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HANA

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As soon as she got discharged, she had both Yuri and Jiyeon waiting for her outside her hospital room. Something was hilarious and scary at the same time, since both of them seemed to be in some kind of competition.

Her mom was giggling, while her mama was frowning. She keeps on glaring at her two friends, probably because of the ruckus that they caused last night. Hana didn’t think that these two would be back this early in the morning after her mama threatened them last night.

The dedication of these two towards her is unbelievable. But Hana still dismissed them as just two worried friends who wanted to make sure that she’s okay.

As her mom helped her stand up, she whispered, “Who should I team up with? Should I be team Yuri or team Jiyeon?”

“Mom!” Hana protested. “Stop pitting them against each other!” She whisper-shouted.

“Alright, alright! I won’t ask anymore!” Her mom said knowingly, but Hana was sure that it would not be the last time that her mom would about it.

She remembered sitting on her hospital bed last night, fortunately, there were no other things attached to her as the dextrose was already removed. Yuri is by her side, her hand resting on the side of her bed, as they hold hands.

The last thing that she remembered was standing up, but one thing is for certain, she saw Yuri running to her at the same time before everything went black. She collapsed onto the solid tiled floor, and it was a good thing that she was not injured as she attempted to shield her head from the fall.

She felt the warmth coming out of Yuri through their intertwined hands, and it was really comforting.

Her body was still in pain, probably due to the shock and exhaustion, and it was still hard to walk. However, she’s grateful that Yuri was with her the whole day.

“Sorry, you’re missing practice because of me.” Hana murmured as she remembered that Yuri was supposed to be practicing right now, slouching as she pressed her lips together.

“I should be thanking you, because I am exhausted too. This opportunity opened up for me, so I grabbed it and ditched the training,” she joked, and Hana rolled her eyes.

“Oh wow, poor you,” she teased.

She smiled slightly at the sarcasm, but then frowned a second later, “But I’d rather train forever than seeing you collapse like that.”

Hana squeezed her hand, “It’s not that bad. There are no broken bones or anything. I’ll be fine.”

“I could’ve protected you. I could’ve stayed—”

“Are you blaming yourself? Don’t, please.” Hana pleaded, shaking her head, looking into her eyes which held tints of sadness.

Yuri’s lips turned into a forced smile, trying to make her expression cheerful, and then it was as if a lightbulb lit up, as her face also lit up, signifying that an idea flew into her mind. “After you get discharged here, why don’t we eat ice cream?”

Hana’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly, nodding excitedly. “Really?”

“Yes, I promise,” she told Hana, now smiling as she held out her pinky.

Hana linked her to Yuri’s, but instead of finishing the ritual, Yuri stood up and hugged her fiercely, “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

When they separated, she met Yuri’s eyes, staring at them then she immediately grinned, as she grabbed her cheeks. Hana squished them lightly, causing Yuri’s face to scrunch cutely. “You’re cute when you’re worried.”

Yuri just shook her head and laughed as she freed herself from Hana’s squishing.

She remained silent as Yuri told her about the ice cream plan, but her head was just filled with happiness and thoughts of Yuri by her side right now. The time seemed to travel slowly at the hospital, but what kept her sane was the promise of their ice cream date, and the fact that their friendship seems to be mended now.

However, for some reason, Yuri’s smile disappeared as she saw her whipping her head to the door. She heard someone clearing to grab attention, “Shouldn’t you be making her rest instead of keeping her up late?”

She opened to speak, but Yuri was already in front of Jiyeon in a flash.

Yuri was furious and insisted that she kick Jiyeon out. For some reason, Yuri seems to be blaming Jiyeon for her collapse, but if Hana’s being honest, Jiyeon tried her best to make her go to sleep or eat, it’s just that Hana’s just stubborn to listen.

The two of them were arguing when her parents arrived, and they were like deer caught in headlights, because her mama saw them fighting with her own eyes. Yuri and Jiyeon were apologizing non-stop but her Mama was not having it.

To be perfectly honest, there would be no contest as to who Hana wanted to stay and take care of her, but she didn't want to be rude to anyone, so she let her mama settle the dispute and because of that, both of her friends were kicked out.

Yuri was about to protest, but thought better of it as she doesn’t want to irritate Dahyun more than she already was. But she is relentless, so she just didn’t waste time and asserted her dominance over Jiyeon when she walked over to the side of Hana’s bed and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

An inescapable giggle was heard from Hana who missed feeling Yuri’s sweetness, and she thanked her for taking care of her.

Jiyeon of course, thought of not letting Yuri get the upper hand, and was about to walk towards Hana too, but she guessed that her Mama didn't want another fight to break out so she stopped her and told both of them to leave the room. She even escorted them both to the hospital entrance to make sure that they wouldn't stay outside the room, and told both of their parents that they were coming home.

When her parents confirmed that both of her friends were gone, her Mama sighed heavily and said, “If I had known that you were that popular, I should’ve just homeschooled you so that no one would fight over you.”

“Oh, shush! You know that I won’t allow that to happen,” My mom argued, “Our daughter is too beautiful to be kept hidden. Beautiful things need room for growth, and she needs to be sociable.” Then glared at her wife for even thinking about keeping Hana hidden.

But Dahyun has known for years what it takes to stop Sana from getting angry, so she hugged her tightly and apologized while winking at Hana. Sana smiled because of it, and Dahyun continued to soothe her nerves. She really knows her mom’s weakness. Hana is always amazed by how much they love and care for each other, how much they value each other’s opinions, how much they listen to each other, and she really hopes that she would be able to have someone like that.

Her mom nudged, “Earth to Hana!”

“Uh… yes, mom?” Hana asked, as she was disoriented after being pulled back from her memory of last night’s events.

“Yuri was offering her hand to you.” Her mom gestured for her to look in front, and sure enough, Yuri was extending her hand to her.

She smiled widely and was about to accept her hand, when Jiyeon extended hers as well. So she hesitated to accept their offer.

Dahyun moved in front of her and blocked Hana from their line of sight. “Kids, if you can’t behave yourself, I will kick you both out of Hana’s life,” she threatened.

Yuri immediately bowed down and said, “I’m sorry, Auntie!”

Jiyeon was only late for a split second, and Dahyun said, “Who told you that you can call me Auntie? We never got the chance to talk yet.”

Jiyeon’s face looked so shocked because of Dahyun’s comments, so Sana hit her arms, “Stop scaring the kid!”

Dahyun just shrugged and wrapped her arms around Hana and guided her outside. “Let’s get you home, honey.”

Yuri was quick on her feet and since she would not be able to stand beside Hana, she offered her hand to the mom, Sana, which made Hana’s mom smile. Yuri guesses that she inherited the trait of being clingy from her mom because of the way Mrs. Kim was holding her arm.

And Sana being Sana, hooked her other arm on Jiyeon’s so that she would not be left behind, “I’m sorry about my wife’s attitude, she just wants to make sure that she would still be Hana’s favorite. So really, instead of competing against each other, you should know that your biggest rival is my wife.”

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It seems that Yuri was back on being stuck on Hana’s side and was more diligent as ever.

She was waiting for Hana at their house early in the morning the next day, and was talking to her mama Dahyun. Yuri’s head was bowed down, as if she was being scolded, and Hana was about to get angry at mama when she saw her standing up and hugging Yuri. Caressing her friend’s hair and murmuring something to her.

Confusion settles over.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” Her mama caressed Yuri’s head as she now realized that the girl was crying. “I am just glad that my princess is fine, and that you’re there to help her when she needs it the most. That’s what's important”

“But— I was not actually there when she needed me the most… she… she prefers to be with someone else, that’s why I was giving her space. I don’t want her to feel that I’m forcing her to be my friend.”

“Aigoo… why did you think that you’re forcing her?” Dahyun inquired.

“Auntie… you have a lot of friends, right?”

Her mama chuckled at the question. “Of course. Do I look like a loner to you?”

Yuri scratched the back of her head, and chuckled nervously. “Uhm… I—” Yuri stuttered.

“Go on.” Her mama encouraged Yuri to continue.

“When you’re friends with someone, do you… do you want them to be open to you?” Yuri was seriously waiting for her mama’s answer and was focused on her. “Like, when you have a problem, isn’t it good to talk to the person that you feel the closest to?”

Hana couldn’t help but anticipate her answer too. She and Yuri were unable to talk that much about what happened, and there’s something warm with the way Yuri chose to talk to her mama about what happened, like how a daughter would talk to her parents. But along with it, she felt more guilty hearing how she was so affected by what happened, and that she even cried because of it.

Her mama looked like she was thinking deeply. “Every person has a different way of overcoming their problems. We can only be there for them, and wait for them to finally open up to us. Maybe they wanted to face their fears, or to try to resolve it on their own, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t trust you—”

“But what if she told another person instead of me?” Yuri interrupted, looking deflated. “Does that mean that she trusts that person more?”

“Honey, I think that’s something that you two should talk about more. There are countless reasons why people don’t automatically tell their closest friends about their problems. Maybe, since you are precious to them, they don't want to burden you with problems. Maybe, they treat you as the light at the end of the tunnel, that they want you to remain just that— their light.” Her mama explained, and pulled a chair so that she could sit beside Yuri. “You don’t want to dim the light that’s been guiding you, right?”

She saw Yuri nod, then looked down again and for some reason she looked more deflated because of the explanation.

Her mama’s right.

Hana doesn’t want Yuri to be burdened with problems, and just wants her to stay by her side to cheer her up. She now realizes how selfish that sounds, because she expected her friend to just accept whatever explanation she has. She wanted Yuri to be by her side to hold her tight, without worrying if she would cause any fights with the people who don't like her. And knowing Yuri, she would definitely fight with a lot of people, given her protective side. She chose to open up to Jiyeon not because she trusted the girl more than Yuri, but because it is easier to let your feelings out with someone who you’re not interacting with the most. She also doesn’t want to worry her parents, and since Yuri was close to them, she could tell them her hardships, and that would be an even bigger issue.

Her parents already noticed how she was down lately, and tried to talk to her about it, but she dismissed it with the excuse of a lot of deadlines and workloads. She can tell that her parents were not convinced, but they didn’t force her to talk anymore, instead they told her that their room would always be open, in case she needed someone to talk to.

She’s happy that her parents would make sure that they really have time to talk to their children. They said that there’s really no point in making more money, if anyone in the family is not feeling well, and they made sure that they know that it would always be their number one priority.

But this made Hana even more determined to cope up with the harsh comments on her own, because it is already hard to look at her friend’s faces thinking about what they would go through for her again, if they know that there are people who were badmouthing her. And she would never deliberately ask help from her parents, if it comes to her social life.

She knows that no matter how good hearted her parents are, if their children are at a disadvantage, they would make sure that they would protect them. Not to mention that