"Appa? What are you doing here?"

Yerin was in a big shock to see her father at her apartment without giving her a notice. Clearly it scared her that Yuju and her had lots of couple stuff in their room. Holding her breath deeply, she entered the room and tried to face her father calmly.

"Can't I come to an apartment I bought for my lovely daughter?" He looked cold and plain. Yerin gulped. "Why don't you show your father a little respect? What's with you?"
"Mianhaeyo, appa. I'm just surprised to see you. It's quite a big day at office." Yerin looked down, feeling guilty. She moved closer to her father and gave him a big hug as it had been a while since the last time they spent such quality time together. Her father is a busy businessman. He traveled a lot. "When did you come, appa? Let me cook for dinner."
"I just arrived here, my dear." He glanced at Yerin. "No need. Please sit down."
"I-Is there something wrong, appa?" Yerin started to panic, but remained calm outside. She held her breath so deeply, almost too scared to produce any sound from .
"Nothing. I'm just so tired. I want to see my pretty daughter."
"Do you want to eat something?"
"Just a simple kimchi fried rice for me then, and—"
"And a sunny side up." Yerin smiled warmly. "Arrayo!"
"I didn't realize that you grew up so well."
"Do you think so?"
"You look exactly like your mom when she was young."
"Didn't you say I'm prettier?"
"You are. But your mom has that honorary title in my heart."


She laughed. Yerin decided to walk to the pantry and brought a cup of tea for her father. After putting her hair in a ponytail, she went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner according to her father's order for the two of them. Her heart was quite calm. Her father probably hasn't had time to go into her room to check things out, and that day Yuju shouldn't be in the apartment as she had to go to a family event and stay at her aunt's house.

Yerin had just finished arranging the fried rice on the plate when she heard the sound of the apartment door opening and the voice of someone very familiar in her ears. Yuju's voice.

"I'm home, jagiya." Yuju shouted so clearly. It was a big shot. "I managed to runaway from the party so I decided to come here. Beside, I miss you much. I need you to hug me all night. Where are you anyway?" Yuju was so loud, and clearly she was blind at that time by not seeing the situation. She broke the father-daughter moment happened in a blink of eyes. Meanwhile, Yerin looked at her in a terrible shock. Her brain was freezing. A second after that, Yuju entered the room and went speechless to see who was there. There was a silence between them for a while.
"U-Uncle Youngdon. I didn't know that you're here." Yuju tried to break the ice. She tried to think on how to undo her words, that she knew it's impossible to do. She's too scared to even look at him.
"Yes, Yuju. I'm visiting Yerin."
"A-Appa. Let me explain." Yerin decided to brace herself.
"Then explain."
"No. Let me explain." Yuju interrupted.
"Are you dating my daughter?" He shot them terribly, leaving such an emptiness. "Tell me."
"A-Appa..."
"You rejected Mingyu because you're dating Yuju?"
"A-Appa, please."
 

Yerin began to cry silently. She felt like down to her knee. She wasn't ready for this at all and she felt like being killed without any defense. All the secrets she kept altogether about her relationship with Yuju was no longer a secret. Even worse, it had to be revealed in such a bad way. Receiving no response at all, her father walked away to the door and then stopped.

"I want you to come home with me now."
"But, appa. I can't leave ju-"
"No other word, Jung Yerin. Pack your bag. I will wait in the car."
"Uncle—"
"Stay back, Yuju. I'm taking Yerin home."

He left, leaving Yerin who was stoned and trembled while looking at Yuju, who looked frustrated but tried to be gentle for her girl. She moved to hug Yerin and kissed her forehead, tried to calm her girl.
 

"I'm scared. I don't know what to do." Yerin cried even louder after that hug.
"Don't be." She caressed her cheek softly. "Come on. I'll help to pack your stuff, baby. You have to follow your dad for now."
"But I don't want to leave you."
"You're not leaving me, baby." She kissed her forehead. "Everything's gonna be okay. I promised."
"I'm scared."
"We will fix this. Okay?"

Yerin wiped her tears as she walked inside her room to pack her stuffs. She felt terribly sad to leave the apartment so sudden like that, to leave her girl but at the same time she knew her father more than anyone in this world. She had to go home now or it might get worse. She turned back, staring at Yuju before leaving with her father.

"Hey. Don't cry." Yuju hugged her softly. "I love you."
"I love you too. I'm scared."
"Don't be. You're just gonna need to come home for now." She gave her a peck. 
"But what if my father—"
"Everything's gonna be okay. Trust me."
"Okay."
"Now smile."
"I can't."
"Smile for me."
"Okay." Yerin smiled a little to respond to her girlfriend's request.
"You'll be fine. We'll be fine."
"Don't forget to eat your dinner."
"I will. Don't worry"
"I will be back at home soon, I hope."
"Don't worry about that."

Yerin left Yuju with such an empty feeling while the girl decided to sit down on the couch and stoned, trying to calm herself down. It was so blurry to see for both of them. They knew that the same--relationship they have, wouldn't be easy for anyone to accept it, especially the parents. They both were hiding it from the whole world all of this time but then suddenly, they had to face the reality that Yerin's father finally found out about it. Yuju herself had a fright she hid inside her chest and it felt so tight there.

Yuju leaned her body completely on the couch and started to close her eyes. It was heavy, a little too heavy.

Yuju stared at Yerin blankly. It had been 2 weeks since the incident. She stayed at the apartment alone, tried to contact her girlfriend but didn't receive any response until that afternoon, she finally managed to meet her. On the other side, the soft-hearted Yerin looked miserable. Yuju could feel the sadness radiating through her eyes. They met at Yerin's office cafetaria that afternoon, making it impossible to hug each other as they couldn't let themselves attract some attention. They were restricted to meet as Jung Youngdon appointed two men to guard her daughter, including to pick up her after office. Yerin looked like she had been dealing with great pain these past two weeks.

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