Chapter 33 – Show me

Yoonsictae’s house

Yoona came home to see Jessica was sitting at the kitchen counter, having her morning cereal. Looking at the watch, it was only 6:30 in the morning, not that late. Didn’t she text her best friend, no her girlfriend, to wait for her to bring breakfast back? Shaking her head, she needed to get used to that title.

“Sica-yah” Yoona called.

The blonde looked up to find the person she expected the least at the doorway, a small smile just naturally crept up her face just by the sight of her.

“Yoong ah…”

“Yah… I texted you saying that I’ll be back with these” She said while holding up the bags, “Why don’t you wait for me?”

“I just thought… you might not be back this soon.”

“Well, I told you I’ll be home early in the morning, right? Here I am… If I had known you were up this early, I would try to go back sooner. Anyway, sorry for not coming home last night.” Yoona said as she started presenting the stuff she bought on the table. She also gently moved the bowl of cereal away and replaced it with Jessica’s favorite stew in front of her. “Eishh, just get rid of this, try what I bought for you, hope it still warms.”

Jessica looked at what was in front of her: Sundubu-jjigae, like Yoona said, Jessica’s favorite tofu stew.

“After that, drink this also. It will be good for your hangover.” Yoona pulled out the ginger tea and poured it into a glass. Jessica doesn’t like it when she had to drink from a paper cup. “Are you feeling okay? Headache?”

“Not much… I’m fine.” Normally, Jessica should be overwhelmed with joy because the way Yoona had been taking care of her right now. But the fact that there were so many thoughts running through her mind kept her from enjoying the moment and act all smiley.

“Aigoo, next time, don’t drink too much if you can’t handle it. Especially when you’re alone. Btw, have you seen Taeyeon lately?” Yoona couldn’t help but notice the lack of reaction from Jessica. The tall girl looked up and saw the untouched tofu stew, she now set her eyes on Jessica and easily noticed the uneasy feeling that her girlfriend had.

“Yah… you okay?” Yoona asked and this time she wouldn’t take a simple yes as answer. “Are you mad because I didn’t come home last night?”

Jessica stayed silent.

Holding back a sigh, she would take that as a yes. Yoona was so caught up with Yuri that she forgot that her rightful girlfriend was waiting for her at home. Bad Yoong. Yoona stopped whatever she was doing and went around the kitchen counter, stood behind Jessica. As she wrapped her arms around the latter, Yoona noticed the small flinch which she ignored, still embracing her in a tight back hug as she rested her chin on Jessica’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Sica-yah… I really am… I should have let you know about what was going on with me instead of making you worried like this. There won’t be next time, I promise.”

Warm. Yoona’s embrace. It was so damn warm that it awoke every sense in her body. This was the first time that Yoona and her share an intimate gesture intentionally and better yet it was Yoona started it. A small smile finally crept up Jessica’s face. Yes, no more thinkings, enjoying your moment, giving in to your feelings, these are what she has been hoping for years. She is going to savor every second of it.

Jessica finally scooped a full spoon of that tofu stew in front of her and happily put it into . “Wait, you bought this stew from Myoungdong?” Jessica asked, a little too loud.

“Yeah, so? I thought you only like the tofu stew bought from here.”

“But this store isn’t opened until 7am.”

“Well, I my charm and they just have to make an exception. I’m special. These stuffs are all made beforehand anyway.” Yoona simply said, even though she did do a lot more than just turn on the charm but it was worth it.

Jessica couldn’t help but raised an eyebrow at the confident remark.

“Right, special…” The blonde smirked.

Now that the mood had been lifted, Yoona decided to let go of her girlfriend and had some breakfast herself. She hadn’t been able to eat ever since she arrived at the hospital. But before she could let go, a firm voice was heard.

“Don’t you dare letting go.” Jessica hung her head low as an attempt to hide the obvious blush on her face.

Yoona chuckled as she stayed in her position. While the blonde was enjoying her breakfast, Yoona told her about what happened in the hospital, everything. Include comforting Yuri and agreeing to act as a married couple in front of her parents as well. Yoona wouldn’t say Jessica was completely thrilled about what she just shared but at least, Yoona was feeling comfortable telling the latter the truth and not worrying about the consequences.

First step to a real relationship? Honesty.

&&&&&

STS – Sooyoung’s office

The tall girl crossed her arms over her chest as she had her body leaning against the desk while facing the Seoul’s view from her office. It had been ten days, ten days since she last saw her goddess. She heard that Jessica and Yoona were now officially together as a couple. Sooyoung couldn’t help but thinking that she might have played a part in helping them. After all, she was the one telling Jessica to love when she still can right?

If Sooyoung was acting like her normal self, she wouldn’t give a damn about Jessica’s current relationship status and chased after her day after day until the latter changed her mind. Now, she just couldn’t bring herself to do so. It wouldn’t feel right to do so. The person Jessica was dating was her best friend, her unrequited love, her dream, the love of her life. More than anyone, Sooyoung understood the feeling of finally achieving something you had been yearning for so long. Jessica must have been overwhelmed with joy.

Remember the day when both of them coming to her office, handing her their resigned letters, watching their interaction, Sooyoung realized that she was late. Way too late to step into Jessica’s life. That bright smile on Jessica’s face, those eyes filled with love as she looked at Yoona when she was talking, that dorky nod when Yoona said something that she agreed and the way their hands holding beneath the table, every gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Sooyoung. Jessica… acted like a kid around Yoona, carefree and bubbly. Not even a hint of caution was shown. This kind of connection cannot be obtained over a short period of time, it takes years.

And time was the only thing Sooyoung didn’t have any to begin with.

Even after all that, the worst part wasn’t the way Jessica was acting, it was the way Im Yoona reacted.

Sooyoung closed her eyes as she recalled the moment they were done talking about the leftover work and how they would hand over what they were doing, the couple stood up and excused themselves from the room. Before the tall girl could let out a sigh of relief thinking that the torturing her heart had stopped, right in front of her, through the glass door, she saw Jessica was clinging onto Yoona’s arm as the taller girl reached out and pulled something that stuck on Jessica’s blonde hair out as she smiled warmly at her.

Yes, it was a small gesture. Yes, it wasn’t that special. Yes, it wasn’t love either. The way Yoona looked at Jessica wasn’t the same as the way she looked at Yuri. But that was the first step. Yoona was trying to accept Jessica’s affection toward her just like how Sooyoung hoped Jessica would do the same to her: trying to accept her affection. If Sooyoung believed that she could somehow win Jessica over that way then Jessica stands a very good chance at winning Yoona’s heart right now. They were all one step ahead of her.

And that thought was slowly killing her every day. Damn her for falling too deep. Damn it!

Choi Sooyoung has lived her whole life without feeling defeated once. But like they always say: There is always a first for everything.

This bittersweet taste, she didn’t think that she could get over soon.

Turning around to the stacks of papers on her desks, waiting for her to have a look, Sooyoung heaved a sigh. There was no way work could help her forget. She couldn’t focus on doing anything anyway, she wasn’t in her right mind at the moment.

Sooyoung pressed a button on the landline phone as she spoke: “Yah, Haragoo, clear my schedule for tonight and tomorrow. I’m not in a good mood.”

“What!? Are you serious, boss? The-” Hara couldn’t hide the bewilderment in her tone. She felt like her boss had dropped a bomb on her or something.

Sooyoung cut in “Making up excuses, trying to find ways to prolong, I don’t care, I’m going home now and I’m not coming to work tomorrow.” She stated as she released the button while leaning her back against her swivel chair.

In these types of situation, Sooyoung knew exactly what would certainly help lifting her mood up.

Food.

&&&&&

Seoul Hospital

“Yuri-yah, when will Yoona be here?”

Yuri rolled her eyes, she started to lose her patience since this was the thirteenth time her mom asking her this question in the last five hours. Ever since their conversation, Yuri could see that her mom was very sensitive about her relationship with Yoona. Heaving a sigh, Yuri was afraid that she couldn’t keep this secret for much longer.

“Omma, I already told you. Last night, she had to cancel an important meeting with a VIP just to be here with me so now she needs to take care of that mess. She told me she’ll be here in the evening. Don’t worry.” Yuri tried to comfort her mom.

“Uh… is that so?” Misun let out a sigh. “Do you guys still work for the same company?”

“Yes, mom’’ Yuri said even though yesterday was already their last day at STS.

“Btw, now that we’re here in Korea. Is Yoona’s father back from his trip yet? We haven’t been able to meet him once after you guys got married.” Misun just didn’t want to let go.

Yuri smirked, she knew that her mom would play this card. Meeting the in-laws. Luckily, she already gave Yong appa a head-up.

“Well yeah, he just got back to Korea.” Yuri lied, “Actually, he’s here in this hospital also.”

“Omo, is he okay? Why is he here?” Misun widened her eyes.

“Yes, he is fine mom. He’s just here for his regular check-up. He did come here to see you yesterday but you hadn’t wakened up yet.”

“Yoona’s father was here? How come I did not know?” Hyesung asked, he was as surprised as his wife was.

“He came in right after you left, appa.”

“Aigoo, that was our first meeting and yet none of us greeted him properly.” Misun let out a sigh.

“I’m sure he won’t mind, omma. Yong ap---aboji is a very loveable man.” Yuri quickly fixed herself with a smile and the room fell into comfortable silence.

Yuri felt her phone buzzing in her pocket, a message notification. Thinking to herself, it must be Yoona or Tiffany. Yuri pulled it out to only be surprised to see ‘Gyuri-sshi’ as the sender, asking if she was free this weekend. This message was almost like a reminder. Yuri couldn’t believe how she could easily forget about this girl whenever there was something else on her mind. Up until now, she hadn’t felt anything special toward Gyuri. Even though the girl treated her with kindness and all, Yuri’s desire or passion for this relationship was never there. Just bland. Maybe forcing herself to do something she felt that it wasn’t right in the very beginning was never a good choice. Her life was already a mess, dragging another person into this mess was never a smart solution. Yuri knew that she had to end this before letting Gyuri falling too deep. Now was the perfect time to learn to say no once in her life.

Feeling determined, Yuri composed her reply, ‘Yeah, let’s meet on next Sunday evening.’ Then quickly got an okay message from Gyuri back.

Yuri smirked when she heard the loud footsteps coming from the hallway, “I think the person you have been waiting for is here, omma.”

Misun scrunched her eyebrows at the remarks, was it Yoona?

“Greetings… my in-laws…” Yong appa announced his presence as soon as he stepped into the room while waving his hand in the air with an overly friendly grin on his face.

And as always, Yuri was always the first person to react, “Y-Aboji!!!” The girl exclaimed and couldn’t help but feeling a bit odd about his hyperactive behavior.

Yong appa couldn’t help but grin at the name calling. Ahhh… Aboji… how sweet that sounds. This day came faster than he expected.

“So… this must be Yoona’s father.” Hyesung quickly addressed as he held his hand out, asking for a handshake, “I’m Kwon Hyesung, Yuri’s father. Let me be the first to apologize that our first meeting occurs in this kind of setting.”

Yong appa quickly took Hyesung’s hand, “Come on now, drop the formality, this is the situation that you can’t control. We are one big family. Also, I’m just here to see if Yuri’s mom is doing well.” Yong appa now directed his attention to the woman who was sitting on the bed.

Misun quickly bowed when she saw his eyes on her as greetings and quickly introduced her name too. Inside, she felt relieved, if Yoona’s father was acting this way and the way she saw her daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw him walking in maybe just like Yuri said there was nothing happened between Yoona and Yuri.

“So, are you feeling okay now?” Yong appa asked.

“I’m feeling fine. Just an old syndrome… Aigoo, to have you seeing me like this…”

“You’re being too formal again. Like I said, we are family.”

“How about this, after Misun is discharged from the hospital. Let’s all meet again. It’ll be fun.” Hyesung suggested.

“That sounds perfect to me. But, how long are you gonna stay in Korea anyway? Yuri told me that you guys live in L.A right?”

“Well, at first, we thought that we might stay for a week or two. But now… maybe we’ll stay here until Misun gets better.” Hyesung said, trying to hide the the main reason he wanted to stay was that he wanted to spend more time to get to know Jessica.

Misun, on the other hand, wanted to stay in Korea longer also. Even though she was quite convinced after seeing Yuri’s bond with her father-in-law, she still wanted to see how Yuri’s life was all these years with her own eyes.

Holding a sigh back, Yuri was supposed to be happy if she got to spend more time with her parents but the longer they stayed, the greater chance that her fake relationship with Yoona was exposed. Plus, there was now Jessica and Yoona’s relationship to consider. It would be really hard for Jessica to watch them acting as a married couple when they have a get-together. Yuri winked at Yong appa, hoping him understand the situation and help her get away.

Yong appa grinned… He understood… he understood alright.

Seeing his response, Yuri had a bad feeling about what he was about to say. A very bad feeling.

“If so, where are you staying right now?”

“Well, for the time being, we stay in the hotels a few blocks away from this hospital.”

That grin on Yong appa’s face, that mischievous grin, this was not good. Not good at all. Yuri repeated in her head. Before Yuri could her own mouth to save herself from this miserable situation, Yong appa was already one step ahead of her.

“I have a better idea. Why don’t you stay at our daughters’ apartment? I always live there when I have a break from my ‘world tour’. They have a spare room. Normally I would stay in that room but now it’s available since I’m staying with one of my friends.” Yong appa said, making sure to emphasize on the word ‘world tour’ while looking at Yuri’s direction.

Yuri immediately widened her eyes looking at Yong appa. Inside she was screaming… Yong appa, REALLY!!!!

“Hmm… actually, that’s not a bad idea. What do you think, Misun?” Hyesung nodded his head in agreement.

“If they do have a spare room, I don’t see why not. Right, Yuri?” Misun turned to asked her daughter.

Excuses, Yuri. Excuses. You must think of one!

“Uh… Ah… I uh… Yoona might no-”

“Yuri-yah, I hope you’re not telling your parents that Yoona might not agree with them staying since you guys are fine with me staying. That would be so weird if she said no. So weird…” Yong appa cut in, reminded Yuri that her mother was suspicious of her relationship with Yoona before.

Yuri secretly clenched her teeth, already regretted that she dragged Yong appa into this game. For a moment, she forgot how witty this old man really was because he was always kind to her.

“Yuri??” Misun called.

“Yeah, omma?”

“Are we staying at your house is too much of a trouble?”

“Ah, well, I’m just worried that the room might be a mess since I haven’t cleaned it up for a long time.”

“Don’t sweat it, Yuri-yah, it’s not like they will stay at your house tomorrow. You have one whole week to prepare.” Yong appa just couldn’t let go.

Almost instantly, Yuri sent a death glare at him with a ‘not helping’ expression and Yong appa just leisurely replied with a shrug.

As if she can feel her mother’s questioning eyes on her, Yuri turned around facing her mother with a smile as she decided to give in.

“Aboji is right, omma.” She said while trying not to clench her teeth as she spoke. “Come stay with us… I’m sure your condition will get better much sooner when we’re around.”

The old woman nodded in agreement. As Misun and her husband talked about what they will need for their unexpected longer stay. Yuri went around her mom’s bed so that she stood next to Yong appa.

“Hope you’re happy!” The tanned girl said in a small voice to the evil person next to her.

“I totally am.”

Yuri, who was as speechless as ever, just looked at him in disbelief.

&&&&&

Namdaemun Market

“Yoong ah!! Over here!” Jessica, who was standing at the famous odeng’s vendor at the market, shouted out loud to get Yoona’s attention and signaled her to come before turning to the owner ordered one serving.

From afar, Yoona holding a cup of fresh hot tteokbokki ran over to where Jessica was standing at the sound of her name being called. After having their breakfast in the morning, Yoona received a call from Siwon offered her a position in Choi Corporation headquarters. He told her that while he was still a CEO at STS, Siwon always knew that Yoona has what it takes to be a leader and she would definitely be able to help a lot with his expansion plan in Europe. The call ended with Yoona saying that she would think about it. Not long after that, Jessica also received the same phone call from Siwon. Even though it wasn’t the same position, it was all about that expansion plan in Europe. It looked like this was going to be a huge plan for Choi Corporation since Siwon was actively recruiting lots of people preparing for this.

To be honest, after resigning at STS, Yoona and Jessica never intended to return to working this early. Initially, they were going to have a nice long break from all the hectic events in their lives and then leisurely look for a job later. But Siwon’s offer was really tempting that they couldn’t help but thinking about it.

Still, Yoona wanted to enjoy this free time so she decided to put all that thinking at the back of her mind and going to movies with Jessica. The same old stuff that couples usually do. Then later Jessica suggested they went to this market. To Yoona’s surprise, Jessica never appeared to be a foodie but when she was here she seemed to know all the best street vendors in this place as if she spent all her free time here trying the food from one vendor to another until she found out which one was the best. Like this tteokbokki cup in her hand, she had never tasted anything like it. The sauces, the rice cakes, the flavors, the color, the temperature, everything was simply spot-on that she just couldn’t stop eating. It seemed like there was a lot more to Jessica that she didn’t know.

“Woahh… that smells good” Yoona said, referring to the ‘fish cake’ lying on the metal trays.

“Here, try...” Jessica took one of the skewer and raised it in front of Yoona’s mouth which the tall girl happily opened wide to accept it.

“How is it?”

“Delicious!! Damnn… I didn’t know that you know so many places have good food like this, Sica-yah.”

The smile on Jessica’s face dropped as she was reminded of Sooyoung. How long had it been since they last met? One week? Two? The last time she saw the tall girl was when she handed her the resigned letter. Jessica tried to avoid eye contact with Sooyoung and had her full attention on Yoona the entire time. Mostly because she wanted to ignore the sad look on Sooyoung’s face. Even just by the corner of her eyes, she could feel the longing looks that Sooyoung had for her, the look that someone had on their face when they saw something so precious, so close but it was so hard to reach out. And when their eyes suddenly met, at that exact moment, she abruptly felt this ache inside. Small but undeniable. It was there. But she decided to shake it all off, she now had Yoona in her arms and that was all that mattered. Jessica loved Yoona. That was a fact and it was not going to change anytime soon.

Right?

Yoona was hers now.

Right?

“Well, I don’t…” Snapped out of her own thoughts, Jessica replied as she decided not to take the shikshin’s credit, “Sooyoung does… she took me here and showed me around.” She said in a neutral tone and fell silent.

“Now that explains a lot.” See? Yoona knew her best friend too well. There was no way Jessica would be this knowledgeable about food, every time they went out it was always Yoona who was in charge of leading the way. Still in a happy mood, completely unaware of the change in atmosphere, Yoona still kept her head low, her full attention on the tteokbokki cup and trying to finish it first because she was sure that there would be more good stuff coming.

After a few bites, Yoona decided that she would give Jessica a bite also. As she looked up, she found Jessica’s face to be extremely close to hers. So close that their noses could almost touch. Instinctively, Yoona was startled and took a tiny step back caused the tteokbokki sauce to spill a little over her hand.

This instinctive movement meant nothing to Yoona but everything to Jessica.

The last straw.

And neither of them said anything for a good few minutes.

“Uh… I wanted to try some more Boong-uh-ppang (Goldfish Bread) over there, let’s go.” Yoona decided to break the awkward silence first. She took Jessica’s hand trying to drag her toward the vendor she just pointed.

“Yoong…” Jessica showed little to no sign of movement.

“Huh?”

“Do you feel anything different?”

“What do you mean?” Yoona asked as she had this puzzled look at her face.

“Us being together… me being your girlfriend…”

This was not going the right way, Yoona knew it. Damn!! Why did she have to do that? Why a step back? Why startling?

“Yoong… hold me…” Jessica continued before Yoona could answer her question. She never expected an answer anyway.

“Wh-why? Just out of blue…”

“Please…”

Those soft words coming out almost as a command, not a request. As confused as she was, Yoona decided not to speak another word and        simply complied.

Yoona gently moved the hand which she had been holding while taking Jessica’s other hand wrapped them both around her waist. As she inched closer, Yoona pulled Jessica’s head toward her chest while holding her in a sweet embrace.

Before Yoona opened and asked another question, Jessica already cut in with hers.

“Do you still love her?”

Yoona flinched at the mention of that person. The taller girl closed her eyes, she knew it, she knew that Jessica was thinking about Yuri.

“I saw you guys… I was there.”

What do you mean ‘saw’? The more Jessica talked, the more puzzled Yoona became. And as soon as realization hit her, Yoona wanted to pull away but found it impossible since Jessica also tightened her embrace around her waist.

“But you said th-”

“I lied.”

For a moment, Yoona didn’t know what to say next. She was sure that Jessica had been thinking a lot about all these things: their friendship, their relationship, the three of them. That was why the last few days she always zoned out, lost in her own thoughts. From the moment Jessica started this conversation, she already aimed toward something. This was her monologue that has been well-thought-out. As if Jessica was trying to make Yoona admit something in front of her.

Inching closer to Yoona, Jessica tried to close any possible gap between them. She wanted Yoona to hold her because she didn’t want the latter to see her facial expression, she didn’t want to look in those doe eyes as she talked. All that she needed is Yoona’s warmth. And this warmth brought her courage.

“Who am I to you?” Jessica finally asked.

Once again, this same question was asked. Different place, different situation, different feelings and different meaning, only the same people. Would the result turn out to be the same?

“You’re my girlfriend.” Yoona softly said, as a matter of fact.

“Who am I to you?” Jessica repeated, same tone.

“My girl. You’re my girlfriend.” Yoona also repeated but louder this time.

As if Jessica already expected this answer from Yoona, she suddenly pulled away slightly from the embrace so that she was able to look Yoona in the eyes.

“I heard you… now show me!”

Show?? You don’t mean….

“Show me you mean it. Kiss me!”

Yoona froze in her spot as she held Jessica’s shoulders. True, ever since Yoona asked the girl in front of her to be her girlfriend, she never once kissed her. Yes, there were hugs, embraces even and kisses on the cheek. But a real kiss, a kiss leaving you breathless never happened. It wasn’t that Yoona avoided intimate gesture with Jessica on purpose. Just like that step back a moment ago, it was an act on instinct. An act of responsibility.

More than anyone, Yoona understood what Jessica was trying to do. The girl wanted to find out whether Yoona really meant it when she said she wanted her to be her girlfriend or she just pitied her. Was it affection or just compassion. This kiss was like a promise, an end for a yearning relationship and also a begin for a more trustful one.

For years, Yoona had been playing around with everyone trying to have a move on her, sincere or not. Being with someone only meant to satisfy her needs, to ease away her pain and help her forget. She didn’t care about others’ feelings and didn’t think of the consequences either. For the longest time, Yoona thought she could keep living this way for the rest of her life. Then, Yuri reappeared in her life, reminding her of what she had been missing. Love. Her true self. Yoona knew that she needed to bounce her way back but she didn’t know how. Probably she was so used to hurting people that she completely forgot who she once was. Responsible, genuine and caring. It was never easy to fix what you had done when the damage was irreversible. Sincerity and truth were not enough, there were also wounds and scars to consider. Following your heart? Easier said than done.

And now standing in front of her was her best friend/girlfriend, questioning her sincerity in this relationship, the last thing she wanted was hurting this girl. The girl had given her nothing but love throughout the years. It was about time to put the past behind. Right now, it was time to move on.

Jessica was her girlfriend.

This was the right thing to do.

“I do mean it.”

Yoona simply said before she shut her eyes tightly, grabbed Jessica’s face gently and went in for a kiss.

Their first kiss.

TBC

A/N: Uploaded this as soon as I got home. A bit late but still sunday, haha. No time to proof-read it. Will fix a few details later if I see something unreasonable.