It was a series of unusual circumstances, even from the moment she woke up.

Instead of being woken up by her alarm, she was slowly roused from sleep by soft kisses on her neck and the maddeningly slow circular motion that Byul made on her stomach. Now, it was not unusual for them to make love in the morning before going to work, what was unusual was the fact that instead of deepening their kiss, Byul walked out from the bedroom and came back a couple of minutes later with a breakfast tray on her hands.

Yes, she started her day with breakfast in bed, a small surprise from Byul who joined her back on the bed and literally fed her the delicious chicken porridge that Byul made herself, a family recipe and basically the only thing that Byul knew how to make perfectly.

But the most unusual things happened when they already reached the office. Instead of escorting her with a hand on the small of her back as per usual, Byul intertwined their fingers together and walked her to the junior lawyer’s area and then.... there was the kiss.

As they reached Wheein’s desk, Byul leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Not just a simple peck, it was an honest to god – toe curling, body melting, ruining – kind of kiss that left Wheein breathless and dazed, completely oblivious to the gasps and shell shock stares of her co-workers and the immediate buzz that surrounded the area. She wasn’t even sure she remembered her name after that kiss, but Byul simply smirked at her and winked, wishing her a good day as she walked down to her own office.

Still completely under the spell of the kiss, Wheein wandered over to Hyejin’s office, ignoring the open mouthed gape of Taehyung and Seulgi and well... basically everyone else that saw the mind blowing kiss, *What just happened?*

“You did not just kiss Jung Wheein in front of everyone.”

Byul looked up from her contract and saw Seulgi standing in front of her desk with a shock expression on her face. Turning her attention back toward her work, she circled a typo on the contract with the red pen, answering Seulgi’s exclamation in a nonchalant tone, “I did.”

Seulgi groaned out loud, “It was rhetorical! Besides, I saw it with my own two eyes and so did the other members of your fan club. Ugh... 25% of your fans already switched allegiance to the new partner, and now, thanks to your public display of affection, some of your fans probably will jump ship. But then again... from the look on Wheein’s face, that kiss was amazing, so they probably stick around. Seriously though, you have a tough rival here! I mean, you might be the epitome of cool, but the new partner is like your complete opposite, she HOT! Like molten lava hot. Some of the women here already said that one look from her and their clothes melted off on the spot!”

“Is there a point in this conversation?” Byul looked up from her work, irritated. “Besides, I thought I already warned all of you about the whole fan club thing, and what’s it got to do with you?”

“Uh....”

“Kang Seulgi....” Byul raised one of her eyebrow, her tone a warning threat and the younger woman looked down on the floor, properly chastised.

“I might be the one that supply them with pictures of you for side income.” She mumbled her words fast, but Byul still heard it perfectly.

The platinum haired lawyer threw her pen onto the table and raised both of her hands in disbelief, “of all the stupid things....”

“That’s not the point, I mean... I’m just looking out for you and stuff.” Seulgi quickly defended herself, but one look on Byul stormy face, she shut and turned around toward the door, “I better get back to work.”

“That would be the wise thing to do.”

Seulgi cringed and almost bolted out from the room, leaving Byul to stare at the closed door in a sour mood, “Un-freaking-believable.”

She turned her attention back to the contract in front of her, but her brain seemed to fail her, the words no more than a jumbled mess. Seulgi’s words about Yuri being her rival kept replaying on the back of her mind. *Is it? Is she really a rival?* Byul tapped her pen rapidly against the papers, still couldn’t come up with the reason why the thought bothered her so much. 

Wheein entered Hyejin’s office without knocking and only when Hyejin threw her arms around her in a crushing hug that she returned back to reality, “Byul just kissed me in front of everyone.” She blurted out and Hyejin let go of her embrace, one eyebrow already raising with interest.

“Did she now?”

Wheein nodded dumbly, “Yes.” Her body still tingled after that kiss and she was forced to slap her own face just to come back to her senses.

“Huh... interesting....”

“Why would she do that?” Wheein walked over to the couch and sat down gingerly, her legs still a little bit wobbly, *damn Byul and her ability to kiss!*

“Are you seriously asking me that? This is Byul we’re talking about, that woman has plan AA for her plan Z. Can’t you see? She’s setting a tone.”

“Huh?” Wheein blinked and tapped her own head a couple of times, willing her brain to work properly again.

“The kiss is THAT good?” Hyejin smirked teasingly and laughed when Wheein simply nodded stupidly. She sauntered over to the couch and sat down, angling her body so she could look at Wheein better, “Oh honey... you’re so whipped. Anyway, remember that we have a new partner? The one that you said is your ex-fiancé?”

Hyejin almost felt guilty when she saw just how quickly the dreamy look on Wheein’s face turned somber, “Well, judging by your reaction, it was not an amicable split. Now, Byul is also a partner, by kissing you, she’s giving a clear message that you are off limit. So, if this ex-fiancé of yours is smart, she won’t bother you, at least in the office.”

“So she’s staking her claim by kissing me? In front of everybody? What is this? High school?”

“Well, she can’t exactly pee around you, now can she? So kissing you is the best way to do it, beside, you enjoyed it.”

“Pee around... I’m not a dog!”

“You’re a puppy, same thing.” Hyejin waved her hand dismissingly and looked pointedly at Wheein.

“Look, Kwon Yuri is new to the firm, she would need to give a good first impression to the others. especially to the senior lawyers. Now, if she bothers you, then she would step on Byul’s toes, not to mention giving off the impression that her only interest is to chase a woman, not on this firm. What would the others think? She is her father’s successor, yes, BUT, she will need to earn the respect.”

Wheein released a heavy sigh and nodded absently, her head suddenly pounding, the reality of the situation that she would need to learn to co-exist with Yuri felt more real as the time went by.

“Hey...” Hyejin put a hand on her arms and gave her one of her rare warm smile, “I could transfer you back to Byul if you wanted to, no need to stress yourself up.”

“You would do that?”

Hyejin winced slightly, “I hate the idea of losing you, you’re the best partner in crime I ever had, but... if you are really uncomfortable working with her, I would rather transfer you to Byul right this instance.”

Wheein threw herself into Hyejin and wrapped her arms around Hyejin’s neck, holding her tight despite the immediate protest by the older woman, “I love you.”

“I. Cant. Breath.” Hyejin wheezed and tapped Wheein’s arms urgently until the lithe woman giggled and released her.

Wheein beamed a dimpled smile at Hyejin, “Thank you for the offer, it means a lot to me. But I’ll be alright, I can do this.”

“Yeah well... I love you too. Okay then, let’s get some work done. Too many dramas in this office, this is a law firm, not a K-Drama.” She scrunched up her face in distaste and walked back to her desk, “Wheepup, can you do a follow up on the PR case, please?”

“On it.” Wheein jumped from her seat, *Yes... She’ll be just fine*

***

“Wheein, could you come to my office, please?” Yuri stood in front of the junior lawyer’s area, looking like a million bucks with her perfectly waved hair and her skin tight black pencil dress, showing off her perfect curves for all eyes to feast.

“I’m doing a follow up on the PR case.” Wheein stayed on her chair, barely looking up from her laptop.

“I’m sure it can wait, or your colleague could do it for you. Come to think about it, it’s probably wise if you show me around and introduce me to the rest of the team.” Yuri smiled ruefully and Wheein swore that she heard someone swoon in the background.

Wheein fought the urge to sigh and roll her eyes – smiling up at the woman instead – to Yuri’s delight, “We have 15 junior associates, 10 middle associates and 4 senior associates in the criminal department. I’m sure someone could show you around, I need to do my work, if you don’t mind.” She smiled extra sweet, dimple and all and then promptly ignored the older woman.

“I could show you around, Miss Kwon, I mean... If that’s alright with you.” Hee Yeon raised her hand and gave Yuri a big smile and Wheein nearly sigh in relief.  

Knowing that she couldn’t possibly rejected the offer without coming off as rude, Yuri gave the starry eyed Hee Yeon a smile and nodded, laughing a little when she saw the young woman squealed slightly before quickly calmed herself again.

She looked longingly at Wheein for ten increasingly rapid heartbeats and cleared , “Meet me in the office after lunch then, I have some work for you.” She waited until she received a small nod of acknowledgment from Wheein before turning her attention toward the excited junior associate and smiled brightly, showing off her pearly whites, “So... where should we start the tour?”

“Are you going to keep on staring at me the whole time?” Wheein said through gritted teeth and gripped her pen harder.

Yuri had been staring at her for a good 30 minutes since she entered the room. Yuri called Wheein again after lunch to come to her office under the pretense of work. She adamantly asked Wheein to brief her on the current work load of the criminal department, although the younger woman already exasperatingly told her that she only share some of Hyejin’s work load and she had no idea about the work load of the other senior associates.

“I’m concentrating.” Yuri smiled lazily at her – twirling her pen – her notebook left open but no notes were written on it.

“Yes. On my face. While you should be concentrating on the files in front of you. Did you even listening to any words I said?” Wheein’s dark eyes glinted with challenge and Yuri simply nodded, resting her face on her hand, she stared deeply into Wheein’s eyes until Wheein averted her gaze and sighed.

“Shall we continue then?”

“Please do.”

Irritation crept on Wheein’s face and she was so close to just snap her notebook shut and walked out, “How long are you going to keep me here and prevent me from doing my actual work?”

“But you are working, baby. You have to brief me on the cases that we are currently handling.”

“Stop calling me that! and the senior lawyers can brief you better than I do.”

“But they’re not you and I want you....” she let the words lingered and Wheein really wanted to punch her in her perfect face, “.... to be the one that brief me. So... the PR case, see, I’m listening, please continue.”

She pointed at the opened case folder in front of Yuri, “The summary is there in front of you, which you could read by yourself and...” Yuri glanced at the folder briefly and turned her attention back to Wheein.

“Maybe you should sit closer and explain it to me one step at the time, just to make sure that I won’t get it wrong.”

Wheein narrowed her eyes suspiciously and Yuri chuckled lightly, “I won’t bite, cross my heart.”

Hesitating for a brief moment, Wheein was about to scoot her chair closer when she heard Yuri’s next words, “Although I recall that you love it when I bit you.”

Pushing herself off the chair, Wheein angrily slammed her notebook shut, “Okay, that’s it! I tried to be professional with you, but if you can’t give me the same courtesy? Tough luck, just asked the other senior lawyers to brief you, I’m out of here.”

“Wait... Wait....” Yuri grabbed Wheein’s arm gently and looked at her pleadingly, “I’m sorry... forgive me? It’s just that I finally see you again after so long and with our past, it’s kind of hard for me to adjust to this new.... situation between us, the memory is too strong. Don’t you remember that we used to study together like this and ended up making out instead of studying?”

Wheein looked at the hand that lingered on her arm – hating the tingling feeling that crept at her from the point of contact – and glared at the taller woman, “Like you said, it was in the past. Why dwell in it? Hands off and stop mentioning the past, it wouldn’t do any good.”

Yuri winced and let go of her grip, “You really don’t have any feelings left for me? Nothing? At all?”

Wheein ignored the question and looked at the opened case folder, “Do you want me to continue briefing you on the case? If you prefer talking about your feelings or our past relationship, then I would prefer to get the hell out of here and work. Your choice, Partner Kwon.” She ended her words coldly, angling her head to look straight into Yuri’s eyes until the older woman admitted defeat and nodded her head slowly.

“Okay... brief me, please.” She gestured toward the seat and Wheein grudgingly sat back down, opening her note book again with more force than necessary and pointed at the summary, “Read. You could ask questions if you don’t understand.”  

***

Wheein took a deep breath and hold still as she braved the shower of ice cold water that jolted her out of her current dark mood. A sadistic trick that had already proven true numerous times able to douse the burning anger on the pit of her stomach. She the warm water and stood there, letting the warmth spread all over her body.

Although true to her words that she would refrain from talking about anything else besides work, Yuri kept her inside until way past office hours, and spending her day with Yuri in an enclosed space for a copious amount of time was enough to rattle Wheein. She almost felt sorry to Byul when she just burst into the blond woman’s office and dragged her out without any preamble, wanting to get home as soon as possible.

She slipped on the long sleeves huge shirt and untied her long dark hair, running her fingers through the strand to untangle it before opening the bathroom door, her eyes softening when she saw Byul already lounging comfortably on the bed - the down comforter covered her legs and pillow nestled against the headboard to support her back - looking serious while reading a book.

Slipping into the comforter, she grabbed the TV remote and channel surf for a while before settling on a foreign movie. Snuggling closer to Byul, she peeked at the novel Byul was holding, “What are you reading?”

“Hmmm...” Byul instinctively moved her arm to hold Wheein closer to her body, her fingers immediately playing with Wheein’s hair, “Lincoln Lawyer.” She answered without taking her eyes off the page of the book.

“Cool. I like Michael Connelly.” Wheein pillowed her head on Byul’s shoulder and sighed contently – eyes glued back to the TV screen – she turned the volume down just a tiny little bit, so it won’t distract Byul from her reading.

They fell into a comfortable silence with Byul sometimes looking up and watched part of the movie, whilst Wheein sometimes turned her attention toward the book, reading whatever page Byul was on.

Byul looked down and smiled when she saw Wheein turned the page of her book when she was distracted by the movie, “Good?” Wheein nodded, eyes still glued to the written words, her head now comfortably resting on Byul’s chest for better reading angle.

“Interesting movie choice, the King Speech, but I guess the book is more interesting to you.”

Wheein looked up slightly and grinned, “I watched it like a gazillion times already, but I still like listening to them talk as background noise, British accent and all.”

“Why do you like it so much?” Byul Wheein’s hair softly, enjoying the feel of her silken hair between her fingertips, she watched as the younger woman turned slightly pensive, a crease emerging between her brows and Byul can’t help but to lean down and kissed it away.

“I just love the love story between the King and the Queen. Mind you, this is not an over the top love story with grandiose gestures from the lead characters, and I know the story revolves around overcoming your fear and challenges. BUT... you’ve got to admit, the love between them was beautiful, they supported each other, they believed in each other, they relied on each other and for me, that’s...”

“True love.”

Wheein looked up to Byul when the older woman finished her sentence for her and smiled softly, eyes crinkling with affection, “Yes...” she whispered, hand reaching out to touch Byul’s face softly before she surged up and captured Byul’s lips in a lingering kiss.

They stayed like that for a while, lost in the sensation of lips moving against lips, tongues lazily against each other, luxuriating in the feel of being in each other arms. Wheein hummed when they finally broke the kiss, eyes fluttering open to found the older woman smiling down on her, “What?”

“You are a romantic.”

“No, I’m not.”  Wheein yawned and snuggled up closer to Byul, who pressed another kiss on the top of Wheein’s head.

“Tired?” Wheein nodded slowly, eyes already closing, using Byul’s chest as her pillow.

Chuckling softly, Byul settled herself down on her back and reached out to turn off the light when Wheein stopped her, “Wait, do you want to... uhm...”

Biting back her laugh at the blushing younger woman, Byul quickly pressed the main power switch, leaving them surrounded by darkness and the sudden quietness of the room.   

She drew Wheein into her arms and kissed Wheein’s forehead softly, “Sleep.” She commanded the younger woman and closed her eyes – ready to drift off to dreamland – when she heard Wheein’s soft voice whispered her name.

“Byul?”

“Hmmmm?”

Silent fell and Byul swore she could almost hear Wheein’s heartbeat beating in tandem with hers.

“Nothing....” she felt the pressed of Wheein’s lips against and the tightening of Wheein’s arm around her torso and sighed contently, letting the quiet lulled them both to sleep.

***

“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” The three women stopped short on the hallway when they saw the junior lawyer’s area was nearly covered with vases of variety of flowers. “This is a law firm! Not a flower shop!” Hyejin continued her rant and looked at the mortified look on Wheein’s face.

“I don’t think I have a table anymore, I mean, all I could see are flowers. Flowers everywhere. Do you think it’s from...” Wheein gulped, unable to finish her train of thought.  

Byul frowned at the sight in front of her, that weird feeling that kept on nagging at her on the back of her mind came back in full force. She scratched her eyebrow in frustration, *that woman has balls*

 “Tae!” she hollered to the young man, who nearly jumped when he heard his name being called. He turned around and briskly walked toward the three of them.

“Yes, Miss Moon?”

“What’s all that?” she gestured toward the working area that now practically looked like a garden.

“Uh... it’s for Wheein... uhm... the flower shop people waited in front of the door until the security let them in, they said it was a surprise from her girlfriend and ....” Byul raised her hand to stop the stammering young man.  

“Can you get whoever available to move all of these vases? Maybe put one vase each on every woman’s desk in the office, except the three of us of course, and maybe send them out to other neighbor offices as well if there’s still some left?”

“Oh, and tell them that it was from Kwon Yuri.” Added Hyejin with a wink.

“If there’s any card on them? Shredded it. Oh, give two vases to Hee Yeon, she’ll love it.” Wheein supplied even more request and Taehyung could only nod obediently.

“Thanks, Tae.” The three women choruses and Taehyung almost saluted them on instinct, but refrained himself on the last second, “On it!”

Wheein sighed heavily and hung her head, “This is a nightmare.”

Hyejin rolled her eyes and sipped her take away coffee, “Hangin’ there, kiddo. Ugh… I think I just caught an allergy for flowers. By the way, your dad would love some decoration in his office right? Maybe around 20 or 30 vases of flower?” She nodded to herself, already forming a plan on how to decorate the managing partner’s office and quickly walked over to Taehyung to give him further instruction.

Byul tapped Wheein’s head softly, “You okay? Want to hang out in my office first?”

“Only if I get to hug and cuddle with you.”

Byul laughed at the pout forming on Wheein’s face and shook her head, “In that case, you better get to work, I don’t think I have enough self-control to just hug and cuddle you.”

“Well, who’s going to stop you? Definitely not me.” Wheein grinned and yelped when someone slapped her on the . Hard.

“Me. I’m going to be the one that stop you. You two need to stop doing the dirty in the office, I can’t even sit in Byul’s couch now!” Hyejin shuddered and slapped Wheein’s again, although with less force this time.

“Go do your job, puppy. And you…” she pointed a well manicure finger to Byul – who had a ‘what?’ look on her face – “Hands off during office hour, Casanova, or I’ll cut it off for you, now shoo! Both of you! Work!” Hyejin pulled on Byul’s arm and dragged her down the hallway, leaving a giggling Wheein behind.

Undeterred by the failed flower tactic – which gained Yuri more female fan, just not the one intended – next came the chocolate and candies, much to Hyejin’s delights and Byul’s chagrin, then on the next day Wheein found hand written little love notes throughout the day which popped up on her desk, on her books, in her bag, on her laptop, which all ended up at the bottom of Wheein’s trash can.

Wheein cracked her neck with a satisfying pop and groaned, she drained the ice cold water from the bottle on her hand and sighed, thankful that it was already the end of the week. Yuri kept her hostage inside of her office for the last three days and it really starting to grate on her nerves.

It was past office hour now, and here she was hiding in the pantry just to get away from the woman for a while. She honestly couldn’t wait to get home and cuddle with Byul. It was practically the only highlight of her days lately.

She frowned when she remembered that she still need to endure the woman’s presence on the gala dinner tomorrow and wonder whether she could just skip it altogether. Lost in her own thought, she gasped when hands encircled her waist and pulled her close. “Wha....”

“Are you hiding from me?”

Wheein shivered when she heard Yuri’s voice so close to her, whirling around she found herself face to face with the owner of the voice.

Her face was too close for comfort and Wheein tensed, trapped by Yuri’s arms on each side of her body, “Back off.” She said through gritted teeth.

“You haven’t answer the question. I’ve been waiting for you for almost 30 minutes.”

Wheein fights off her instinct to squirm under Yuri’s heated gaze and repeated her words, “I said, back off.”

Yet, Yuri stood her ground. Her dark eyes bore into Wheein’s, the tension grew thick around them and Wheein finally had enough. She put one of her hand on Yuri’s chest and gave it a shove, still the older woman didn’t even budge.

Wheein looked up and glared at the taller woman, “Seriously, Yuri, move!” Wheein tried to push her away again,

Yuri ignored it. She tried being patience, moving slowly and tried to be romantic, but it didn’t work. What she hasn’t try to capitulate was their fiery passion for each other, so maybe… just maybe… “Do you really feel nothing....” she ran her fingers on Wheein’s neck, raising goosebumps on its wake, and leaned down aiming on Wheein’s lips.

“There you are, I’ve been looking all over the place for....” Byul stopped on her track when she found Wheein in Yuri’s arms.

Yuri stopped when she heard Byul’s voice, her lips barely an inch away from her intended target. She felt the tremble in Wheein’s body and smiled, maybe Wheein was not as immune to her charm as she would like to believe. She straightened up and turned, looking at Byul and smiling apologetically and shrugged as if telling Byul that happened and there’s nothing that she can do about it.

“Byul....” Wheein was trembling, she wanted to run toward the older woman and threw her arms around her, but somehow her feet turned to lead. Heavy and unmovable. Or maybe it was the look on Byul’s face that rooted her to the spot. Or it was Yuri’s hand on her waist that stopped her. She wasn’t even sure anymore.

The sound of Byul’s phone ringing broke the silence that seemed to hold them captive and without glancing at the caller ID, she answered, “Hey babe...” she broke her eye contact with Wheein then, presenting her back to the other two as she talked to Yongsun.

Wheein’s heart clenched tightly at the view of Byul’s silent back, clouded by too many conflicting emotion swirling inside of her.

“Father throw us a dinner, my whole family will be there and your parents as well, that’s why I looked for you here, so we could go there together.” Yuri spoke a little bit too loud for Wheein’s liking, but she ignored her entirely, too focus on willing Byul to turn around and look at her again.

“Okay, no... no... it’s okay, of course I will always have time for you, babe. Okay, I’ll see you soon.” Byul turned and looked at them again, her voice was calm, too calm when she addressed the other two women, “That’s Yongsun.” She said, as if it explained everything. Yuri raised her eyebrow in confusion, but Wheein understood completely.

“Go then....” she stared at Byul, willing the other woman to look at her in the eyes and asked her to go with her, but Byul already looked pre-occupied and eager to leave the place. The older woman simply nodded and left in an instant. Wheein bit her lower lip, her head down, letting her hair to cascade down to veil her disappointment.

“Wheein….”

Wheein looked up, her heart lifted when she heard Byul’s voice again, “You should go with Yuri, have a nice dinner your parents, talk to your dad. Patch things up.” Byul gave her a small smile then left again and somehow, Wheein felt like her heart been stabbed with a well sharpened knife.

Yuri saw the disappointment on Wheein’s face and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “She has another girlfriend?” Wheein shook her head, just a barest shake of her head, Yongsun was not Byul’s girlfriend, she was more than that, she was Byul’s other half.

Wheein closed her eyes, locking the turmoil inside of her away, “Let’s go to dinner.” Her voice sounded distant, but she knew that Yuri heard her just fine, the warm hand that engulfed hers and escorted her away was the proof of it. She was moving on autopilot, her body was moving, but she was lost inside of herself, curling up in a fetal position, shutting the world away.

***

“What is this place?” Byul was fascinated when her voice echoed back, eyes roamed all over the place as she walked toward the roaring fire in the middle of the room.

“Indoor camping!” Yongsun brightly answered, face beaming with a huge smile, “I thought it would be nice to have a get together with the other social workers. Bonding time and all, so this is one of the places that I’m trying out. What do you think?”

It was the size of a futsal field, designed to look outdoorsy, equipped with camping tools and even a small pit to have bonfire, “Creative.” Was Byul’s only response before she sat in the middle of the camp fire, accepting a bottle of beer from Hyejin, who already busy roasting marshmallow.

“I can’t believe you rushed me over here just to have an indoor camping.” Byul shook her head and took a swig of her beer.

“Psshh, of course not. This is an intervention.” Hyejin calmly blew over her marshmallow before biting into it gently and moaned, “This is soooo good.”

“Intervention for what?”

“Your idiocy, your denseness, your stupidity, take a pick.” Hyejin finished off her marshmallow and gave Byul a saccharine sweet smile.

Sensing that Byul was about to snap, Yongsun quickly put a calming hand on her arm, “Don’t listen to her.” Carefully trying to find the right word to broach the subject, Yongsun busied herself with the marshmallow, putting the fluffy candy into a stick for roasting to buy her some time.

“So… uhm… I heard that Wheein’s ex is in the picture right now.” She took a tiny glanced at Byul and noted the slight tick on her facial features, anyone wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, but she knew Byul so well, she knew that she just hit a nerve. 

“So?” Byul took another swig of her beer – avoiding all eyes contact – the mentioned of Wheein’s ex felt like a sledge hammer to her conscious. She’d been trying to put the image of Wheein in Yuri’s arms in a small compartment of her brain and put it away, but her mind kept on playing tricks on her, replaying the scene in the pantry over and over like a broken record, and now it was on the fore front of her mind.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Yongsun carefully asked, painfully aware with the change in Byul’s mood.

“Nothing. Why should I?”

“See! Just let me hit her, please, just this once, Yongsun-nie, maybe if I hit her, she won’t be this stupid.” Hyejin sighed exasperatingly, poking the fire with more force than necessary for emphasis.

Yongsun grimaced and sighed heavily, “Babe… I know that you and Wheein are not exactly… together… in a sense that….”

Hyejin snorted, “Unnie, please, those two are practically in a relationship already. Anyone with eyes can see it, all lovey dovey and clingy even in public, I got toothache just watching them being sweet to each other.”

“We’re not together, it’s clear, none of us wants a relationship. We’re just having fun, that’s all.”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me…”

Yongsun raised both of her arms, “If you two could just act like an adult for a second, seriously, act your age! Byul, honestly, if her ex somehow wedge her way into Wheein’s life, you will do nothing? You will just let her do everything in her power to swept Wheein off her feet and took her away from you? And that’s it? You will just let it happen? You will be fine with it?”

“Maybe it’s for the best.” Byul mumbled against her beer bottle and Hyejin growled, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Forget about hitting, I seriously contemplating of killing you.”

Byul smirked, challenge shown from her eyes, daring Hyejin to make good on her threat, “Be my guest.”

Hyejin might be clouded by her protectiveness toward Wheein, but Yongsun was too in tune with Byul not to notice the underlying storm brewing in Byul’s dark eyes.

“You love her…” she whispered softly and noted the rigidness of Byul’s body when the words were spoken.

“What are you talking about?” Byul quickly deflecting.

Yongsun took a deep breath, reaching out to take Byul’s unoccupied hand and clapped it gently between hers, “Byul-ah… look at me.”

Byul kept her eyes on the blazing fire, ignoring the stares from the two of them, “You stopped sleeping around Byul, she was the only one… even before the two of you started whatever it is you two are doing. Ever since she was in your life, you just… stopped. That was nearly a year ago, and it never happened before. Never.” Yongsun felt the hand that she held twitched, so she pressed on.

“There was never a woman that you slept with more than once, and you never take any of them to your place. Now… tell me, when was the last time Wheein sleep in her own place? Will you dispute me if I said that the two of you are practically living together right now?” the hand jerked, but Yongsun held on tightly, still looking at Byul’s side profile and the tightness of her jaw.

“And babe? You stopped calling me every night….” At the last whispered words, Byul whirled around and looked at Yongsun with such anguish that broke her heart, the emotion that she found on Byul’s eyes was enough to confirm her gut feeling, “You stopped having nightmare didn’t you?”

Yongsun smiled, she looked down at the hand that always bring her such strength and it softly, “She chased the nightmare away for you, didn’t she?” She looked up again, smiling brightly at Byul, the light from the fire illuminating the glassiness of her eyes, “Good…. That’s good.”

“Babe….” Byul put down her beer bottle and grabbed a hold on both of Yongsun’s hands, “I’m sorry….”

Hyejin realized the shift in the tension and knew that the two of them need some time alone, there’s something that the two of them need to resolve and they didn’t need another pair of eyes to witness it. She stood up slowly and left, although she knew that the two of them was already in a world of their own to notice.

“Why sorry? Byul…. Of all the people in the world, aside from my parents of course, I wish for your happiness the most. You finally found the person that sooth that demon inside of you, here…” Yongsun put her hand directly on the beating of Byul’s heart, “she heals you here, where you needed it the most. She makes you happy, Byul…”  

Byul covered Yongsun’s hand with her own and shook her head, “I don’t deserve it, I don’t deserve her…”

“What? Why? Byul… no one deserves happiness more than you!”

“How can you say that!? After what I did to you….” Byul stood up quickly, walking a few steps away from Yongsun, maybe the heat from the fire was getting to her, but she felt so deprive of oxygen, she could hardly breathe.  

She jerked when Yongsun’s cold hand cupped her face, “Byul… it was not your fault, it was never your fault, what happened and the results of it, it was all in his hands, never yours. I never blame you for everything that happened. Never. How could you blame yourself…”

“How could I not? I let him got away with his crimes, Yongsun, if it wasn’t for me, he would be in jail instead of….”

“Baby…. No… stop… look at me. Byul! Look at me!” Yongsun waited until Byul looked directly into her eyes, both eyes glassy with unshed tears.

“Everything happened for a reason, Byul ah… if it never happened, we probably won’t be this close, I would not have the best friend that I have in you right now. We would still be rival, I admit that I would probably still respect the hell out of you, but we would never be friends. But now? I feel like I have a sister that I could count on. And because of it, I quit my job and actually do good deeds for the people that needed it. Those are the silver linings and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Byul still looked unsure, breaking Yongsun’s heart in the process, just how long has she held it in like this? Carrying the weight of guilt in her shoulder, tying herself to the stupid notion that it was all her fault, “Tell me the truth Byul… If Wheein never walked back in into your life, how would you live your life?”

“Just like it used to be… until I could chase away your nightmare, until I could make you happy and…” Yongsun placed her palm on Byul’s lips, silencing Byul because she just couldn’t hear it anymore.

“Shut up, you, idiot! Oh God… why didn’t you tell me that you feel this way… I would’ve kick your idiot a long time ago!” Silence answered her question.

She took a step back and hold both of Byul’s hands in hers, “You want me to be happy right? Then how do you think it made me feel knowing that I’m the reason why you’re withholding yourself your happiness?”

Tears rolled down Byul’s cheeks and Yongsun’s tears soon followed – she cupped the back of Byul’s neck – touching their forehead together, “You listen to me and listen to me carefully, I forgive you. You hear me? I don’t need you to protect me, or to be there for me 24/7, or to freaking chase away my nightmare. I might crash down at times, tumble and cry because of it, but I’m not that weak, I will be fine.”

She pressed a long kiss on Byul’s forehead, “Be happy, Baby… that’s all I want from you….”

Byul tentatively encircled her hands onto Yongsun’s waist and held her tight, hiding her face in Yongsun’s neck, nodding slightly. The guilt was still there, she didn’t think it will ever go away completely, but maybe with Yongsun’s blessing, it was okay for her to be happy.

Byul released her hold on Yongsun’s body after a while, raking her fingers through her hair, musing it slightly, “She told me that she didn’t want a relationship... That she can’t do relationship anymore….”

Yongsun tilted her head, watching the vulnerable expression on Byul’s face. It was fascinating, even under the pressure of a gun on her face, she never once saw Byul this vulnerable.

“What do you want?”

“I want to give her the world. I want to make her happy in whatever capacity that she would allow me. I’m hers … whether she realized it or not, she owns me…”  So open and raw with emotions, this Byul was an anomaly to her, so foreign. This Byul already served her heart in a silver platter, waiting for its owner to claim it, and has no idea what to do.

“Now I understand why Hyejin want to hit so badly. Byul-ah… fight for her, she might be too traumatized by her failed relationship before, but you have to show her that this time it would be different. That happiness is within reach only if you just fight for it. Do you think she worth fighting for?”

“Do you even have to ask? Of course she is!”

Yongsun grinned and patted Byul’s head with affection, “Then what are you waiting for, go and get your girl.”

***

Hyejin floored the gas pedal, rushing toward Gangnam after she received a call from a distress Wheein. Thankfully she still remembered to text Yongsun, telling her that something came up that she needed to go without saying goodbye and asked Yongsun to message her the outcome with Byul.

Hyejin stopped her car in front of the posh restaurant and rolled down her window, “What the hell are you doing standing in the freaking cold like that? Get the hell in!”

Wheein was shaking with cold when she entered the car and sighed when the heater blasted her with warmth, “Sorry, but I just can’t stay there any longer, beside, you said that you’re only five minutes away.”

“Yes! But five minutes in this freaking weather was enough to give you pneumonia.” Hyejin was about to rant some more when she noticed the look on Wheein’s face, “You okay?”

“No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Wheein’s chuckled was sad, “They acted like nothing happened. Can you believe it? They all acted like we were still a couple, like the break up never happened, like we were just having a rough patch but will still be together in the end. Her mother freaking asked me to call her ‘mom’. What the !! What the !!!” she kicked the dashboard of Hyejin’s car in her frustration several times and Hyejin let her.

“You done?”

Wheein nodded, her energy drained after her sudden outburst.

“I’m going to bill you the repair for that, for such a tiny girl, you sure packed a mean kick, I think I saw a dent or something.”

Wheein grunted her acknowledgment, she still wants to kick something, anything, but her feet hurt and she really wish that instead of the dashboard, she could kick Yuri or maybe even her own dad for laughing and acting like nothing is freaking wrong with the whole situation, or Byul for telling her to go there in the first place. Byul… why would she do that? why…   

“Wait, where are you going?” Wheein asked when she noticed that Hyejin turned left instead of right.

“Well, if you didn’t notice, I have to take a turn here to take you to Byul’s place.”

“No. Take me to my place. Please.”

Hyejin chanced a glance on Wheein’s direction, “Are you sure?”

Was she sure? No… she wasn’t. She wants to go to Byul’s place, she wanted nothing more than to have Byul’s arms wrapped around her at this very moment. But Byul’s silent back and her words were still so fresh in her memory that she didn’t think she could be anywhere around her without the pained realization that Byul asked her to go, that instead of telling Yuri to back off, she pushed her away….

Wheein curled up in her seat, facing the car door, hiding her expression away “Yes… please… I need to be alone….” She sniffed discreetly, hoping that Hyejin wouldn’t notice the scratchiness of her voice.

*Byul…. Byul… Byul…*  

Like a wish upon a star, maybe if she wishes hard enough, it would come true. That she would wake up with Byul holding her.  

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Author's Note

Hullo! Work life has been crazy, so I just got the time to write and update XD anyway, this is a very hard chapter to write for me I dunno why, I probably need MORE inspiration LOL. So, as always, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and tell me what you think! Critic and Comments are love <3 <3 <3 

Side notes: Happy 900th Day Mamamoo!! Here's to another 900 million days to come ^^