If your loved one is going to die, would you trade your life so that they could live?

Would you trade your life for your parents’?

What about your sisters? Brothers?

Your best friends?

Your girlfriend/boyfriend?

What about a stranger?

The question randomly popped up in Sooyoung’s head as she was on her way home from part-time work.

Let Choi Sooyoung be introduced. She was an orphan. Her parents died when she was 5 and she had no siblings. Sooyoung was raised in an orphanage after her parents’ death. When she was finally eighteen, she moved out from the orphanage and lived on her own.

Sooyoung enjoyed her life though. It wasn’t that dramatically hard like in movies. She was so smart the national university offered her a scholarship. She worked part-time and had enough money to spend. She had friends who loved her and respected her. She had dreams, goals and a picture of her future car sticking on her bedroom's wall.

Back to the questions. Yes she would trade her life for her parents’. She would also trade her life for her siblings if she had had any. She would definitely say yes when it comes to her best friends Hyoyeon and Seohyun. She didn’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend yet, but she guessed she would trade her life for them anyway if she loved them that much. But a stranger? Hmm this actually required more thoughts on it.

However, Sooyoung still took out her phone and typed in the idea of it, because it sounded… interesting.

 

----

 

Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Seohyun went to the beach for a week long holiday. It was a fine afternoon and they were playing on the private beach of Seohyun’s family's resort. There were only the three of them and some guests who were staying in the resort. Seohyun was building a sand castle for Keroro while Sooyoung and Hyoyeon were playing soccer.

“You! That’s cheating! LOL” Sooyoung yelled between laughter when her blonde friend stole the ball.

“You’re the one who’s cheating! Look at your long legs!” Hyoyeon shouted back and ran away with the ball under her control.

“Unnies are so loud.” Seohyun commented and giggled to herself. Just then a tall girl approached Seohyun with cocktails on a tray.

“Ms. Seohyun, here are the cocktails.”

“Thank you, Yoona unnie.”

“You’re welcome.” Yoona smiled.

Seohyun watched the staff of the resort walked away as her heart beat faster. She had a huge crush on Yoona, a staff of the resort. Yoona was the main reason why she always visits her family’s business when she has holidays and never forgets to drag her friends along.

“Put your hands up!”

“You’re caught staring at Yoona!”

Hyoyeon and Sooyoung each pointed two fingers at Seohyun pretending they were guns and shouted.

“Unnies!!”

The two older girls laughed. Yoona, though were away, was able to hear the shout and grinned to herself.

In the middle of the fun atmosphere, they heard a scream.

“Somebody help her she’s drowning!!” Everybody turned their heads to the direction of the voice and saw a figure struggling between the strong waves from afar. Without thinking, Sooyoung dashed to the sea. She ran with all her might towards the sea while everybody made way for her.

Hyoyeon chased after Sooyoung after collecting herself. “Someone stop that kid she can’t swim!!” Nobody did anything. Hyoyeon sped up but she couldn’t reach Sooyoung who was already faraway near the water area. “Choi Sooyoung!! Come back here you can’t swim, stupid!!!”

Sooyoung heard nothing and jumped into the sea. She swung her arms and legs dumbly trying to get to the drowning person. Salty water harshly pushed her back to the shore every time she got closer. Water got into her eyes, , her nose and her ears. She felt the ground disappeared and got scared, but that only happened in a tick tock before she stormed through the waves with her eyes glued on the figure in front of her.

“Don’t drown!!” Sooyoung yelled and drank a whole bunch of water. She grabbed the person’s hand just in time before they gave up their life. A sense of victory built up inside her as the person held on to her body tightly. That victorious moment didn’t last long, though. Sooyoung didn’t expect someone to be so heavy they pulled her down the water. Both of them sank and they couldn’t breathe. Sooyoung tried her best to get her head out of the water for air, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to swim.

Sooyoung ran out of air in her lungs. So this is it. She thought to herself. I had a fun life. Thank you everyone for everything. Thank you Hyoyeon, Seohyun. I love you guys. I’ll watch over you guys. I’m coming to you, mom, dad.

Before losing consciousness, Sooyoung used her last piece of strength to push the person she was trying to save up hoping that they will get their head out of the water and at least breathe some air in.

---

“Mom! Dad! Is that you?”

Sooyoung ran towards two standing figures in front of her. They were in a cloudy area where everything was white.

“Sooyoungie, my child!”

“Mom! Dad!” Sooyoung felt like flying as her body was very light. She could feel the softness of the cloud every time her feet hit the ground. She ran for minutes but never got any closer to her parents. “How… far do… I have to… go…?” She said panting.

“Great news, my dear. You’re not coming with us.” Sooyoung’s mom-shadow spoke.

“Am I gonna be sent to hell??” Sooyoung panicked.

“No no. You have not yet died, dear.” The father-shadow said.

“Oh I’m not dead?”

“You were dead actually. baby. But people down there they still want you to live. Especially your girlfriend."

“My girlfriend? But I don’t have a girlfriend!"

"You'll see, dear. Now that you're not dead anymore, go back. Don’t make others worried more."

"But, mom! Dad!"

 

---

 

"Choi Sooyoung!!!"

"Sooyoung unnie!! Please don’t..!!!"

Sooyoung heard her best friends' cries. The white and cloudy place disappeared. Everything was now dark.

"Heyyy heyy her heart starts beating again!! Doctor!! Doctor!!"

Sooyoung felt exhausted. Her body was so heavy she couldn’t lift her arms or her legs up. She couldn’t even open her eyes nor move her fingers. The doctor examined her body carefully and exclaimed. "This is a miracle! She just came back from the death! Now she needs time to recover and might have to spend another day in unconsciousness."

"So she's alive?? OMG THANK YOU DOCTOR!!"

"Thank goodness! Oh my god Sooyoungie!!" Hyoyeon sobbed in relief. Hyoyeon was usually the strong one. Hearing Hyoyeon cry made Sooyoung felt sad and happy at the same time. She didn’t like her friends crying but at least she knew that they truly cared for her. A soft hand slid under Sooyoung's unmoving hand and squeezed it lightly. Their thumb gently brushed the back of the tall girl's hand and Sooyoung could hear an angelic voice calling her name. "Sooyoung-ah, please stay strong."

Who is that? Sooyoung thought. It wasn’t Hyoyeon or Seohyun. It couldn’t possibly be Yoona either.

"Silly you, why did you save me?" Sooyoung was so exhausted it took her a while before she realized it was the person she saved. So she was still alive. They both were alive. Mission completed!

"Excuse me, but visiting time is over. The patient needs to rest. Everybody please come back later." It was the nurse of the hospital. Sooyoung could imagine the disappointed expression on her friends' faces.

"Let's go guys. Hwaiting Sooyoungie! We'll come back as soon as they let us in!" Hyoyeon said.

"Sooyoung unnie please rest well." Seohyun said.

"Bye Sooyoung." The unknown person said as they pulled back their hand. Sooyoung was all disappointed the moment she couldn’t feel the hand anymore.

The room became quiet and peaceful after the three closed the door. Sooyoung decided to reward herself a good sleep and soon drifted off to lala land.

 

---

 

Outside the hospital

 

"Hmm... What's your name?" Hyoyeon asked another blonde who was walking beside her and Seohyun.

"Oh. I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jung Jessica, you can call me Jessica."

"Nice name. I'm Kim Hyoyeon."

"My name is Seo Juhyun but you can call me Seohyun. Nice to meet you, Jessica unnie."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"Are you feeling okay now?" Hyoyeon asked.

"Yes. I'm all good now." Jessica said and sighed.

"What's wrong unnie?"

"I... I feel so guilty. Your friend being in this state is all because of me."

"Aish, nonsense. It's not like you made her do it, right? She chose to do it on her own. It's actually more like her fault." Hyoyeon rolled her eyes thinking about how such a tall girl could be so stupid.

"But..." Jessica protested.

"Hehe don’t worry. I think Sooyoung didn’t save you so that you feel guilty, did she?"

"..."

"That's right, unnie. It's alright. You can always make it up to her when she wakes up."

Jessica nodded and smiled. She promised herself that she was going to do anything in her ability to repay her hero.

 

---

 

That very early morning, Jessica went to the hospital. She couldn’t sleep so she decided to visit Sooyoung early. She wanted to bring some flowers but the shops hadn’t even opened yet. Jessica walked through corridors to the Sooyoung's room. She opened the door and saw the tall girl sleeping peacefully on the bed. She went to sit on the chair next to the bed and watched her savior sleeping.

Jessica was amazed at how pretty Sooyoung was. Yesterday when Hyoyeon and a lifeguard came to rescue them two, Jessica was half way there to the other side of the world so all she could take a glimpse at was a completely soaked Sooyoung who was unconscious and pale. Now that Sooyoung was dried and recovering, she looked so much better and prettier. It would be a waste and a loss of the world if Sooyoung didn’t make it yesterday.

The blonde girl remembered how she was so scared and lost in the middle of the strong waves. She remembered how she was exhausted fighting against nature and felt like exploding not being to breathe. Just right when she thought everything was over, her hand was grabbed and she was able to breathe again. Never in her life had air been so precious.

Jessica gently held the hand of unconscious Sooyoung and caressed it. "I still can’t believe you don’t know how to swim." Yeah... It wasn’t logical for someone to risk her life for a stranger. Jessica couldn’t help chuckling and wondering why Sooyoung did such a thing. Such a silly thing. She could have lost her life.

Jessica looked at the tall girl. She was sure she had never seen Sooyoung before yet the more she looked the more she felt like they had known each other for a long time now. Like how Sooyoung's hand was all comfy and their palms fit so well.

Being with the sleeping Sooyoung made Jessica sleepy. She didn’t feel uneasy and guilty anymore. It was so peaceful.

-----

Sooyoung woke up to her hungry stomach. She felt satisfied with the long sleep but hunger was now a major problem. However, she was still a little bit lazy so she decided to lay there for some more and stared at the ceiling. It took her a while to feel something weird. One of her hands was hotter than the other. In fact, it was sweating.

Sooyoung was shocked to see a blonde figure sleeping beside her, holding her hand. Her heat beat rapidly because of the surprise. “Oh my god… What the hell…” Sooyoung muttered. She calmed herself down and tried to figure out who was that person. She was blonde but didn’t look like Hyoyeon at all.

“Sooyoungie!” Hyoyeon swung open the door and stormed in. “Oh Jessica is here already!”

Jessica woke up to the noise and lifted her head up. Sooyoung stared at the beautiful face of the girl in awe. The blonde girl looked around and remembered the situation. She immediately sat up and hugged Sooyoung.

“Sooyoung!!! You woke up!!!” Jessica squeezed Sooyoung in her arms.

Sooyoung was dumbfounded but she liked it and grinned. She shot a 'what’s going on?' look at Hyoyeon. Her friend just smiled and gave her a thumb-up. Jessica backed away and smiled brightly at Sooyoung making Sooyoung’s heart beat faster.

“Thank you!”

“Me?”

“Yes. Thank you for saving me!”

“Ohhhh! So it’s you!” Sooyoung laughed. “Are you okay now?”

“I’m fine I’m fine. What about you?” Jessica sat down on the chair still holding Sooyoung’s hand.

“I’m good.” Sooyoung smiled. “But I’m hungry…”

“Here here, shikshin.” Hyoyeon showed her friend a basket full of food. Sooyoung immediately lit up her eyes.

“Hooorayy ajusshi!”

Hyoyeon and Jessica ate with Sooyoung who consumed the most percentage of the basket. Seohyun came not long after and joined them. They chatted delightfully.

“I’m Jessica. Jessica Jung.”

“Choi Sooyoung.” Sooyoung winked. Jessica unconsciously blushed and pretended to pay attention to her sandwich.

“Stop flirting around Choi!” Hyoyeon scolded.

“What? Just a wink, ajusshi!”

“Trying to be a charming hero huh shikshin?” Hyoyeon teased.

“Yah!” Sooyoung flushed. Jessica and Seohyun giggled.

"Hey, I would like to invite you guys to dinner to thank you. How about Saturday night?" Jessica spoke.

"Oh no you don’t have to do that." Sooyoung genuinely said and smiled warmly at the girl. "You being safe is already a reward."

"N-no... I insist..." Jessica was captivated by Sooyoung's charm and couldn’t help staring at her.

Hyoyeon nudged Seohyun signaling that these two needed 'privacy'. Seohyun nodded in acknowledgment and played her little drama.

"Sooyoung unnie, I'll go buy you some fruits okay? You need vitamins to recover faster!"

"Oh that sounds legit! I'll go with you Seohyun." Hyoyeon played along.

"Wha-wait!" Sooyoung said as Hyoyeon and Seohyun stood up and walked to the door.

"Take care of Sooyoung okay, Jessica!" Hyoyeon winked and quickly left with the maknae.

The room was awkwardly silent for a moment before Jessica spoke up.

"Thank you, again." the blonde girl tapped Sooyoung's hand as a gesture of appreciation.

"Okay." Sooyoung nodded.

"Usually people say 'you're welcome' or 'never mind' or something." Jessica chuckled.

"Hehe. If somebody thank you and they mean it, all you have to do is take it, right?"

"That's true. It's much better to know my thanks are acknowledged and accepted."

"But to be polite, you're welcome." Sooyoungie put out her tongue.

The tall girl mindlessly held Jessica's hand and examined it. She was pretty amused at how beautiful the latter looked. Even her hands were small and cute with slim fingers and milky skin. Jessica became all shy and blushed at the Sooyoung's action. Sooyoung's hand was sending electricity to hers even though the latter didn’t seem to notice. Jessica could hear the thump of her own heart in her eardrums and she tried striking another topic.

"You were so silly, you know. Why did you save me? You couldn’t even swim."

"Oh." Sooyoung looked up and lightly squeezed the hand of Jessica that she was holding. "I don't know. But I don’t regret it though. I saved a quite pretty princess."

Damn. Jessica thought. The Sooyoung's sweet-talk made it even worse. She bit her lips to stop herself from grinning from ear to ear. "You could have lost your life, babo."

"If I was dead, life would be too unfair to live then." Sooyoung showed an arrogant face. "Oh hey! I just remembered something!" Sooyoung exclaimed and reached for her phone nearby. She scanned through the notes and found the one she was looking for. She showed it to Jessica with a proud smile.

"Risk my life for a stranger?" Jessica read the text. "What's that?"

"It's my bucket list!"

"Bucket list? You mean like the list of things you are going to do?"

"Yeah." Sooyoung nodded.

"You mean THIS is in your list?" Jessica pointed at the phone screen.

"Uh-huh. Now I can cross it out." The tall girl smiled proudly.

"Are you crazy or something?"

"Something." Sooyoung winked.

Jessica slapped Sooyoung's arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Why did you put such thing in the list?"

"I just thought it was interesting and that at least I should give it a try..."

"So... You saved me because of the list?" Jessica felt a little disappointed.

"No. You think I was able to think properly when someone was drowning?" Sooyoung put her phone back. "You know, I just did. It was suddenly too necessary to steal you back from the death that I forgot I didn’t know how to swim." Sooyoung giggled at her own stupidity.

Jessica smiled. What the latter just said actually was so corny, but she liked it.

"I'm so touched!" Jessica pouted.

"You better be."

------

Sooyoung was discharged from the hospital the next day. She continued her holiday with Hyoyeon and Seohyun at the maknae's resort. Jessica joined them as she was also on vacation with her sister Krystal and Amber, Krystal's girlfriend. It turned out that everybody was staying in the same resort and their rooms were only a fountain away.

In the morning, the girls had breakfast together, then they went playing at the beach 'til afternoon. After that Krystal and Amber would go for a walk hand in hand, Seohyun would go looking for Yoona leaving Hyoyeon, Sooyoung and Jessica who took their time going shopping. At night, everybody gathered in Seohyun's largest VIP room and played board games. Three days of spending time with each other and having fun brought everyone closer and closer. Jessica had developed a feeling towards Sooyoung, the savior of her life, while the tall girl also had a thing for this shortie blonde.

The holiday was soon over and it was time to go home.

 

-----

 

Last night of holiday

 

Krystal and Amber had gone to God knows where. Seohyun succeeded in asking Yoona out on a date in last minute. Hyoyeon drank too much beer and went to bed early. Your author is good at making up excuses teehee. Having nothing to do because the author said so, SooSica decided to have a walk on the along the beach.

It was a chilly and windy night at the beach. There were a bright full moon and millions of stars. The sound of the strong sea blocked all other noises and made up a little world just for our lead couple.

There was no one at the beach but the two freaks who thought walking in this cold weather was romantic.

“You cold?”

Jessica nodded while shivering.

“Come stand near me.”

Sooyoung ped her jacket and hugged Jessica with her hands in the pockets of the jacket, letting it cover the latter.

“Why are we even here?” Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know.” Jessica snuggled up to Sooyoung’s warm body.

Because my script said so lol.

“Hmm…”

Sooyoung walked awkwardly with Jessica in her jacket towards the area that had huge umbrellas. She knocked down the umbrellas and placed them around, making a circle.

“What are you doing?” Jessica asked, now they were standing inside the umbrella circle.

“Blocking the wind. It’s warmer, see? And we can lay down here.”

Sooyoung lied down on the soft sand and stretch her arms. Jessica squatted down next to her. The umbrellas surrounding them protected them from the wind. Now there were just them and the umbrellas.

“But we can’t see anything. The umbrellas blocked the wind AND the view.”

“Not this one though.” Sooyoung pointed at the sky. Jessica looked up and saw the most amazing night sky she had ever seen. “You’re going to have a neck-ache if you keep looking up like that.” Sooyoung chuckled.

 

Have you ever been in love – Standing Egg

 

Jessica merong-ed and lied down. The cold sand made her shiver but the view above them was worth scarifying for.

“It’s amazing!”

“I know right.”

Sooyoung tried counting the stars but more of them just appeared out of nowhere so she gave up.

“Hey there’s dookong over there!” Jessica exclaimed.

“Where where?”

“See? On the left of that one.”

“Huh…? Oh yeah! Hahaha nice one, Sica.”

They shut up and stared at the stars, amazed by the beauty of nature. They could hear the repeating sound of the sea and eventually, it felt like time was passing really slowly.

“Where’s Simba’s father?” Sooyoung randomly asked.

“I think he’s over there.”

“Are you sure? It looks more like Timon and Pumba.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. Sooyoung had started her habit of talking silly things again. But it amused her, so she smiled.

The cool weather, the endless sky filled with millions of sparkling stars and the peaceful sound of the sea, there were no such thing as worries, society, responsibility, annoying people, cucumbers… All those problems are too small compared to the sky and too few compared to the amount of stars. Life suddenly seemed to be not that hard at all.

“Hey there’s Keroro.” Sooyoung whispered.

“No way! Where?”

“Over there. Next to the deer.”

“Woooohh.” Jessica grinned widely. There was indeed a Keroro riding a deer.

“Hey isn’t that Totoro?” The tall girl whispered again.

“What? Is this some kind of a magic sky or something?” Jessica said sarcastically. Yes she knew stars can form pretty cute things but, Keroro and now Totoro? Are you serious?

“I think it’s the Royal Family sky.”

“What’s the Royal Family sky?”

“I don’t know. My mother told me when you see a deer, Keroro, dookong and Totoro together in the sky, it’s called the Royal Family sky.”

“We already got three. I still can’t see Totoro yet. Where is he?”

“See dookong? He’s on the right of the dookong.”

“I see dookong, but…”

“Look, he’s right there.”

Sooyoung pulled Jessica closer to her and pointed at the sky. She wanted to have Jessica’s view so she moved her face close to the latter’s and their cheeks ended up touching each other. Jessica’s heart raced and the air suddenly became so hot.

“See? Right there.”

The blonde girl couldn’t focus and saw no Totoro. She was busy blushing and enjoying having Sooyoung close to her.

“Can you see it?” Sooyoung turned her head to see if the latter saw her Totoro but Jessica was just staring at her.

“You didn’t even look!” Sooyoung pouted.

Omigosh. Her lips look so soft. Jessica slapped the sudden thought out of her head. What.

“S-sorry. Now where is Totoro again?”

“Thereeee.”

Sooyoung reached out her hand with all her ability as if it could get any closer to Totoro. Jessica narrowed her eyes. The stars became blurry and a Totoro appeared.

“Omo I see him now!!” Jessica pointed at Totoro in excitement.

“See!! It’s the Royal Family sky!!” Sooyoung put her thumb up and waved it in the middle of the air.

“That’s so cool!” Jessica clapped her hands. Now she believed there is a Royal Family sky.

“Do you know what it means?” Sooyoung sat up and looked down at the lying Jessica.

“What?”

“Only lovers can see a Royal Family sky.”

Jessica widened her eyes. “Only… wha-what?”

Sooyoung smirked and leaned down, supporting the upper body with her elbow. Jessica stopped breathing as she stared at the pair of soft lips. She could feel the Sooyoung’s breathing and the sides of their noses touched.

“Only lovers.” The tall girl winked and gently placed her lips on Jessica’s. There was electricity all other the place and the two were thrilled at the sensation. Jessica was hypnotized as she felt the soft and delicious lips that she had longed for since the beginning of time. Her hands were put around Sooyoung’s neck and she pulled the latter into a deeper kiss.

Meanwhile, Sooyoung had a whole firework festival inside her head. She never thought someone’s lips and tongue could be so sweet. She had not once tasted anything as delicious, not even her favorite food.

The long kiss soon ended and replaced by short pecks and smirks.

“I just… remembered something.” Sooyoung said and reconnected their lips.

“Hmmm… what is it?”

“You know… my bucket list.”

“Uh huhmm.”

“I actually have… this one… to fulfill…”

“And that thing is…?”

“Risk my life for my girlfriend.” Sooyoung removed the blonde bangs and caressed Jessica’s beautiful face.

Jessica giggled. She looked into Sooyoung’s eyes and felt like flowers were blossoming in the heart.

“You can cross it out now.” Jessica bit her bottom lip and winked seductively and they continued their little game under the Royal Family sky.

 

A/N: omo you saw the Royal Family sky with me we're now lovers okay no okay forever alone together x'D.