back into her chair. “If you really feel like that, there’s nothing I can really say to stop you then, huh?”

 

The girl shook your head. “I don’t think there is.”

 

“Then I want you to promise me something.”

 

 

“So you and Jessica are getting pretty serious, huh?”

 

Yuri sat next to a man who seemed to be sweating bullets under Yuri’s intense scrutinizing stare. “I guess you could say that.” She observed the man carefully as she folded her arms across her chest and crossed her legs.

 

“How long have you guys been together again?”

 

She noticed the man gulp. “Um, tomorrow will make it exactly seven months.”

 

“I see…Well, Jessica is very important to me, you know that?”

 

“Y-yes, I know that. She speaks very highly of you.” Yuri had to hide her grin at the thought that Jessica talked about her.

 

“So, do you know what happens when someone very important to me gets hurt?”

 

“Um, well...”

 

“Yuri-yah!”

 

Yuri looked up to see Jessica, whose face was mixed with both amusement and annoyance. She smiled at the man sitting across from Yuri. “Oppa, do you mind waiting in the car? I’ll be there in a couple minutes.” He eagerly nodded and rushed off without another word.

 

Yuri looked up innocently at Jessica. “So he seems like a nice guy.”

 

“Yuri…”

 

“What?”

 

“Promise me you won’t scare him?”

 

“Oh…well…I think it’s a little too late for that…” Jessica glared at her, but it had little-to-no effect. Yuri grinned sheepishly at her. “You should go Sica. You don’t want to keep the guy waiting.”

 

Jessica didn’t say another word before turning to leave the still grinning Yuri and stomping off. The grin disappeared from Yuri as soon as Jessica was out of sight. Taeyeon, who had seen the whole thing, took the chance to sit down next to her. It was time that someone talked to Yuri about Jessica, she decided, no matter how much Yuri didn’t want to.

 

“So Yuri,” Taeyeon started.

 

“I don’t –”

 

“– want to talk about it, I know. Too bad Yuri, we’re talking about it.” Yuri sighed and moved to get up, but Taeyeon grabbed her arm and pulled her back down forcefully.

 

“I have to work. So do you!”

 

“I’m the director. I can do what I want.”

 

“Getting a little cocky after two productions, are we?

 

“Don’t try to change the subject Yuri.”

 

Yuri relented and made herself comfortable in her seat. “What is there to talk about, really? She doesn’t like me like I like her. She’s in a long term relationship with some other guy even though she once told me that she couldn’t see herself getting into another serious relationship. That’s pretty much it Taeyeon. So how are things with you and Tiffany?”

 

“We’re perfectly fine and you know that. Also, when did she ever say that?”

 

“When did she say what?”

 

“That she couldn’t see herself getting into another serious relationship. When did she tell you that?”

 

Yuri froze and her eyes widened, realizing what she had just given away, but she quickly tried to cover it up. “Um, just this one time she was a little drunk.”

 

Taeyeon thought it was a little suspicious, but she shrugged it off. “Why didn’t you ever try fighting for her?”

 

“Why bother fighting for someone who I have no chance with?”

 

“How do you know that Yuri? Are you really that dense?” Yuri turned to look at Taeyeon. “Haven’t you seen how much she cares about you?

 

“Just because she cares about me doesn’t mean she’s interested in me.”

 

“But it’s not just that. She loves talking about you, you know that? She loves bragging about you. Her boyfriend is getting a little sick of it, from what I’ve heard anyway. Even he suspected something between the two of you at first. Just think about how she acts around you. Don’t you think it’s a little odd? Don’t you think it’s little different from the rest of us? Maybe she doesn’t like you like you like her, but there’s definitely something there with you that she doesn’t have with the rest of us.”

 

“Well...I…I just…”

 

Taeyeon sighed and stood up. She placed a comforting hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “Look, it’s about time someone knocked some sense into you. Right when you two met everyone saw the spark between you guys. It’s been almost two years since then and if you don’t do something soon then the spark’s going to fade away. Don’t lose your chance, okay?”

 

Taeyeon started to walk away and something clicked in Yuri. “But…” Taeyeon turned around at the sound of the voice. “Haven’t I already lost my chance? She has a boyfriend now…”

 

Taeyeon smiled at her. “I guess you just have to ask yourself how much you’re willing to fight for her.”

 

 

“Promise what?”

 

“I want you to wait exactly a month from today before you try this again.”

 

“A month?”

 

“A month. After a month you can jump if you still want to.”

 

“Why a month?”

 

“Gives you time to find a reason to live. Promise me that in that month, you’ll take a closer look around you. Promise me you’ll at least try to find a reason. Promise me that you won’t come back to that bridge until a month from now.”

 

“Why do you want me to live so badly?”

 

“Because you deserve to live.”

 

“How do you know that?”

 

“Doesn’t everyone?”

 

“Well –”

 

“Look, you seem like a good person. You’re just going through a hard time right now, and I know it may feel like you’re alone, but you’re not. There are people who care for you, trust me. So can you promise me that?”

 

“…”

 

“This is the part where you say yes.”

 

The girl let out a half-hearted chuckle before she stopped to stare at the stranger. She decided whether she died today or a month from now didn’t matter to her.

 

“Yes. I promise.”

 

 

“Jessi, what’s up with you?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

‘This whole thing with Yuri…”

 

“What whole thing?”

 

The two girls were in the dressing rooms trying on dresses. Tiffany stepped out only to see that Jessica wasn’t done yet. “You know exactly what thing.”

 

“Care to elaborate?” asked Jessica.

 

Tiffany sighed and sat down on a chair as she waited for Jessica to finish changing. “I thought you liked her.”

 

Jessica paused in the midst of changing. “Well you thought wrong,” she said before continuing her attempt to slip into the dress.

 

Tiffany heard the rustle of fabric stop for a second before she had answered. “No I didn’t Jessi. We all know you felt something for her. How come you didn’t do anything about it? I mean, she obviously likes you back.”

 

“What makes you think I felt something for her?” Jessica asked before stepping out. Tiffany stood up and helped her smooth out the dress.

 

“Because I know you, and you felt something. Admit it,” she said before looking at the two of them in the mirror and frowning. “And try on another dress. This isn’t it for you.” Jessica sighed and went back into the dressing room. Tiffany went to change back into normal clothes.

 

“There’s nothing to admit,” Jessica said softly.

 

Tiffany sighed and stepped out only to find that Jessica wasn’t done changing. She seemed to be extra sluggish today for some reason. “Jessi…”

 

“What?”

 

“I don’t like what you’re doing to her.”

 

“What am I doing to her?”

 

“Really Jessi?! Gosh, I’m starting to believe all those rumors about you that say you’re cold hearted.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t play dumb with me now! You’re hurting her and you know it, damn it! You’re stringing her along making her think she has a chance! You’re playing with her feelings, you know that? I mean, one day you treat her like she’s special, like she actually means something to you, then the next day –”

 

“She does mean something to me,” Jessica accidentally let slip out. She silently cursed herself for saying it out loud, but she couldn’t quell the anger she felt when Tiffany had said something that was so completely and utterly untrue. She wasn’t sure what Yuri was to her, but she knew that she certainly meant a whole lot to her.

 

Tiffany ignored the comment but spoke her next words softly. “Then the next day you go off with that guy and leave her hanging. Jessi, if she means anything to you at all, then you wouldn’t be playing with her like this.”

 

“I’m not playing with her!”

 

“Yes you are and you know it!”

 

“…”
 

“Look, do you like her or not?”

 

“…I do.”

 

“Then why –”

 

“I do and it scares me. It scares me to death, Tiff.” Jessica walked out dejectedly. “I’m a coward, always have been, you know? She…she deserves someone better, someone who isn’t afraid of her own feelings. I’ve always been a little insecure, even while I was with him. But I trusted him, and well, you can see how that turned out.” Jessica plopped down into the chair next to Tiffany. Tiffany sighed and began pulling up the zipper on the back that Jessica hadn’t bothered to do herself.

 

“This is completely different Jessi. She’s not going to do what he did. You can’t let that haunt you for the rest of your life. And if that’s the case, then why are you with Donghae oppa right now?”

 

“Because he’s a great guy, and he's nice and…I don’t know…I just…”

 

“She won’t hurt you, you know, not intentionally anyway. And you do realize you’re messing with Donghae’s feelings too, right?”

 

“I know, I know, I know! I’m a horrible person, okay? I just…I don’t know what to do anymore…I mean, I don’t know why I’m so scared of feeling like this for someone. I don’t know why I’m like this, but I am, and I don’t know how to change that about me. You wouldn’t understand Tiff…”

 

Jessica stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. “I like this one,” Tiffany murmured coming to stand next to her. “And yeah, I probably don’t understand, but sometimes all you need to do is take a leap of faith.”

 

Jessica looked at Tiffany through the mirror. “I need to have a talk with Oppa, don’t I?”

 

“You do.”

 

“He’s such a nice guy though. I really do like him, and maybe if Yuri had never come along, then maybe…”

 

“You can’t have the both of them, you know.”

 

“I know, I know…”

 

“…”

 

“…Do you think Yuri’s given up on me by now?”

 

“I don’t know. That’s just something you’ll have to see for yourself.”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“Hey…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For making me see how stupid I’ve been.”

 

“What are best friends for?”

 

 

“So, I guess this is where we say goodbye, huh?”

 

“I guess so.” Neither of them wanted to admit that they wanted to stay.

 

“Bye stranger. It was nice talking to you.”

 

“You too. Remember your promise, okay?”

 

“I will.”

 

“Good.”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“I…”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I’m glad I got the chance to meet someone like you before I…well, you know.”

 

The blonde girl smiled. “I’m glad I got to meet you before you…you know… too.”

 

“Well then…bye stranger.”

 

“Goodbye.”

 

 

“Coming!”

 

Yuri rushed to open the door, seeing as how whoever was behind it seemed to be incredibly impatient. She swiftly unlocked the door and opened to greet her guest, but as soon as she saw who it was she was too shocked to say anything.

 

“Your friends said I'd find you here. Do you mind if I come in?”

 

Yuri stiffly moved aside to let the man cone into her apartment. She gestured to the couch and silently offered him a seat. He accepted and sat down, with Yuri soon following his actions and sitting down alongside him. “What did you need Donghae oppa?” They had gotten over their initial awkwardness, but they were far from the point of randomly visiting each other’s homes. At least, that’s what Yuri thought.

 

“Look, I know for some odd reason you don't like me, and don’t you even try to deny it, but you're really important to Jessica, so I need a favor from you.”

 

Yuri looked at him curiously. “What is it?”

 

Donghae took a deep breath and pulled out a small box that fit in the palm of his hand. Yuri's eyes widened when he opened it.

 

“Th – that's a ring…”

 

He grinned at her. “A diamond ring, to be exact.” Yuri stared at the man incredulously. He laughed at her shocked expression.

 

“You mean…yo – you're going to…to…”

 

“I'm going to ask her to marry me.” She looked at him with agape. He shyly smiled at her. “I just figured I should snatch her away before someone else does.” Yuri gulped at the knowing look he shot her.

 

“It's…it's beautiful,” she admitted regretfully as she admired the ring. She suddenly looked back up at him. “Wait, what did you need me for then?”

 

He grinned at her. “Jessica tells me you play piano.” Yuri knew where this conversation was headed. “I want you to play a song for us tomorrow night before I propose.”

 

“Well, I…but…I'll admit I'm decent, but Seohyun is really a lot better. You're probably better off asking her to do this.”

 

“Yuri, even if Seohyun was the next Mozart and all you could do was play chopsticks, I'm positive she'd still prefer having you do this than her.”

 

Yuri stared at the glittering ring before her.

 

How much am I willing to fight for her?

 

 

“Twenty-five more days…” she mumbled to herself.

 

She felt something tug on her pants and she looked down to see a little girl with teary eyes. “Ha-have you seen my sister?” She put on a polite smile and kneeled down in front of the little girl.

 

“Nope, but let’s look for her together, okay?”

 

The little girl sniffed and slowly nodded before tightly grabbed the older girls’ hand. They walked around and she waited for the little girl to recognize her sister.

 

“Hayeon-ah!”

 

“Taeyeon unnie!”

 

The little girl immediately let go of her hand and ran into the arms of her older sister. “Yah! Don’t run off like that again, okay?” The little girl in her arms nodded eagerly. Taeyeon looked up at the other girl. “Thanks.”

 

“No problem.”

 

“Hey, don’t you work with me? I’m Taeyeon!”She held out her hand for her to shake.

 

She smiled and shook her hand. “Yuri.”

 

“A couple other co-workers and I are playing a soccer game and we’re short one person. Want to play?”

 

“Well actually I –”

 

“Yuri unnie,” the little girl said as she tugged on her pant leg again. “Come play with us!” The little girl showed off her toothy grin and Yuri couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“Alright, I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

 

She wasn’t sure when it happened, but soon enough, she stopped counting the days.

 

 

“Hey, have any of you seen Donghae oppa? I need to talk to him and he’s not answering his phone.”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“No idea.”

 

Jessica let out a frustrated groan when she couldn’t find the person she needed to talk to.

 

“Calm down, Jessi. I’m sure you’ll find him eventually.”

 

“But I need to –”

 

“Jessica unnie?” The two girls turned to face Yoona. “Donghae oppa said he needs to see you. Apparently it’s super urgent.”

 

Jessica started to walk in the direction she pointed in. “Finally!” she shouted and the other two started to follow her. “I mean, where the hell has he been? I’ve called him, like, a million times, and –”

 

Jessica froze.

 

The stage was decorated with a sea of pink balloons, and in the center stood Donghae dressed up nicely in a suit. He grinned when he saw Jessica’s mouth drop in surprise and spoke into the microphone he was holding, his other hand gripping a bouquet of flowers tightly.

 

Jessica didn’t catch what he was saying. Despite him being the center of attention, her eyes drifted to the orchestra pit, which was covered so she couldn’t see down there. But, the more the beautiful and uplifting melody of the song came through the keys the more she was so sure who was playing the song. It was just a gut feeling, and pretty soon it was all she could focus on. She wanted to listen to her play forever, but soon the song ended and she caught the last few words that Donghae said.

 

“…will you marry me?”

 

Jessica’s head snapped back up at the voice, not believing what she just heard. “Wh – what?”

 

He still had a grin on his face and held out the bouquet of flowers as he repeated himself. “Jessica Jung, will you marry me?”

 

Jessica stepped forward, hoping she could sneak a peek down the orchestra pit. She took a couple more steps and then she could see her.

 

Yuri looked up at Jessica and smiled.

 

‘This is the part where you say yes,’ Yuri mouthed to her. Jessica’s heart clenched when Yuri grinned at her. It was as if that was her way of saying she approved of her getting married.

 

Without breaking the eye contact with Yuri, Jessica answered his question.

 

“Yes. I’ll marry you.”

 

 

A month passed.

 

It wasn’t raining, but it was still a cold night, cold enough for someone to entertain themselves by letting out puffs of breaths every couple seconds.

 

The blonde girl laughed at her childish display and leaned against the railing of the bridge she had come across a month ago.

 

She smiled to herself.

 

“Hm, and I was looking forward to having coffee with you again…”

 

She sighed and walked away, her heels clicking with every step.

 

“Maybe we can have coffee together another day, stranger.”

 

Savior
Part 3