Chapter Forty

Yoona was standing by the window, staring aimlessly into the vast of darkness outside their dormitory. Dinner ended about half an hour ago and Yuri had instructed Sooyoung to do the clean up while she returned to her room to get a shower.

Jessica and she were allowed get to rest because Jessica was the guest and as for her… Yuri thought she needed one.

Yoona sighed heavily through her nose as she rested her elbows against the window panes.

Seeing how Tiffany was absent from the dining table again, Yoona knew she must be the reason Tiffany left, although both Yuri and Sooyoung insisted she only left because she wanted to do self-training.

Yoona tried to recall the incident that happened in her room this evening and she couldn’t help but blame herself over and over again for treating Tiffany harshly when the latter was only trying to save her from Jessica – who she thought was going to hurt her.

Why did she have to say such mean words to Tiffany? She could always phrase her words in a more comfortable way.

Yoona sighed again.

“Hey Yoona.”

There were knockings on the door. Yoona spun around and saw Yuri peeking into the room with half of her body hiding behind the door.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Yoona and Yuri settled on the couch. Yoona picked up the frog plush toy and hugged it in front of her chest.

“You’re not looking good.” Yuri commented.

Yoona did not say anything or respond with any action.

“I know you’re thinking about Fany.”

“I’m sorry about that unnie…” Yoona whispered as her hands played with the plush toy’s limbs.

Yuri knew exactly what Yoona was referring to. She stretched an arm behind Yoona’s back and pulled the young hunter into her embrace. She ruffled her hair gently, like an older sister comforting her younger sister. “Yoona-ah, I told you Tiffany went for self-training. She isn’t angry with you or with Jessica at all.” That was what Yuri thought actually, since she didn’t find her partner to be angry when she had a short conversation with her before she left.

“But still…” She made Tiffany stormed out of their dormitory and her room for two days straight. And for these two days, Tiffany hadn’t joined them for dinner.

Yoona simply couldn’t forget what she said to Tiffany when she barged into her room.

She could have used less hostile words.

“Yup?”

“Nothing.” Yoona forced out a smile and shook her head. She was the one who started this problem, therefore she should be the one who solved it. “Unnie, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure? Go ahead.”

“Do you love Fany unnie?” The question which had been torturing the young hunter ever since she realized her mistake this evening, Yoona knew she had to get an affirmative answer for it or else she might just hurt Tiffany again even if she already realized she might be the one who was wrong.

Yuri groaned at the question uncontrollably.

Why do the shikshins love to ask her this question?

However, Yuri kept her composure. Unlike how she treated Sooyoung in the kitchen, Yuri questioned Yoona back with a smile, “Why did you ask?” She was definitely not forcing herself to smile. It was just too hard to be violent to their innocent dong-saeng.

“Because I saw––” Yoona almost blurted out the scene where Tiffany kissed an unfamiliar woman the other day. But when she recalled the conversation she shared with Tiffany on the rooftop, she stopped herself before it was too late.

“You saw?”

“I… um… I mean I’m sort of curious about yours relationship.” Yoona responded with the most common answer. “Unnie…” Yoona asked with cautious, “If, I’m saying if,” She emphasized on the last word. “If Fany unnie is seeing someone else, will you be angry?”

“Is she?” Instead of replying to her question, Yuri stared at Yoona surprisingly.

Yoona quickly shook her head and denied, “I don’t know. I’m just asking!” She couldn’t tell Yuri the truth, not when Tiffany didn’t want her to know about this issue.

“Oh…”

“So… Unnie, will you be angry?” Yoona repeated her question.

Yuri laughed, “Why should I?” She would be more than happy if Tiffany found someone she loved, although to tell the truth, she would also be a little disappointed, because that kind of reminded her how Tiffany harshly rejected her before she had the chance to confess her feelings three years ago.

It was… unfair.

But in any case, she would definitely be glad if Tiffany really gotten someone who she highly doubt so, after seeing how her partner always threw glares at anyone, everyone, who stole glances at her.

“Not even jealous?”

“No…” Aish, why does everyone thinks they are in love or something? “Yoona-ah, I love Tiffany the same way I love both you and Sooyoung. All three of you are my family. It only makes sense for me to be happy when you guys found your own happiness.” She ruffled her dong-saeng hair with utmost gentle in her eyes, “There is no reason I should be angry or jealous if anyone of you decide to love someone one day.”

“Then unnie…” Yoona paused, hesitating whether to ask the last question in her mind.

“Yes?”

Yuri waited for Yoona’s next sentence to come patiently.

“Does that mean you like Jessica unnie then?”

The question made Yuri felt like she was a cat on hot brick. She literally jumped up from her seat upon hearing the question, removing her arm away from around Yoona’s shoulder at the same time, and got to the ground.

She straightened up her back and rested her hands on her hips, shooting a serious glare at her dong-saeng who was looking at her confusingly.

“YAH! I’m not in love with her! Don’t and stop suspecting me!”

“Uh…” Yoona was stunned by Yuri’s sudden overreacting reaction. “Okay…” She almost thought she was going to freak out when Yuri suddenly lectured her for no reason?

“Good.” Yuri moved her hands away from her hips and folded them across her chest. “And please keep this in mind, do not ask me the same question again! You guys are seriously driving me crazy.”

Though Yoona was unsure who were the ‘they’ Yuri was referring to, she nodded to Yuri’s request anyway.

“It’s late already. I guess I shall take my leave now. Rest early okay? And don’t worry about Fany, I’m sure she is not angry with you. She will be alright.” No matter how agitated Yuri was awhile ago, she was still an unnie who cared a lot for her dong-saeng.

Yoona waved at Yuri as the older hunter walked out of her room and closed the door behind her.

Jessica unnie… Yoona tapped her chin mindlessly. Judging from Yuri’s reaction, it only made sense if she said Yuri was interested in Jessica more than Tiffany.

But that means… I’ve really wronged Fany unnie all these while.

Yoona hugged her frog plush toy tightly in her embrace and tumbled onto the couch. She randomly kicked her legs in frustration as she vexed out the discontentment she had with herself, causing a few innocent plush toys to fall off the couch.

Ugh! Stupid Im Yoona! You should have believed Fany unnie right from the beginning! Ugh! Stupid you!

Yoona pressed her back against the seat of the couch and held her frog plush toy high up.

“What am I gonna do now…” She scrunched her face into a pout and pulled the frog plush toy to her face.

Please pray that Fany unnie will forgive me!

*

After Yuri left Yoona’s room, she went straight back to her room. As she opened the door, she thought Jessica would be sitting on the bed, smiling at her while welcoming her back, but much to her surprise, her room was dark. The lights were not switched on and there was no one inside obviously.

Puzzled, Yuri retreated from her room and searched around all the corners on the second floor, but found no traces of the blonde.

“Where did she go?”

Yuri scratched her head and went down to the first floor.

Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard a familiar dolphin-like shriek coming out from the kitchen, followed by that was – she assumed – the sounds of plate shattering into pieces.

“Jessica?” Yuri hurriedly paced to the kitchen. She thought she was almost going to have a heart attack when she saw Jessica squatting on the ground with pieces of shattered ceramics beside her.

Jessica was about to pick them up with her bare hands when Yuri’s scream stopped her.

“Yah! Don’t touch it!”

Jessica jumped upon Yuri’s scream. She shifted her attention to the entrance and saw the tanned hunter running towards her in panic.

A pout was naturally formed on her face, Jessica withdrew her hands and stood up.

“Yuri…” Jessica stretched out her arms, as if waiting for Yuri to catch her.

Yuri quickly held Jessica’s hand in hers and carefully pulled the frightened blonde away from the broken plates. She led her to the dining table and settled her down on the chair. Their hands never broke in contact throughout the journey.

Yuri pulled out the chair next to Jessica and sat down. She held Jessica’s hands high up and examined them attentively.

“Thank god.” She muttered to herself when she found no crimson color liquid on her fingers. She heaved out a sigh of relief, but her concerned expression was immediately replaced by a blaming one. “Sica-ah, what are you doing in here with the plate? Kitchen is a dangerous place, you know that?” Yuri hadn’t forgotten the fire incident which happened this morning.

“I…” Jessica bit onto her lips guiltily. “I was trying to wash the dishes, I’m sorry Yuri…”

“Wash the dishes?” Yuri thought she heard Jessica wrongly, but Jessica’s nodding proved her sense of hearing was working fine. “Why are you washing the dishes? Where’s Sooyoung?” Yuri looked around her. There was no sight of the tall shikshin at all.

“Yuri, please don’t blame her!” Jessica pulled Yuri’s hands, causing her to divert her attention back on her. “I was the one who volunteered to do the dishes. She didn’t agree to it in the first place too, but I insisted, so she passed the job to me.”

Yuri looked at the pouting blonde.

If that is what she insists, there is nothing she can do about it too.

“Alright then…” Yuri pulled Jessica up from the chair. “Let’s go back to the room. I’ll get Sooyoung to clear this up and finish the rest of the chores.”

*

“Yah! Choi Sooyoung!”

Yuri barged into her friend’s room without waiting for the latter’s acknowledgement. Sooyoung was already in her pajamas, preparing to sleep when Yuri came in. She jerked up from her bed and stared at Yuri with widened eyes.

“Y… Yes?” Her voice was shaky. She was startled by Yuri’s sudden and fierce entrance.

Yuri walked over to the bed and took one of Sooyoung’s pillows before slamming it on her long body. “I thought I told you to wash the dishes? Why did you push it to Jessica?”

Sooyoung was provoked by that hit. Regaining her composure, she pushed her blanket off her body and jumped up on her feet. Standing on her bed, Sooyoung placed her hands on her hips and lowered her head to glare at Yuri who was standing next to her bed.

She argued, “Yah! I didn’t push it to her! She was the one who kicked me out of the kitchen!”

Seeing that she had lost in terms of height, Yuri quickly climbed onto Sooyoung’s bed and started a glaring competition with her.

She jabbed her finger at Sooyoung’s shoulder, “Yah! She’s a patient and you’re a hunter! Do you expect me to believe you that she KICKED you out of the kitchen?! And how could you leave her alone like this!?”

The rage in Sooyoung was suddenly put out by Yuri’s words. She moved her hands away from her hips and folded them across her chest instead.

She stared at Yuri with an arched eyebrow and smirked, “Jessica is old enough to take care of herself, what’s wrong with leaving her alone?” It wasn’t like Jessica was a three year old kid or something.

“Don’t tell me you’d forgotten what happened in the morning?” Yuri exclaimed. She was quite agitated. “She almost burn down our pantry because you told her to cook for you! How could you possibly leave her in the kitchen alone after that incident? Do you know that she broke the plates earlier on?! If it wasn’t for me, she might have cut herself already!”

“Oh… okay, I got it. So is she alright now?”

As compared to Yuri’s enraging emotion, Sooyoung was rather calm and… weird? She had been acting so strangely since during dinner. Normally when they bickered, Sooyoung would always retort at her. What was wrong with her now?

“Yeah, she is in my room now.” Yuri eyed Sooyoung suspiciously. “I haven’t clear up the mess yet.” There was definitely something wrong with this shikshin.

Sooyoung shrugged and jumped off her bed. “That’s alright. I’ll clear them up, no worries.” She headed straight to the door without complaining a single word.

“Wait! Hold on!” Yuri finally couldn’t take it anymore. She jumped off the bed too and stopped Sooyoung before the shikshin went out. “What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?” She pulled the hunter back and felt the temperature on her forehead with the back of her hand.

Temperature’s normal! She is not having a fever.

“Yah!” Sooyoung pushed Yuri’s hand away roughly. “I’m not sick!” She was obviously pissed off by Yuri’s action.

Does this woman think she is crazy or what?

“Are you sure?” Okay, she was getting rough again. But what was with those abnormal reactions from before?

“Of course I am.” Sooyoung rolled her eyes at Yuri. “Yuri-ah, if you’re wondering why I’m not bickering with you, I’m gonna tell you this. I will stop any arguments with you that involve Jessica.” Sooyoung pushed Yuri out of her room and closed her door behind them.

Yuri stuttered unconsciously, “W…What?”

“You’re too obvious during the dinner and on my bed just now, Yuri.” Sooyoung chuckled with an evil tone. “I know your answer already.”

“What… What are you talking about?!” Yuri replied nervously. It was too obvious in Sooyoung’s eyes that Yuri knew what she was referring to.

Sooyoung shrugged with a smirk plastered on her face, “Be ignorance for all I care. We all know better what I’m talking about. Anyway, let’s stop here. We have a patrol tomorrow if you haven’t forgotten and I want to turn in early tonight. Also, I suggest you to go back to your room now. Your frightened princess is still waiting for you.”

“YAH!”

Sooyoung ignored Yuri’s protest completely and continued, “And, I will also suggest you to worry for yourself first before getting onto me. I wonder how Tiffany will react when she learns about this……” The voice trailed off as Sooyoung walked down the stairs.

“YAH! I told you there’s nothing going on with me and Tiffany!” Her protest fell on deaf ear, Sooyoung was already long gone. “Ahhh!” Yuri clutched her long hair with both hands and squatted down vexatiously.

Somebody! Please kill that shikshin for me!