Another YongShin fluffiness.

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Can best friends "fall in love" with each other, or can they stay just as friends?

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Yong Hwa and Shin Hye had been best friends ever since they could walk. Their mothers were the best of friends too, so it was also nothing to be alarmed that the two youngsters got to be friends as well.

Since Yong Hwa was a year older than Shin Hye, he often acted as the possessive oppa who would protect her from the bullies in the neighborhood. Even Yong Hwa's younger brother, Jin Woon, would also protect Shin Hye from those bullies. But because Jin Woon would sometimes have his own world, it was Shin Hye and Yong Hwa who were always together.

They attended school together, from yoochiwon (kindergarten) up to high school, and for them, life would be boring without each other. Shin Hye learned to depend on Yong Hwa, and he learned to depend on her as well. Even during bad times, they were still with each other.

Of course, friendships grow stronger with conflict, and it was often Jin Woon who would patch the two up. As they were classmates ever since, people soon asked if they had thought about dating each other since they knew each other perfectly well.

"Date him?" Shin Hye scoffed back in high school. "Why would I date someone like him? Yong Hwa is my best friend."

"Friends don't kiss, what's wrong with you?" Yong Hwa would often ask his fellow buddies.

"So, does that mean that I can get to court Shin Hye?" Jong Hyun asked Yong Hwa with his adorable smile.

Of course, Shin Hye had a huge crush on Jong Hyun because the latter had some great muscles, which makes him an ideal boyfriend for hugging. And Jong Hyun's eyes were irresistible that she felt she could get unto him any day. Yong Hwa was also falling for a noona by the name of Wang Fei Fei, also known as Fei.

Fei was bent on getting into law, and Yong Hwa felt that law was also for him. Shin Hye was not influenced by anyone to get into law, so she studied hard to get into law school someday.

****

The two best friends still shared some weird habits like using each other's bags even if they entered law school together. Shin Hye would often borrow Yong Hwa's backpack, and Yong Hwa would sometimes borrow her tote bag when he had less classes in the evenings. Despite those weird tendencies, they already thought it was normal for the two of them.

Yong Hwa also have this habit of wrapping his arm around Shin Hye's neck and bullying her and pushing his fist to her hair, or ruffling her hair like a dog. And Shin Hye would retaliate by kicking his knees or his shins, and for Jin Woon, they should stop it already because they were already soon-to-be lawyers, and that they were all grown up.

The two did not heed what Jin Woon warned them because they were comfortable with each other's skin. And the two of them would often joke that, because Shin Hye will be practicing to be a personal injury lawyer, Yong Hwa should practice criminal defense, and they would be fighting each other in court. But of course, it was just a joke because Yong Hwa was practicing to be a divorce lawyer.

****

One day, after their work in each other's respective firms, the two of them drove to Gangnam together to find pads which were so close to each other that the two of them could talk to each other through stethoscopes. Yong Hwa took the left door, Shin Hye took the right door. They thought they could live together in a single pad, albeit with different rooms, but they knew that they have a profession to uphold, and family honor to respect. Though they were getting too close to each other, their eommas, who found them cute together, might protest against the two living each other. Just because the two were that close, it does not mean that they will be living like they're married.

And came the day when they transferred to the pads in Gangnam, and they would take turns in driving each other to their law firms. The senior lawyers in the divorce law firm thought that Yong Hwa was already going steady with Shin Hye, and the senior lawyers at the personal injury law firm told Shin Hye that the two of them should get married already. But for the two of them, they were just friends with a special bond, and that there was nothing romantic going on between the two.

One evening, Shin Hye was in Yong Hwa's pad, studying her case, while Yong Hwa, who had just finished a case, was preparing dinner. After the preparation, Yong Hwa announced that the two of them should eat. They ate dinner together, and washed the dishes together.

Shin Hye got back to her cases when Yong Hwa bugged her.

"Aigoo," she scoffed. "Just because you are done with your case, it does not mean that you are going to bug me!"

Yong Hwa smirked, but Shin Hye stood up and straddled (yes, she straddled) on him, then wrapped an arm around him, and pushed a fist to his head.

"You're naughty huh????" she chided him playfully as she jumped up and down on his lap like a horse.

"Aya! Aya!" Yong Hwa screamed. "So painful! Aya! Ya!"

Shin Hye noticed that her bestie was coughing, so she let go of her bullying and pinched his cheek.

"Mianhada," she crooned.

Then, she stood up and sat on the floor. Yong Hwa sat on the ottoman, raised his leg, and touched the back of her head with the sole of his foot.

"Aya!" it was Shin Hye's turn to scream, but Yong Hwa's foot held fast to her head.

She reached for his hairy leg and playfully pulled some of his leg hair, and he screamed in anger. Yong Hwa got up, and Shin Hye pulled out her tongue. They were lawyers, but they were acting like a bunch of kids. Soon, they found each other chasing each other. After five minutes of chasing, Yong Hwa pulled her closer, but because they lost their footing, the two of them landed on the floor, Yong Hwa on top of her.

And some neighbors who passed began talking.

"Those lovers are playing again," one ajumma said to her friend.

"Lovers?" Yong Hwa piped up.

Shin Hye pushed him, wrapped her arm around his neck, and wrestled with him. Yong Hwa struggled by kicking her leg with his, and soon, Shin Hye stopped playing around.

"Hah, that was fun!" she told him. "I never had this fun in years."

"You're so harsh," Yong Hwa said.

"Ya, you're the one who's harsh," she shot back with a smile.

Yong Hwa fisted his arm and pushed it into Shin Hye's mouth, and she bit his knuckles. They enjoyed playing it rough and being happy.

"Jin Woon-ah seldom does this with me," Yong Hwa said to her. "It seems like you're my namdongsaeng than he is."

"Can I call you 'eonni'? Coz you use my tote bags too," she joked.

"Ya!" he hissed.

But Shin Hye was fast, so she wrapped her arms around him for an embrace, trapping him into her hug. She hugged him tightly so that he could not breathe, and of course, he could not because of her ample chest. Soon, Yong Hwa mellowed down and let her sit on his lap.

"I wish we could stay like this, you know, being there for each other when we grow old," Shin Hye whispered as she caressed his hair.

Yong Hwa was enjoying pressing his face to her s, so he only nodded. Shin Hye allowed him to, and hugged him lovingly.

"I cannot imagine myself getting married to somebody else," she told him.

Yong Hwa looked up to her with a concerned face.

"What if Jong Hyun will come and court you?" Yong Hwa told her. "I can see he is true to you."

"But Jong Hyun and I had never seen each other for months," Shin Hye said. "Besides, he never continued making a move."

"Will you be OK if I pursue Fei-noona?" Yong Hwa asked.

"Of course, it's all right," she said. "But you are never serious to her as well."

"I might be," Yong Hwa said. "But maybe that is because I prefer to live the rest of my life with my best friend."

"Na do," she replied. "Though I cannot imagine myself bearing your child."

"Our child?" Yong Hwa asked. "I will never touch you that way, Shin Hye."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed. "I look at you that way too. I mean, you are just my best friend..."

"I know my male hormones might kick in, and you might give in to your itch, but..."

"Itch? Ewww!!!" Shin Hye slapped him. "I will never do it with you. Yuck."

Yong Hwa hugged her again and began caressing her arms.

"Saranghae," he told her.

"Saranghae," she replied.

Both of them got off the floor, and Shin Hye continued doing her case, while Yong Hwa took his warm bath. After two hours of studying, Shin Hye got back to her pad, and got back to Yong Hwa's with her jammies on. It was also their weird tendencies to still sleep beside each other like they used to. 

Shin Hye climbed on his bed, and he took his place beside her. Yong Hwa turned off the lamp so that his room will only be illuminated with the light from outside his room, for his room was near the street. He lovingly spread out his comforter to wrap the two of them.

"Brrrrr, cold~" Shin Hye complained.

"Come," he whispered.

Shin Hye scooted close and lay on his chest, and she placed a leg on top of his. It felt so good to be close to her friend like this.

"I love you sooo much, nae chingu," she crooned.

"Na do," he whispered before kissing her hair.

"My cheek?" she begged as she looked at him.

But even before he could kiss her, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. And after her turn, he kissed her cheek as well.

"Good night, nae chingu," he whispered.

And Shin Hye lay back on his chest, and  he cuddled her to sleep.

****

The  next day.

Jin Woon got his key to Yong Hwa's pad, and opened it.

"Let's surprise Hyung," Jin Woon whispered to their other cousin, Jung Shin.

"Go, go!" Jung Shin said excitedly.

The two guys silently got inside the pad, and tiptoed all the way to Yong Hwa's room. Jin Woon naughtily opened the door wide open, only to be scandalized.

"WHOA!!!!" Jin Woon shouted.

"MWOYA?" Jung Shin asked as he stumbled while covering his eyes with his hand.

For Shin Hye and Yong Hwa were hugging each other in their sleep.

"Hyung!" the two guys shouted.

Shin Hye and Yong Hwa awoke, and instead of acting guilty, the two of them got up comfortably.

"Hyung? Aish," Jin Woon said in exasperation. "Both of you are grown up. Should you still be doing this?"

"Hyung...did... did you...uhm... do it with Noona?" Jung Shin asked. "I'm so heartbroken."

But it was just a joke.

"Ya, nothing happened between the two of us, arasseo?" Yong Hwa calmly explained.

"Can you blame us for being this comfortable?" Shin Hye asked them.

"Even so, many people might get scandalized, and what's more, Noona... Noona is sleeping in your house," Jin Woon pointed out.

"Just get married already!" Jung Shin grinned. "So you can have many positions as you like."

"Shirheo!" the best friends echoed.

Jin Woon and Jung Shin looked at each other slyly.

"If you are so close, how come both of you are not bathing together?" Jung Shin asked.

"That's different," Shin Hye retorted.

"We'll be cooking~~" Jin Woon smirked.

The two best friends looked at the two, then at each other.

"We act like lovers when we are  not," Yong Hwa said.

"Ne..."

****

Shin Hye got back to Yong Hwa's pad, for the younger guys were cooking breakfast. After their breakfast, the female lawyer drove her male best friend to his law firm before she drove to hers.

****

Shin Hye started to fall ill, coughing and all, but she did not attend to it, and medications came in late. Yong Hwa was worried for her, but she told him she was fine. She started to get feverish, so instead of sleeping in his pad, he was sleeping on hers, tending to her like a real family member.

But her condition worsened, that in the middle of the court hearing, she rose her hand and requested the judge for another hearing, and the judge granted her request.

"I already told you to reschedule the hearing, but you insisted in coming in with an ailing body," the judge reprimanded Shin Hye.

'"J..joesonghamnida," she replied.

The client, a bereaved family who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a drunk driver, understood and even accompanied her to the hospital. It was the father of the decedent who drove her car for her.

"Park-byeon, geokjeongmaseyo (do not worry)," the father said. "Nobody can keep a good lawyer down."

"Ne, we believe you can win the case for us, so please get better," the mother of the decedent told her.

"Gamsahamnida..."

The younger sister of the decedent asked for Shin Hye's phone so that she can contact Yong Hwa for Shin Hye. The family knew about the close ties between the two, and despite their fight against the drunk driver, the family could somehow lighten up and tease Yong Hwa and Shin Hye.

"Why can't just Jung-byeon marry Park-byeon?" the younger sister asked.

"Aigoo," the mother said. "Let her rest..."

The next thing Shin Hye knew, she was down and out.

****

"Pneumonia," the doctor said to Yong Hwa.

He got pale when he heard the bad news.

"We will be giving her strong antibiotics because she did not seek medical treatment immediately," the doctor said. "Had she focused on her cough, the expectorants could have worked just perfectly fine, and it will not lead to this."

"She will get well, will she?" Yong Hwa asked in great concern.

"Pneumonia can be deadly, but it can be treated," the doctor said. "If the course of treatment will be followed accordingly, she will get well."

Yong Hwa got inside his best friend's room. Good thing, Shin Hye was no longer wearing the oxygen mask. He held her hand and squeezed it gently, and she woke up from her sleep.

"Jigeum gwaenchanha (you're OK now)," he told her.

"Jogeum... (a bit)," she said weakly.

Yong Hwa stayed to take care of her as he studied cases, leaving her only during the night and during cases. But of course, despite the fact that divorce cases could also take time in court, he would drive immediately to be with her in the hospital.

Jin Woon and Jung Shin came to visit her with flowers, and they arranged the flowers in ikebana style. Shin Hye loved the look of the flowers in the room, and she thanked the boys for being kind.

"Geurae," Jung Shin said. "And it will be more beautiful if Hyung will just marry you."

Shin Hye smiled. Though she just thought of Yong Hwa as a friend, marrying him might be an option which she might take.

Or not.

****

And that was what she told Yong Hwa when he came to visit her that evening.

"Jung Shin's crazy," she said.

"He is," Yong Hwa agreed. "Can't he just... accept it that ours is a love that is as devoted as that of lovers?"

"Like, our relationship can replace that of girlfriend and boyfriend," Shin Hye said.

"Maja," Yong Hwa said. "Maybe, we are not meant to be lovers, just friends...or can we be soulmates?"

"Johahae," she replied with a nod.

The doctor came in late to have his rounds, and he told Shin Hye that her intravenous fluids can be terminated once consumed, and that she can be discharged the next day.

"And by the time you come back for follow-up checkup one week after discharge, I want to see the both of you wearing your wedding rings," the doctor joked.

"Seonsaengnim, we are just friends," Yong Hwa said with his toothy grin.

"Algesseoyo," the doctor said while picking up a  hanky.

The two noticed that the doctor's nose suddenly had blood, and  he was wiping his nose profusely.

"Ah, both of you are just so cute, I am having nosebleeds here. Joesonghamnida," the doctor said.

"Gwaenchanhseumnida," the two said.

And true enough, Shin Hye was discharged the next day.

****

Shin Hye won the wrongful death case that she was handling, and Yong Hwa won three more divorce cases in favor of his clients. The two of them celebrated their success with a date near River Han.

It was sunset, and the two friends walked side by side while holding each other's hands. They loved the green grasses and the gay current of the river.

"So nice to be here," Shin Hye said.

"This is better than eating steaks and drinking wine," Yong Hwa told her. "It was getting a bit boring already."

"Ne..."

He pulled her closer for an embrace, and he kissed her head.

"I love you so much that I am willing to stand by you," he told her.

She leaned closer and hugged him back.

"Na do..." she whispered. "Yong Hwa, jeongmal, jeongmal saranghae..."

"Shall we dance?" he asked her.

Shin Hye nodded, and soon, Yong Hwa took the lead by dancing some slow dance with her. Despite the other people who got nosebleeds at their cuteness, or who were scandalized because the two were not acting like lawyers, the two continued to dance and have their own world together.

Theirs was a friendship and devotion and love that was so strong that it can replace the relationship of lovers.

Theirs was a relationship that goes beyond the mere description of romantic love and .

Theirs was a bond that could tie each other for years to come.

(But of course, we want our YongShin couple to get married. Ppalli, ppalli, get married already!)

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(People, do you have more requests?)

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