A/N: Okay, so I think it just can't get anymore obvious that this fic is nearing its end. Gosh, I"m getting emotional too. Well, I see a lot of new names in my subs and in the comments section. This is why I just can't stop thanking you people. So, as promised, here's one chapter of undeniable JungLi.

***

As the two Jungs put the last stack of dishes back into the cupboards, Soojung had never noticed how bright the kitchen’s lighting was.

She was about to tell the older Jung that it hurt a little to look when she sees his hand, holding the red ribbon she had removed earlier, held out to her.

Soojung dries her hand one last time on the hem of her shirt before taking it from her father’s hand.

‘I like her.’

Somehow, Soojung knew who her father referred to as “her” and it scared her a little how he suddenly mentions her when he’s been quiet about his issues with her “friend”.

She keeps her gaze away from him and almost entirely busied herself by tying the ribbon back into her fingers slower than necessary.

‘She won’t hurt you.’

Somehow, the worried feeling twirled less in her tummy, but it felt as if it evolved into something else. She wasn’t sure. Curiosity? Maybe even alarm saturated with unexpected enthusiasm.

‘Don’t get mad at me, okay?’ Yunho asks and it was hinted with playfulness as he lowers his head to take a peek at his daughter’s face. ‘I just talked to her. She looked scared but she was surprisingly—‘

Soojung’s head immediately perk up and she looks at her father with definite worry now.

‘—you mean,’ she looks almost startled at how she interrupted her father but she continues, seeing that he didn’t seem bothered. ‘You were the one who called her to the office?’

Yunho nods but showed no sign of annoyance – not even the slightest.

‘What did you talk about?’

.

.

.

Sulli eyes the steering wheel as her father makes one last turn and parks the car to a full stop at the Choi driveway.

‘Wow,’ Sulli mumbles. ‘It’s like you haven’t even been away from this place for thirteen years.’

‘Well, what can I say?’ Ju Rin unbuckles Sulli’s seatbelt for her, to which the younger only snorts at. ‘I stalk you a lot, especially when you turned thirteen.’

‘That’s very rude!’

‘There were a serious number of boys being creepy back then! I had to scare them away from your driveway somehow.’

‘So that’s why!’ Sulli says exasperated. ‘I thought no boy took interest! You scared all my suitors away!’

Ju Rin snorts, almost like Sulli’s.

‘My little girl is too pretty for them—and besides, it’s not like you’re interested—‘

‘—DAD! STOP IT WITH THE SON THING!’

‘—okay, okay! Down, girl.’

Ju Rin mumbles to himself about a daughter being very much like him as he unlocks Sulli’s door from his side of the car.

Just as Sulli pushes the door open and tells her father goodbye, a very bright – nearly furiously bright – pair of familiar headlights glares through Ju Rin’s wind shield.

Sulli steps completely out of the car and shields her eyes with her injured hand, making the darkened joints of her fingers less obvious, and the figure of a girl stepping out of the car ahead clearer.

‘Soojung?’

Ju Rin honks twice and bids Sulli goodbye. He backs away from the driveway indeed, but not without wiggling his eyebrows first.

Seung Pyo must’ve lowered the headlights’ glare because Sulli could make out a clearer view of Soojung’s figure bidding her driver goodbye from his side of the car.

He does drive away, looking very worried and confused, but he does disappear from the Choi driveway, only leaving Soojung who looked not one bit happy.

Sulli gulps down the guilt.

She felt her phone vibrate earlier, even from the office, but she chose not to pick up because she wanted to sort out the matter at hand first – and it completely slipped her mind to check who had been calling.

It never occurred to her that it might have been Soojung.

.

.

.

The only lights left now were those of the street lamps along the neighborhood and the faint orange ones coming from the Choi house’s window.

Sulli gulps. She wasn’t even sure what the two Jungs have settled now, but she had to make her way to Soojung because the other girl refused to move.

She just stood there, head down, brows creased and breathing somewhat labored.

Sulli’s grip on her bag strap tightened as she made her way to Soojung and as soon as she depleted the distance between them into a mere foot, she was forcefully put to a stop.

Soojung landed one heavy and fisted hand on Sulli’s shoulder, and her breathing became even heavier.

‘Ow!’

Sulli doesn’t even get the chance to soothe the pain in her shoulder when another fist landed on nearly the same area.

‘OW! Soojung, that’s not very—‘

‘—why are you like this!’ Soojung says exasperatedly and it only confused Sulli.

opens as she thought of an answer, but she couldn’t decide on what to say exactly.

Soojung lunges another fist and this time it was strong enough that Sulli’s knee buckled, making her drop her school bag on the pavement.

‘You can’t be like this!’ Soojung practically shouts and Sulli was sure it could be heard across the neighborhood now.

‘Soojung, it’s painful—‘

Soojung almost looked harassed at the statement that she gasps, looking at Sulli incredulously.

‘—what about me!’ Soojung answers and another fist loudly connected with Sulli’s already tortured shoulder.

Soojung was demanding and clearly stressed, but what made it difficult for Sulli was how the situation startled her – that it was completely new and unexpected; it was something she was without ideas for.

‘You think I’d do that to you?’ Soojung’s voice sounded higher but it was airy and much more frail than angered. ‘You think I’d hurt you, Sulli?’

It clicks somewhere in Sulli’s head and she staggers for a response.

‘At least once—’ Soojung starts pounding relentlessly on Sulli’s shoulders and with every hit, with every muffled gasp of pain that slips from Sulli’s lips, it was Soojung’s tears that fell ‘—at least once, do what you really want to do!’

The onslaught doesn’t stop, but Sulli’s arms draw Soojung into an embrace, muffling her pain into the younger girl’s shoulder instead.

‘You have to stop being like this,’ Soojung says, much more frustrated and exhausted, into Sulli’s chest. ‘You think you’re not hurting me like this?’

Sulli could still feel her pounding into her chest – or at least, trying to hit her as her fists slowed and eventually rested completely around her shoulders.

‘It’s so painful—why is it so painful?’ Soojung says in between her gasps for air as it became harder to breathe with all the emotional baggage cramming themselves out towards the exit.

At this point, the taller girl got to put the pieces into a much more comprehensible mesh in her head. She Soojung’s hair and shushes her—

Because Soojung wasn’t hurt for the reason that she was in pain, even as she shook in Sulli’s embrace.

A bigger dam just happened to have opened itself – opened and welcoming only Sulli.

That was when Sulli realized that she must have been the bigger coward, waiting for Soojung to cut her own wounds open again just to make sure she made the right entrance. She almost felt disgusted over her own actions until she remembered that it was the only way if she were entirely true to Soojung.

‘What do you want me to do?’ Sulli whispers into the other girl’s hair.

Soojung gently pushes her way out of Sulli’s arms and only realized just how tall Sulli was as she lifted her chin to have a better look into her eyes.

‘What does your heart tell you?’ Soojung says as she drags her hand over at Sulli’s steadily beating heart.

Sulli’s breath hitches. Even with the layers of clothes keeping the skin that shielded her heart from Soojung’s touch, she felt the warmth of her palm and fingers seep through.

That slightest noise that slipped from Sulli’s lips immediately alarms Soojung. She looks up to see just how nervous she turned Sulli into –

She reaches for Sulli’s shoulders to soothe the pain, guilt completely taking over her frustration.

‘I’m so sorry. I just wanted you to—‘

And all the words, all the frustration, every single doubt—

They dissipated with one single touch that was finally initiated by Sulli, much to Soojung’s surprise.

In one swift movement, Sulli pulls Soojung into a kiss that sealed both their troubles, kept it tucked away in a place they both have let the other reach into.

Soojung's eyes fluttered close and her brows gently creased as she felt Sulli's warmth wash over her.

Sulli’s hands were gentle as it moved from Soojung’s face to her hair, drawing out the uncontrollable tingle from under her feet, her toes, knees, hands and fingers as her lips moved with Soojung’s.

Just as Soojung’s arms secured themselves over Sulli’s shoulders, the taller girl parts from the kiss, keeping only enough distance between them for her to speak.

‘My heart—‘ Sulli smiles and it wasn’t as mischievous as it used to for the other girl ‘—tells me to just shut you up.’

‘That’s good,’ Soojung plays along as she glides her opened mouth against Sulli’s. ‘Shut me up again, will you?’

.

.

.

‘Does it still hurt?’

Sulli snorts. ‘So much for not hurting me.’

Soojung laughs and she didn’t sound sorry at all, but she moves to face Sulli.

They ended up staying at the porch, Soojung sitting on Sulli’s lap and snuggled between the taller girl’s skinny arms.

Soojung sighs soundly as she takes Sulli’s injured hand.

‘I heard you broke a student’s nose.’

‘He deserved it.’

‘There’s a rumor going about that you hit him because he called you an illegitimate child,’ Soojung said, worry etched over her tone as she gently ran her fingers over Sulli’s darkened joints and knuckles.

‘I think that sounds better than why I really hit him. I almost feel sorry.’

‘Why did you hit him anyway?’

‘He called me an idiot.’

Soojung blinks.

‘That’s it?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Wow.’

‘Wow, because?’

‘Some temper you have there.’

Sulli shrugs and Soojung moves to comfortably rest her head on Sulli’s shoulder, even letting the exhaustion take over as her eyes fluttered slowly.

‘Soojung?’

‘Hm?’

‘You’ll do well in Germany. I’m sure.’

Immediately, the shorter girl’s eyes open. Spontaneity wasn’t her thing and she was only left with clasping her ribboned hand with Sulli’s better one. She knew she can’t put off her plans, to be realistic, but knowing that Sulli wasn’t restraining her was even harder.

It made her nervous how, in a second, Sulli untangles her hand with hers, until she realizes that she was simply taking the ribbon off of her fingers.

‘You know, this is a hair tie,’ Sulli mumbles as she takes a few of Soojung’s dark locks into her hands. ‘You should start using it here.’

As soon as Sulli stops fumbling with her hair, she turns around.

She wanted to tell Sulli any form of assurance – any form of assurance at all.

Sulli was in a different end of the rope though; she smiles at Soojung and taps her chin like she did the first time she offered her friendship.

‘You should smile more often.’

And Soojung does—

She smiles for her.

.

.

.

Sulli insisted that she went home to her father.

It didn’t even take a quarter of an hour for Seung Pyo and the car to come screeching into Sulli’s quiet neighborhood after Soojung had made the call.

He seemed quite worried over leaving Soojung earlier and was practically exaggeratedly perky when he got to get her home.

Soojung made her presence known to her half-asleep father before making her way to her own bedroom.

And as soon as she gets inside the unfamiliar warmth of her room, she ended up in front of the mirror, staring at the crimson hair tie and her hair that were neatly bound together.

She blinks as a thought came over her.

This time around, she voluntarily brings her fingers into her hair as she finally thought of a way to assure Sulli.

She slips the ribbon off of her hair in one graceful pull.