—————

Flashback

—————

Two girls sat on the living room’s carpet, both fully focused on the large television in front of them. Loud scraping and banging was erupting from the speakers as buttons were being mashed hard. After a few more moments, the dark haired girl let out a groan as her companion lifted her hands in victory, yet again.

“I at this,” Hyomin mumbled miserably. Sunny’s laughed seeing her girlfriend pouting adorably beside her and moved to wrap her arms around her. 

“You’re getting better though, Minnie. You might even beat me someday.” Hyomin scoffed at her girlfriend’s teasing words and playfully pinched one of Sunny’s arms that was wrapped around her. Sunny dramatically reacted to it and pretended to keel over in pain and lay curled up on the studio floor, causing Hyomin to giggle at her girlfriend’s silliness.

“Yah! I didn’t pinch you that hard.”

Sunny looked up with big brown eyes and took Hyomin’s hand to place it over her heart. “Aniyo, it hurts here.” Hyomin rolled her eyes at Sunny’s aegyo and played along. “So what can I do to make it hurt less?” she questioned her girlfriend with eyebrows raised. The blonde grinned.

“You know what my favourite medicine is,” she wiggled her eyebrows at her girlfriend who blushed hard and earned playful smack on her leg as Hyomin made to stand up. The brunette did not get far when Sunny’s strong arm dragged her back down and she let out a squeak of surprise as she fell onto the shorter girl. Before she could protest, Sunny’s delicious lips met her own and she tried resisting the pleasure of it but gave up after a few moments and returned the kiss passionately.

“Byuntae,” grumbled Hyomin playfully as she pulled away from the kiss when she felt Sunny’s cheeky hands squeezing her . The shorter girl giggled and continued holding Hyomin is her arms as the brunette laid her head on Sunny’s chest, listening to the steady heartbeat.

“Hyomin, I love you,” whispered Sunny and smiled when she heard Hyomin’s slightly muffled response. 

“I love you more.”

They lay there for a few more minutes until Sunny spoke again.

“Minnie, I want to spend the rest of my life like this.”

“Being glued to the floor?” Hyomin giggled as Sunny smacked her playfully.

“Yah! I’m being serious here. I want to spend the rest of my days holding you like this. Making silly jokes with you. Playing video games even if I lose to you one day. Growing old with you. Loving you until my last breath.”

“Is that a marriage proposal I’m hearing?”

Sunny looked down to see Hyomin peeking up at her with the most adorable brown eyes. The sight itself brought a huge grin on Sunny’s face.

“What if it was?”

“Hmmm.. I’d have to think about it.”

“W-wae?! Why do you even have to think about it?”

Hyomin laughed and got to her feet as Sunny moved to sit up with a despaired look on her face which made Hyomin laugh harder. Sunny continued her wails until Hyomin gently placed a finger on her lips.

“Because i have to consider the fact that you always leave me high and dry after kissing me. And you haven’t taken responsibility for it.”

With a smirk to finish off her sentence, Hyomin took off when she saw Sunny’s mischievous grin and the two girl chased each other around the studio until Sunny caught a breathless Hyomin and proved to her girlfriend that she very much a responsible girlfriend.

—————

There were quite of curious stares being thrown at the devastated girl but she didn’t care. All Sunny knew was that she lost the chance stopping Hyomin from leaving for good. The girls, Sooyoung and Hyomin’s parents stood sadly as they let the girl pour her emotions out. 

Sunny felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned her face to see Mr. Park smiling softly at her. Hyomin’s father helped Sunny up on her wobbly feet and she quickly wiped the tears off her face. The group led Sunny to one of the airport benches and Hyomin’s parents bid the girls farewell as they took their leave but before that, Mr. Park stopped and spoke to Sunny softly. 

“Sunny, I know that Sunyoung may have hurt you, but my daughter loves you very much and so does her mother and I. Whatever happens from now on, we are still honoured that you’ve taken care of our daughter so well and would like to thank you with this.”

The man handed something to Sunny and she was surprised it was the keys to Hyomin’s beloved car. “N-no! I can’t accept this. It’s too much!” stammered a shocked Sunny. The elderly couple smiled at her and Hyomin’s father spoke again, “Sunyoung wanted you to have it. That and the apartment is yours to use whenever you feel like it.”

Before Sunny could protest again, Hyomin’s mother took Sunny’s hand gently in hers, “Sunny dear, when it’s love, there’s no need for questions.” The two elders smiled as Sunny finally nodded her head in agreement. The girls bowed and bid Hyomin’s parents goodbye and Qri respectfully escorted them to their cab waiting at the airport entrance.

“What are you going to do now?” Sooyoung asked.

Sunny looked up at her tall friend who had one arm around Jiyeon’s shoulders. At first, she drew a blank but she suddenly had the craziest idea in the world. 

“I’m going to New York.”

The girls looked at her in surprise and Sooyoung choked, “W-what?” Sunny turned to look at her, “I need to get her back, Soo. Whatever it takes. I’m taking the next flight to New York.” Sooyoung was about to protest again when to her surprise, Jiyeon placed a hand over the taller girl’s mouth. All the girls looked curiously at the maknae who spoke up with a surprisingly firm tone.

“Beanstalk, let Sunny go to my unnie. I don’t wanna see Hyomin-unnie cry anymore and only she can stop unnie’s tears.” Sunny and Sooyoung looked equally shocked at Jiyeon’s words and Sunny finally broke into a smile at the maknae. “Thank you Jiyeonnie.” The sharp eyed girl cracked a wide grin at Sunny, “Make sure you make my unnie smile and feed her lots.”

“I promise I will.”

“You’d better, or you’ll have to face me.”

The girls laughed at Jiyeon’s over protectiveness and the maknae blushed wildly when Sooyoung kissed her on the lips. “YAH! What was that for?” screeched Jiyeon. Sooyoung smiled at the blushing girl, “For being so adorably caring.” The maknae hid her red face in Sooyoung’s chest as her unnies whined for them to get a room.

Eunjung noticed Sunny was busy checking out the flight board and her eyes followed Sunny’s gaze to see that the next flight to New York was in another four hours. “Are you going to leave without even packing?” asked a curious Eunjung. Sunny turned to her, “No point. I’d rather sleep on the streets than sleep without her.” Eunjung nodded, there was no way one could change Sunny’s mind once she was set on a goal and the only person that could was already in a plane above the clouds.

Just as Eunjung and Soyeon were about to follow Sunny to the flight purchase counter, Sunny’s phone blared loudly. She pulled out her phone and frowned when she saw her uncle’s secretary calling her. Sighing, she answered the call with a weary, “Yeboseyo?” The two girls watched a worried frown creasing Sunny’s face as the conversation went on. After a few moments, Sunny finally replied, “Arasso. I’ll be there soon.” She ended the call and turned to look at her friends.

“My uncle just had another attack and may not survive the night.”

—————

Bleep. Bleep. Bleep.

The machines surrounding the tired old man was the only things keeping him alive at that moment. The doctors had told her that he had very little time in the world and it was too late to operate as his weak state would not allow him to pull through the procedure.

Sunny sighed but her mind was not only burdened by that news. The short girl had left out the part where the secretary had informed her that the documents for the hospital accounts were ready and there was indeed a discrepancy that could lead to major lawsuits if not fixed in time.

Another sigh slipped out from her lips as she turned and made her way out. She wandered around the hospital garden mindlessly until she bumped into Taeyeon. Surprised, Sunny asked her best friend, “Taeng, what are you doing here?” 

The kid leader smiled and gestured for them to continue walking. “Soyeon told me about the call you got at the airport. You’ve been here for the past three hours, I knew something must be up with you. So I came here to spend some time with my best friend. How’s your uncle doing?”

“Not so good. According to the doctors, he might not have long.”

“I’m sorry to hear. Isn’t there anything that can be done?”

“Nope.” Taeyeon noticed that Sunny looked like she had more on her mind than she was saying. 

“That’s not all, is there?”

Another sigh. “Nope.”

“What is it then?”

“I was supposed to take the next flight out to New York to find Hyomin but with my uncle’s condition.. I’ve been named his successor. And there’s a problem I need to sort out that will take me ages.”

They both sat down on a bench facing a small fountain. Sunny heaved another long sigh, “I’m now torn between being a dutiful niece to my dying uncle and leaving to find the love of my life. It’s like I’m placed in between a rock and a hard place. To be selfish by hurting the ones who love me, or to be selfless and lose the one that I love?”

Sunny glanced at Taeyeon, “What would you do if you were in my shoes Taeng?”

Taeyeon looked thoughtful for a moment and turned to her friend, “We all reach a crossroad at one point in our lives. Just like Hyomin did. She had a choice and she chose to hurt herself in order to save you and her friends. I guess, if it was me, I’d make a choice where I would have the least regrets.”

They both fell silent for a long time as each processed their own thoughts. Taeyeon knew what would be Sunny’s choice having known her since they were children and she knew it wasn’t easy for her to make that decision. She reached out to hold Sunny’s shoulder and the two looked at each other.

Taeyeon gave Sunny a small smile, “Sunny, for what it’s worth, I think you’re making the right decision and I’ll always be there to support you. The other girls would too.”

Sunny returned her best friend’s smile, “Thanks Taeng.”

The two girls stood up and made their way back to the hospital, Sunny’s heart aching and heavy but set on her decision.

————————

Two Years Later

————————

The winter wind was harsh and unforgiving. A large group of people was gathered outside the city auditorium, all holding large expensive cameras. Some photographers rubbed their cold hands together in a futile attempt to keep warm but none of them refused to budge from their spot. 

The reason for their waiting pulled up in a large black limousine and bright lights started flashing as camera shutters clicking could be heard from every corner on the cold steps of the auditorium entrance.

An attendant immediately ran to open the door of the limousine as soon as it stopped and slender legs stepped out of car. It seemed like the occupant had superhuman capabilities against the cold as the woman only wore an elegant black dress with a long slit and an expensive looking fur shoulder wrap that was graced by medium locks of bright red hair, very much contrasting to the white winter snow.

Sunny smiled to the attendant and waved at the cameras, all the while seeing microphones being stretched out as close as possible to her while the reporters hurled a series of questions in which Sunny merely smiled and responded politely, “Thank you for the questions, I will answer them during the press conference later.”

The crowd continued to hurl questions until Sunny walked through the building’s grand doors and breathed a sigh of relief. The short girl heard some chuckling and looked ahead to see Jessica and Yuri grinning at her. “Yah, what’s so funny?” shot Sunny to Sica, her public relations manager.

“Looks like you still hate the spotlight.”

“I do, and weren’t you supposed to be out there with me to help me with these sorta things?”

“Well, Yuri needed some help with the arrangements of the press conference so I followed her here first.”

Sunny shot a sharp glance at her event manager who shrugged, “Hey, I got out of scriptwriting for this. I’m still trying to get the hang of it.” The couple chuckled once again when Sunny shook her head in amusement and her smile joined her friends. 

“How are the wedding preparations coming along for you two?” asked Sunny. Before Jessica could answer first, someone called her from the other side of the entrance hall and the tall blonde excused herself as she made her way to sort out whatever was going wrong. Yuri sighed and Sunny glanced at her friend with raised eyebrows.

“I can’t believe I’m working for one of Korea’s top companies as an event manager but I have absolutely no say in my own wedding! Since when did Kwon Yuri ever let this happen?”

It was Sunny’s turn to chuckle as she watched the tanned girl rub her brows in frustration. “Well, we all know Sica is known for being a control freak but would you want it with any other girl?” Yuri sighed and smiled softly, “Never. She’s the only one for me.” Sunny nodded and returned the smile but Yuri saw that it never quite reached her eyes. In fact, Sunny’s genuine bright smile had not been seen in the past two years.

“Sunny-ah, come on, the press conference is about to start soon and I’m sure you want to get this over and done with before Pany’s grand opening,” called Jessica from the auditorium entrance. Sunny nodded and Yuri followed her friend into the press conference room where Sunny took a seat at the table on the stage as Yuri made her way to check on the event crew schedules. 

Not long after, the auditorium was filled with the waiting media and the event started where Sunny was officially announced as the owner and director of her uncle’s billion dollar company, Lee Corporations. After the document signing and customary speech, came the time which Sunny dreaded the most. The interrogation.

“Miss Lee, how do you feel about taking over your uncle’s company after he passed away in such a sad manner?” First question.

“I’m still very sad over the loss of my uncle as he was very dear to me but I intend to lead this company in the right direction in honour of his memory.”

“Miss Lee, is it true that your uncle had a partner whom you exposed his scam about the faked accounts for Lee Hospital in Seoul and what happened to him?” Second question.

“Yes, it is true. However, we have taken legal action against the responsible parties and the hospital will continue to operate legally as I am overseeing the management of it personally.”

The questions kept coming and Sunny did a fantastic job of answering the questions without much fuss from the reporters. She breathed a sigh of relief when Jessica signalled that it time to end the session and stood up to follow Jessica to the dressing room backstage.

“You did well Sunny,” said Jessica, patting her friend’s back. “Thanks Sica,” replied Sunny with a tired smile. The taller woman answered her phone which decided to ring at that moment and after a couple of moments, Jessica announced that she would be leaving for Tiffany’s store opening with Yuri and invited Sunny to join their car. Sunny was about to agree to the suggestion when her personal assistant informed her that there was someone who wanted to meet her for a bit.

“You two go on ahead. I’ll get this sorted out and join you girls at the place,” stated Sunny to her friend and Jessica nodded. She gathered her coat and left with Yuri. Sunny turned to her assistant and asked to be led to the person who was waiting for her. To her surprise, she saw a young woman waiting for her. 

The pretty girl introduced herself as Hara, a rookie reporter who had replaced her senior because he had fallen sick due to the cold. “How were you able to get a pass to speak to me though? Yuri usually doesn’t allow reporters backstage,” Sunny asked curiously, knowing how strict her friend was when it came to nosy reporters. 

“Ahh.. Yuri-unnie was my sunbae in my scriptwriting course back in university. I just graduated last summer. My senior reminded me to ask some questions but I did not think it was appropriate for the press conference earlier. But I got curious and wanted to speak to you personally. So when I saw Yuri-unnie earlier on, I asked her for a favour to let me speak to you. She was reluctant at first but I told her that it was purely for my curiosity and promised her it would not come out in our magazine,” came Hara’s bright reply. Sunny nodded, she trusted Yuri’s judgement, “Alright then, what’s your question?”

“Miss Lee, forgive me if this sounds rude, but I heard rumours that you were previously in a homoual relationship that was disapproved by your uncle and the woman involved was sent away by him. Is this true?”

The look on Sunny’s face gave all the answers Hara needed, but Sunny took a deep breath and nodded, “Yes, it’s true.”

“And you have no intentions of ever looking for her?”

“I-I.. I did. Initially. But my uncle passed away shortly after she left and I wanted to make sure that he was at peace by promising to handle his company. Ever since then, I’ve never been able to pull myself away from work long enough to search for her.”

“Don’t you want to see her again?”

Sunny remained silent for awhile before turning to Hara curiously, “Why all these questions?” The young girl scratched her cheek, looking a bit sheepish and took a deep breath before she spoke.

“B-because I’ve been following your story ever since the competition which your girlfriend taking part in. I-I also like Hyu-, a girl but I can’t express it out loud either because my dream of one day becoming a world class reporter might be affected. Yuri-unnie told me your story before she graduated and I’m inspired by both of your bravery but I’m ashamed to say I’m not as brave as the both of you.”

Hara cast her eyes downwards and Sunny stared at the girl. She had never been told that she was brave, let alone for a decision she still regretted till this day. The shorter girl smiled and placed a hand gently on Hara’s shoulder, causing the younger girl to look up.

“Look Hara, I don’t think I’m the right person to give this advice to you but don’t give up on the one you love. I let the one person I really loved slip away and no matter how much I’ve achieved, it feels empty without her. You can always start your career again, but you can never find a replacement for true love.”

Sunny was biting back tears as she spoke those words. The young girl in front of her stood in awe and suddenly threw her arms around Sunny and sobbed hard. The red haired girl was shocked but patted Hara’s head gently to soothe the crying girl. Once she had calmed down, Hara pulled away from Sunny, blushing a little from acting like a baby in front of the president of Lee Corporation.

Wiping her tears away, Hara beamed brightly at Sunny, “Thank you Miss Lee, for making me decide on the right thing to do.” The shorter girl chuckled softly, “Please, call me Sunny. Miss Lee sounds a little old. And you’re welcome, I hope you find happiness, whatever your decision may be.” Hara nodded vigorously, “Thank you again Miss-, Sunny. I hope you meet your long lost love someday too!” The young girl bowed and ran off with a skip in her step. Sunny sighed and muttered softly under her breath.

“I hope so too.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Author’s Note:

Hey guys, sorry for the late update.

After two weeks in Seoul, I came back to find a pile of work as large as Sooyoung’s appetite waiting for me. 

Nevertheless, I hope you’ve enjoyed this update and have a great weekend ahead!