The little girl's head was bowed down the whole time Yoona stood there. Even while she and the little girl's mother conversed, her head remained in one fixed spot, almost seeming to burn a hole on the floor beneath her. The little girl's hand were clasped together and she fiddled with her fingernails.

''This is my daughter.'' the little girl's mother announced, placing a firm grip on her daughter's thin shoulder, ''Seohyun, please look up at Yoona Unnie for me.''

The little girl turned her face upward, and her eyes caught onto Yoona's. Yoona looked back at the shy and blushing red face of the small girl's and gave a, hopefully, friendly smile.

''Please take care of her.'' was what Seohyun's mother said, before departing and leaving the little girl in Yoona's care.

　

_____

Yoona's eyelids fluttered continously from the bask of sunshine that glowed within her bedroom. She knew that it was time for her to get up and get on with her day, but she longed for more sleep. She groaned inwardly when the alarm clock beside her beeped. She wanted to relax, it was a Sunday, after all.

There are always three steps in life to pretty much everything. When it came to waking up in the morning, for Yoona, there were always three steps before she would gather herself out of her bed.

One was the bright sunshine that filtered through her bedroom curtains, then it was her alarm clock, and finally..

''Unnie.'' knock knock

Yoona smiled to herself. There was always one step, the final step, that she couldn't ignore. ''Yah! I'm up!'' Yoona retorted. The door slowly opened and Seohyun poked her head through. She smiled at the sight of Yoona half up in bed, looking dazed. ''You just got up now, didn't you?'' Seohyun said quietly with a hint of cheekiness. Yoona gave a faint smile, that was pretty much all she could manage. ''Come on, Unnie. It's time for breakfast.'' Seohyun said in a cheerful tone, as she grabbed hold of Yoona's hand and tried to lead her out of the room. Yoona groaned, ''Yah! I told you I was up, didn't I?''

Seohyun continued to tug Yoona until she had her dragged out of the room and down the steps into the kitchen.

Food was placed on the table. Piles of toast on a plate, two cups of steaming tea, a seperate glass of orange juice, cereal boxes lined up, a tub of margarine, and of course cutleries to be used.

The two sat down to eat, scooting into a chair, on opposite ends of the table. Yoona reached forward for a piece of toast, grabbed the margarine tub, and with a knife began to spread. She blew a raspberry while doing so, clearly still half-asleep. With her backhand, she tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. While munching on her piece of toast, she looked upward to find the young girl staring at her. Yoona stopped munching and raised a curious eyebrow, ''What's the matter?''

Seohyun fluttered her eyelids, and turned to peer at the empty china plate in front of her. ''Just hurry up and eat.'' Yoona told the young girl, as a nervous thought ran through her mind.

____

Seohyun's mother's words ran through her mind frequently. Sometimes, Yoona would find herself in a precariously difficult situation, in which she had to remind herself of why she was living with this young girl, and of course...why she was not allowed to let anything beyond friendship occur. Since the day Seohyun had been shipped into Yoona's care, all she had thought of was to take care of the little girl, and nothing more. Like a mother with a child, like a big sister to her little sister, even an owner with it's pet, if she had to go so far as to convey her point. Taking care of the little girl was all that mattered, as of now, and what taking care of Seohyun required was simple:

Food to eat,

clothes to wear,

a roof over her head,

some form of education,

and to avoid Seohyun stumbling into problems.

So far, Yoona felt as if she had done a fairly good job in raising this young girl up and making sure she had everything a young person could need.

Now Seohyun was 19, and Yoona 20, and Seohyun was put into Yoona's care since she was only 15 years of age.There wasn't much of an age-gap between the two, but Yoona had done her best to seem far more mature than Seohyun in many ways. However, sometimes....there was a moment of friction that made Yoona want to let Seohyun spread her wings and fly from the roost. Sometimes she would see a look in Seohyun's eyes, which did not make her feel quite at ease as she would like to be. She didn't know when she would give the young girl a chance to flee, because as much as she would like to help Seohyun walk on her own two feet, she also felt frozen in this matter. There was something about letting Seohyun be around other people, which bothered her tremendously...mainly because since Seohyun was 15 years of age, she had always been a naive little lamb who needed to be taught right from wrong. Seohyun was the trusty type, who would follow after a person blindly if they so much as smiled at her.

One time, and this thought pained Yoona more than anything ,Seohyun had almost been fooled, tricked, into a club by an older man. The man had long black hair which shaped his quite feminine face, the usual 'pretty boy'. He had seen Seohyun standing by herself outside a clothes store while Yoona went searching for summer outwear for the two, and almost immediately struck up a conversation with her. By the time Yoona had looked outside the store for Seohyun to ask her opinion on one of the outwear she had found, she realised that Seohyun was missing. She had only left Seohyun for a minute, because Seohyun was eating a cup of ice-cream and food wasn't permitted inside the store.

Yoona had searched frantically around the whole mall in panic, looking left to right. She even went to people questioning them whether they had seen a girl with long dyed brown hair walking about.

Eventually, and luckily, she had found the older man and Seohyun just about to enter in a small club outside the mall. Yoona had run forward and yanked Seohyun's hand from the older man's. She glared at the man defensively, putting Seohyun behind her back protecively. The older man looked at Yoona, and knew right then and there that the game was up. Turning his nose up at the two, slouching, he disappeared into the club.

Yoona swallowed, feeling tight. Even now, the memory frightened her, of how she had once lost and almost put Seohyun, the girl she was supposed to protect, into danger.

She had found it hard to talk that day, and had left the mall almost immediately, driving all the way back home. Seohyun had watched Yoona through the rearview mirror repeatedly in confusion.

Unnie, what's the matter?

It took a few days before Yoona gathered the courage to ask Seohyun what had happened between the older man and herself. She wanted to know why she was with the man and what he had said, she was almost positive that the man had swee-talked to her in some way.

Ever since that time, Yoona had been sure to never let Seohyun out of her sight.

Yoona snapped out of her thoughts, having been dazed and staring at the plate in front of her. Seohyun smiled at her sweetly, ''your plate, Unnie.'' Seohyun took the plate away and placed it inside the kitchen sink, screwing open the tap, ready to soap and wash the used cutlery and plates.

Watching Seohyun now seemed to make Yoona realise something....Seohyun was much older, 19 years of age..not a little impressionable girl anymore. The fight, the struggle of letting Seohyun go, troubled her greatly.

I have to let go of you some day...don't I?

_______

　

Later in the day, the two sat in front of the television screen, watching some soap opera. Seohyun's head resting on Yoona's shoulder with her toes curled up on the sofa.

''No Minwoo's so interesting, isn't he?'' Seohyun suddenly said, making Yoona turn to look at her, ''ah where did this declaration come from?'' she laughed nervously.

''well, all the girls at my university say they like him...and I've been watching this drama, Unnie, and I can't really understand it..''

Yoona chuckled, ''Everybody has different tastes, Seo. Just because they all like him, it doesn't mean you have to like him aswell, you know?'' Seohyun narrowed her brows, ''I know that...but if someone is popular, there must be a reason, right?''

''well...'' Yoona began, ''I guess...maybe they just like his character on this show.''

''hmmmm...''

Yoona seemed surprised at the young girl's inquisitive eyes. Her gaze piercing towards the television screen, as if trying to suss out the secret to No Minwoo's popularity.

suddenly reminded of an earlier event which occured to her, Seohyun asked, ''unnie, do you remember Lee Donghae Oppa?''

''mm?''

''well...''

Yoona looked closely at Seohyun, suddenly worried at how coy Seohyun seemed to appear, ''what happened?''

''well...'' Seohyun seemed on the verge of tears, and Yoona grew even worse in her worry for the young girl. She knew that Seohyun was a sensitive girl, and Yoona was always ready to defend 'Seobaby's' honour, ''what happened, Seo?''

''He called me y.'' Seohyun bit her bottom lip and looked up at Yoona with frightened eyes that almost resemble a deer in headlights. Yoona's heart began to beat, ''and?''

''what do you mean, and?''

''well, what are you going to do about it, seo?'' she couldn't even believe that she would broach this subject any further. Seohyun squinched an eye, ''if you're wondering whether I like him, unnie, then no, I don't...well, at least I don't think I do..''

Yoona swallowed a bout of saliva, her beat thumping viciously and without mercy, against her chest. She tried to calm herself down but to no avail. She was hurt, and she knew it, and there was no denying that she was mad at Lee Donghae, in a way she hadn't ever been before. Lee Donghae had always been the sweet boy down the road from them, the boy who had helped Seohyun fit in at school when Seo walked around the corridors like a lost puppy. Lee Donghae had been the boy who had smiled at Yoona the other day while she was out for a walk with Seohyun, holding up a hand of greeting.

Why did it seem as if Lee Donghae had betrayed her? for some bizarre reason, she felt nothing but contempt for the young boy, a horrible taste in . ''Don't worry, unnie, it's not going to be like that..'' Yoona felt the sudden hand upon her own, and turned to look at the little girl.

Seohyun had a gentle look on her face as she Yoona's upper hand, tenderly caressing the skin.

''It won't be like..what?'' Yoona questioned, furrowed brows emitting.

''You're afraid I'm too naive still...still too innocent, that I'll chase after any boy that shows me any kind of affection, right?''

Yoona blinked rapidly, opening all prepared to defend herself.

Seohyun shook her head, ''there's no reason to worry like that...to be honest, Donghae Oppa isn't my type, just like No Minwoo isn't my type...Donghae Oppa might be popular in university with all of my classmates, but for me..he's nothing special.'' Yoona sighed, not knowing what to say to this, except, ''Seo..you can be with whoever you want, I won't try to get in between the two of you.''

A concerned expression painted itself on Seohyun's face in minutes, she seemed shocked tremendously by this revelation, ''but...''

Yoona was dumbfounded at the young girl's reaction, well, she tried to pretend that she was dumbfounded. Those nagging thoughts began to filter her mind again.

No, you have to take care of her. You, I, have to take care of her, that's all. Nothing more. I shouldn't think like that of-''

　

____

It was later in the evening and Yoona had headed off for an early night, as tomorrow would be Monday, meaning Seohyun and Yoona both needed to get up for their seperate classes.

There was a knock on the door and Yoona cringed at the sound. The knocks continued for several minutes, before Yoona went over and opened her door. Her door didn't have a lock, but even so, Seohyun had always been polite enough to knock and ask for permission, before permitting herself entrance within the room.

The two stood, staring at the other. Yoona looked up at the young girl, ''what is it?''

''unnie...I want to say something....I hope you don't mind it too much, and..''

Yoona squeezed her eyes tightly on instinct as all her worrying thoughts clouded over her subonscious, leaving her immobile.

''unnie, I...'' Seohyun's sweet lips parted, ''I won't go anywhere. I'm in no hurry to leave.....I'll stay here beside you, unnie. I'll live with you for a long time, and it's not for your benefit, it's for my selfishness. I prefer to live with you rather than another person or with flatmates.''

Seohyun's mouth hung wide in shock, and her eyes wide, at the sight of the woman in front of her. The young woman who had raised her since she was fifteen years of age, cried in front of her for the very first time.

__

The young girl draped her arm around the older woman's waist, and not for the first time had the two slept in the same bed. Plenty of times Seohyun had suffered nightmares and found herself bundled up in Yoona's bed, softly sleeping beside her unnie. If there was one thing that Seohyun had learned over the years, it had to be this,

here, cuddled up tightly with Yoona unnie, was her favourite place in the world and her comfort zone. This was where she belonged.

wherever her unnie would be, Seohyun would surely be nearby.

Yoona smiled contentedly, as she heard the light snore from behind, and for the last time Seohyun's mother's words ran through her mind.

''Please take care of her''

oh, I don't need to anymore....she's perfectly capable on her own, now..

you'd be amazed at how much she's grown, ma'am.

　

　

　

a/n: regarding why Seohyun had ended up in Yoona's care in the first place is completely up to YOU, the reader. Let your imaginations go wild :) One thing I have always respected is when a writer keeps a mystery in their story, which leaves a certain taste a reader never quite gets tired of. I couldn't really come up with a reason as to why Seohyun ended up with Yoona, but I have always seen this mother-daughter/older sister-younger sister vibe from them many a time and I was inspired enough to create one-shots xD