Yoona, Seohyun and Sunny climbed the bus at the end of the school day, their moods slowly improving from the day's numbness. Yoona walked in first and chose a seat in the back of the bus, happy when Seohyun decided to sit next to her. Sunny sat down on the seats in front of them with no complaints.

The bus took them off in towards a part of town that was closer to Yoona's home and her old school while the grey clouds slowly started releasing its rain on the bus' roof. It wasn't a heavy rain, thankfully, but it made Yoona feel a little bit more at ease.

"So how long have you guys been doing ballet?" Yoona asked after a few minutes. Sunny and Seohyun looked at each other, memories and history speaking its clear language between the two.

"I started going to practice when I was ten," Seohyun said, turning to Yoona. "So it goes without saying that Sunny was twelve."

"And she was the most pitiful creature this world has ever seen," Sunny chimed in, peaking in at Yoona between the seats. "You should have seen her. I thought if she would trip, she would probably break herself, that's how fragile she looked." Yoona laughed, but forced herself to stop when she saw the very cross look on Seohyun's face.

"I guess I'll just be silently thankful that you saved me, even though I was terrified of you for weeks," she dead-panned. Sunny reached between the seats and patted her on the head.

"I know you were," she said with a slight laugh. "And I completely regretted trying to befriend you when I noticed how much better you were than me at dancing, but by then it was already too late, and I was caught in the Seo-web." Seohyun's scowl melted away at the words and she couldn't help but smile affectionately at her friend. Sunny returned it before turning back to Yoona and continuing: "Of course she's still better than me. Heaps and tons. You'll be blown away when you see her dance, I promise you that."

"I believe you," Yoona said, forcing a smile as Seohyun beamed at her and grabbed her hand. She stared out the window in wonder; sitting with Seohyun and Sunny, who were so blatantly important to each other, made her feel like she was sitting with Seohyun's family and looking through an old photo album. And judging by how highly the youngest always spoke of the other, Sunny was something like family to Seohyun, so it made sense.

"I'm so nervous now, though," Seohyun said, shivering a little. "Knowing you will be watching, I really have to be at my best."

Yoona just waved her hand at her, but couldn't help but feel warm as that sweet feeling came seeping back. She welcomed it with open arms, and didn't miss how Sunny gave Seohyun a very scrutinizing look.

"Don't sweat it," Yoona said, placing her free hand on Seohyun's wrist. "I already know you'll be amazing."

Yoona thought to herself that her feelings were probably obvious for the entire world that wasn't Seohyun, and then that observing, curious, suspicious look from Sunny fell upon her instead. Yoona stared back, but Sunny didn't look away, and Yoona wondered absent-mindedly if it was possibly because of jealousy.

But would Sunny really be jealous of her? If Yoona said she wasn't jealous of the other two's relationship, she would be lying. But they were only friends, weren't they? Or was there something between Sunny and Seohyun that she didn't know? Or was her crush beginning to take her to new levels of paranoia? After all, Seohyun was sitting next to her right now, holding her hand, not Sunny's. So Yoona smiled at Sunny as naturally as she could, and the other girl returned it quickly, even though there was something off there that Yoona couldn't quite pin-point.

Yoona's phone buzzed in her pocket, so she let Seohyun and Sunny bicker like an old married couple while she discreetly tried to read her message without letting Seohyun see it, and without letting Seohyun notice that she didn't want her to see it.

"She's right, you know, you're totally perfect on the dance floor. You never make a mistake," came Sunny's voice, and Seohyun made various noises of disapproving, flattered embarrassment.

Recipient: Yoona
Sender: Sungmin
what are you doing?
 

She was just about to put her phone away again when another message came through.

Recipient: Yoona
Sender: Sungmin
are you on your way home? would you like to meet up?

She knew that sending a message back telling him she was busy would be both easier and more merciful than letting him wonder, but something stopped her. That afternoon was supposed to be about Seohyun and nothing else, so she guiltily stuffed her phone down in her pocket. Her expression must have spoken volumes, though, because when she looked up again Sunny was eyeing her worriedly.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

Seohyun turned to look at her, immediately looking equally worried. Yoona gave her a reassuring smile. "Fine," she said, and she sounded convincing even to her own ears. She wished for a moment that Sunny wouldn't be there so she could tell Seohyun about everything that was going on with Sungmin, so she could finally give her a decent explanation to why she never had any time for her.

And that was when she realized that for some reason, she trusted Seohyun a lot more than anybody else.

The dance studio had two big problems, Yoona thought: one, it smelled so much of wood mixed with plastic that it was almost intoxicating, and two, it wasn't a real dance studio. It was an indoor basketball court with mirrors leaned lazily against the walls.

Then, of course, there were things that made up for it. None of the students seemed to mind the environment, and Yoona suspected it was mostly thanks to the teacher, Victoria. She was a beautiful woman, and Yoona had felt almost scared when Sunny and Seohyun had dragged her with them to ask for permission to watch the practice, but Victoria had only smiled warmly at her and told her she was always welcome.

Before the practice actually begun, Yoona couldn't deny the slight worry that hung in her mind. So far she'd associated ballet with awkward clothes on bony people who ran around flapping their arms and looking unbearably silly, so perhaps, she thought, she just had no sense for dancing what so ever and the practice would end up nothing but embarrassing for both parts.

Her worry increased further as the warm-ups commenced, and she thought silently to herself what will I say to them when practice is over?

But oh, dear, lord, as soon as the actual practice began, as soon as they began rehearsing steps they all must have already known for weeks, Yoona felt her brain stop working, and she just sat there with hanging open. She didn't know what they were eventually going to use their numbers for, if there was going to be a show, but she knew already that if there was, she had to see it.

About five minutes in, all doubt was erased from her mind that Seohyun was in fact a wonder child. Sent from heaven, in the actual literal sense. Though the outfits were indeed a little awkward, black and tight in all the wrong (or possibly right) places, Seohyun still managed to look like an angel. She moved like she always did, slowly and floatingly soft, but even more so on the dance floor.

Not to mention that oh god, since when could Seohyun move like that? The way she bended and stretched her legs sometimes had Yoona looking away and blushing, inappropriate thoughts immediately filling her head. In those moments, she was glad that the only other person watching from the stands was an old lady a few meters away, who didn't seem to have eyes for anything else than her supposed grandchild dancing somewhere beside Seohyun.

Yoona's heart pounded. Something about the way Seohyun moved, seemed to levitate, had Yoona thinking she was much older than she really was, and she realized with a sudden clarity that she'd been underestimating the younger girl. All of them had. And in that moment, she loved her with all her aching heart, saw with her inner eye how she walked down the wooden steps to the floor, stopped Seohyun in the middle of a particularly impressive spin, grabbed her hand and kissed her forcibly on the lips. She could almost feel how her hands wandered down Seohyun's sides, feeling the all too visible outline of her ribs as she investigated every last bit of the other girl the way she truly wanted to, and then the song ended and Yoona was still sitting on the stands with hanging open, throat dry and breathing heavily.

It was as if someone had put a spell on her, and in all honesty, Yoona wouldn't have cared. Everything she had screamed out the other girl's name, and everything in her head was singing with her voice.

Seohyun looked up at her and titled her head as if to ask 'how was I?' Yoona held out her hands and mimicked applause, not daring to make any noise in the now silent room, but Seohyun smiled brightly at her and giggled where she was standing. Yoona had never been warmer.

Music started up again, not as loud this time, while Victoria walked them through a seemingly new choreography. Yoona felt an unreasonable amount of love even towards Victoria, plainly for being Seohyun's teacher and allowing her to do what she did.

Her phone buzzed, this time telling of her of an incoming call, and she thanked her lucky star she had put it on silent earlier. She reluctantly pulled out her phone and the caller ID told her it was her mother, so she hurried to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, honey," her mother's happy voice greeted her. "How are you?"

Yoona swallowed, trying to shake Seohyun out of her head. "I'm good, you?"

"Good. Where are you?"

"I'm at my friends' ballet practice," she explained, a little hesitantly. Her mother never minded when she went over to Yuri's or Tiffany's after school, so why was she suddenly calling now?

"Oh. Where is that?"

"It's at the basketball court, you know."

"Really?" Her mother said, sounding very enthusiastic. "That's great! I'm currently drinking coffee with Sungmin and his mother." Yoona's heart dropped. "You haven't seen their new house since they moved back to town, right? So I was thinking we could have dinner together tonight."

"But mom... I'm with my friends," Yoona stuttered out, already sensing her pleas would not be accepted.

"You can be with your friends every other day," her mother argued, "we don't get a lot of opportunities like this."

Yoona covered her forehead with her hand and closed her eyes. "But mom..."

"There's a fountain outside the court, do you know which one I'm talking about?"

Yoona sighed, repressing the urge to say no and accepting defeat. "Yes."

"Go there, and I'll meet you. It's less than a five minute walk away from their house. Which, may I add, you will completely adore."

"I'm sure I will," Yoona muttered. "But I can't just leave. I'll have to wait for them to take a break so I can talk to them, or they won't know where I'm going."

"That's okay. I'll wait for you."

Yoona sighed again, not usually showing a lot of resistance towards her parents' wishes, but not being able to restrain herself now. "Fine."

"Good. I'll see you soon."

Yoona hung up without answering and stared down at the group of dancers on the floor and tried to fight the feeling of dread that came welling up through her body. Her mother and Sungmin's mother had become friends when Yoona was just a baby, and of course they had also missed each other dearly when Sungmin's family moved away. It was only natural that they'd want to bring the old way of things back into order, but Yoona wanted nothing more than to stay where she was and enjoy the rest of the day with Seohyun.

She stomped angrily as she walked down the wooden steps to the floor, and Seohyun looked at her with wide eyes. A feeling of being a disappointment came over her, and she cursed her inability to say no to her mother. Cursed wanting to be a good daughter, and cursed the overwhelming need to stay with Seohyun.

Every day sure is an emotional rollercoaster she thought as she saw the realization in Seohyun's eyes as she walked up to her.





It still rained when she met up with her mother by the fountain, and though it wasn't any heavier, it definitely felt a lot colder than before. Every drop of water seemed to freeze as it met with her skull, and did nothing to improve her mood.

Her mother's happiness and enthusiasm also contributed to her irritation, especially the way she seemed to think she was doing Yoona a huge favor by pulling her away from Seohyun and drawing her to Sungmin.

"This will be fun, won't it?" she said happily as they walked together through the rain. She was holding a white umbrella, which Yoona refused to step under in silent protest.

"Sure," Yoona said in a sigh, not bothering to hide her reluctance.

Her mother stared at her as they walked. "Bad day?"

Yoona glared back at her. "No, actually, it was really good, until you ruined everything."

Mrs. Im shook her head at her words. "You'll have more chances to go with your friends. Besides, you weren't actually dancing, were you?"

"No, but I was with Seohyun, and she's completely amazing..." Yoona began, but stopped herself before she turned into a full-fledged fangirl. Her mother had never expressed any homophobic opinions; in fact, she seemed supportive of the lifestyle. But since Yoona wasn't sure what her future with Seohyun would hold, it seemed unnecessary to take the risk for no reason. She kicked a few rocks on the ground.

"So go with her again next week," her mother said simply, and Yoona had bought the logic in her words, if it wasn't for the fact that her entire body still screamed for her to back and be with Seohyun. A week wasn't a long time with normal measures, but when it came to Seohyun, it was an eternity. Her mother could apparently see her thoughts on her face, because she continued: "it will be nice to have dinner with Sungmin and Mrs. Lee, just like old times. You'll forget about dance practice soon, I promise." She put an arm around Yoona's shoulder and squeezed tightly.

Sungmin's house was smaller than she remembered his old one being, and she assumed it had something to do with the fact that his father and younger brother had moved out sometime during the time Yoona and Sungmin had spent without talking. It had one floor, with a joint kitchen and living room, and three doors that led to two bedrooms and one bathroom. Despite the size it was bright and homey; in a lot of ways it reminded her of Tiffany's place.

Yoona suddenly felt nervous about seeing Mrs. Lee again as she entered through the front door; Sungmin's mother was somebody who she had always liked, and someone who had doted on her a lot when she was a child. She was a strong woman who Yoona looked up to, and without realizing it, Yoona had missed her presence in her life over the past few years.

Yoona's heart broke a little as she saw her. Her hair was short and curly, just like she remembered it, but now it was a lot less black where numerous strings of grey had taken its place. Age had left its clear mark on her face, and for a moment Yoona was confused about how much time had actually passed. She glanced at her own mother, wondering if she had aged as well without Yoona's knowledge, but she came to the conclusion that Mrs. Lee must have gone through a lot during the time they never saw each other.

Still, Mrs. Lee greeted Yoona with the same warmth she had always had, even though her movements appeared weak when she stood up from the kitchen table to give her a hug.

"It's so good to see you, Yoona," she said with that old, raspy voice Yoona remembered so well. "You've grown so much."

"It's good to see you too," Yoona replied with an uncomfortable smile. "It's been so long."

"Sweet girl. It truly has. But you haven't changed a bit; you're still as pretty as ever. Sungmin sure wasn't lying when he told me."

Yoona smiled again, thanking her as she didn't know what else to say. Mrs. Lee led her and her mother back to the kitchen table, where Sungmin was sitting. He didn't look up at Yoona as she walked up, and he didn't make room when she made to sit down beside him.

"Can I sit here?" she asked when he didn't acknowledge her presence. He moved aside, but still didn't look up at her. "Are you mad at me?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Mad at you?" Sungmin repeated back at her. "Psh, no. Of course you answer your mother's call but ignore my texts completely, it's understandable."

Yoona stared at him with a little open, vaguely aware that their mothers were observing them carefully from the other side of the table. "I was with Seohyun and Sunny," she tried to explain.

"And when you are, I become invisible. I see."

Frowning, Yoona threw a helpless glance at her mother, as if to plead for help. "That's not what I meant. I was going to reply when I got home, I was just busy when you texted."

"Right," Sungmin nodded, finally giving her a glare. "But not too busy to answer other people's calls."

"Come on, Sungmin," Yoona said, placing her hand on his arm, feeling uncomfortably aware of their mothers' presence. "You know what it's like. When your mom calls, it's almost always important."

"And I'm not," Sungmin dead-panned. "That's what you're saying, right?"

Yoona sighed exasperatedly as he pulled his arm away from her. "Just because I don't answer your texts for a day, doesn't mean I'm ignoring you. It's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything," she said before she could stop herself, and Sungmin gave her a furious stare that made her look away, almost in shame. No, she wasn't Sungmin's girlfriend, but she was all he head, and she knew that.

"Now, let's not be like this," Yoona's mother said suddenly, laughing awkwardly. Mrs. Lee joined in. "We all make mistakes, let's not dig too deeply." She turned to Mrs. Lee. "How do you like your new house? It's so cozy," she continued, diving back into the grown-up world, where Yoona understood you got by everyday life by just pretending the bad things didn't bother you.

"The size of it is very fitting for us, now that it's just me and Sungmin here," Mrs. Lee said, immediately following Mrs. Im's track. "I do miss our old house, though. It's such a shame you and Yoona never got to see it."

"Truly," Mrs. Im agreed. "How come you moved out of it?"

Mrs. Lee gave her son a quick glance, which Sungmin replied to with a hard stare. Their exchange spoke louder to Yoona than Mrs. Lee's weak explanation of homesickness and work; Sungmin's classmates all hated him and made his life a living hell, so we chose to come back here in the hope to start over again.

Yoona and her mother stayed for dinner, and remained around the dinner table until evening arrived and the rain let up. Sungmin and Yoona took very little part in their discussions. They laughed along when their mothers brought up an old memory, but quickly fell silent when they remembered their grudges towards each other. They listened only with half ears as their mothers went on and on, sharing stories of what they had missed in each other's lives (we’re celebrating our 25^th wedding anniversary next weekend, Yoona's mother said. I haven't been feeling very well lately, rheumatism, I think. I should see a doctor; it's a good thing the hospital is just around the corner, even though I hate hospitals since Sungmin's heart problems as a kid, Mrs. Lee said). And, of course, when Yoona wasn't the center of the conversation, her thoughts immediately floated over to Seohyun, wondering what the girl was doing in that very moment, and remembering her levitating steps across the floor in the dance studio.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Sungmin said just as Yoona and her mother were getting ready to go home for the night.

"Uh, sure," Yoona said, genuinely surprised, and Sungmin started pushing her towards the front door. She grabbed her shoes and jacket, and threw a look over her shoulder at her mother, who was standing together with Mrs. Lee, saying her goodbyes. She gave Yoona an expectant smile, and Yoona almost wanted to punch her at the sight of it.

Yoona and Sungmin walked out to the small porch in outside the front door. Yoona put her shoes on and stared tiredly at Sungmin.

Sungmin closed the door firmly before turning around to face her. "I'm getting really sick of this," he said. Yoona couldn't help but frown.

"Sick of what?"

"Don't you get it?" Sungmin questioned. "I worry all the time that I will become too much for you to handle, that you won't have the energy to be my friend anymore, but you keep telling me you will protect me."

Yoona frowned again. "Okay, so?" she said, not understanding his point in the slightest.

"And then you don't," Sungmin said, shrugging. "You keep reassuring me, saying you will protect me, and then you don't."

Anger rose inside Yoona. She didn't protect Sungmin? She'd done everything in her power for the past weeks, and she ignores a couple of texts from him and suddenly she never protects him?

"Yeah, well, you don't seem to realize I have a life of my own," she said, fighting to keep her voice down. "You weren't even in school today! There was nothing to protect you from!"

Sungmin leaned his back against the door, eyeing Yoona sadly. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"How I feel..." Sungmin mumbled, "when I'm alone." Yoona blinked in surprise. "Do you think I just go to school, hear the names they call me, let them beat me up, and then go home feeling peachy and free?"

"Uh... No, of course not," Yoona said, suddenly feeling dumb. Sungmin said nothing, and Yoona understood. Of course Sungmin needed someone even when he wasn't in school, that was obvious, wasn't it? So why hadn't Yoona understood it until now? Feeling ashamed and slightly defensive, she changed the subject. "But I think it's unfair that you say I never protect you. I've done everything I can to help you these past weeks, Sungmin, but I can't do much unless you let me go talk to one of the teachers..."

Sungmin sighed audibly and rolled his eyes. "The teachers are dumber than the students."

"You don't know that," Yoona argued. "See, this is what I'm sick of. You're always so negative."

Yoona watched as Sungmin's trust towards her seemed to drain from his eyes.

"Negative," Sungmin repeated, more a statement than a question. "I'm negative." He stared into Yoona's eyes in disbelief, unable to comprehend what she was saying.

"I don't mean... Oh, God," Yoona tried, pulling her hands through her hair. "I don't mean it like you're ungrateful, or like this is your fault. I just wish you would give possible solutions a chance."

Sungmin nodded, looking past her down to the road where cars were passing one by one, their headlights offensively bright in the darkness. "And what if there are no solutions?" he said then, so softly and weakly that Yoona almost didn't catch it. The guilt suddenly came rushing back through her body, as if it had been there all along, just in hiding. She looked down to her shoes, not knowing what to say. No, because what if there were no solutions? What then?

Hopelessness sunk down all over her, and she realized suddenly how tired she was.

"Look, Yoona, I'm sorry," Sungmin said suddenly, looking back at her. There were tears in his eyes. "I need you, no matter what I say. So please, don't leave me."

Something in Yoona's throat shook, and she just waited for her own tears to come welling up. "I'm not gonna leave you," she said quietly, knowing it was true as she said it. "You're one of my best friends, okay? I won't leave you."

He looked into her eyes as if searching for truth, and eventually nodded. Yoona wanted to hug him, but that small possibility of Sungmin having feelings for her stopped her from wrapping her arms around him. "Let's go back inside," she said instead, watching in relief as the tears dried out of his eyes. She had just put her hand on the doorknob when Sungmin stopped her.

"Let's not," he said, shaking his head. "Let's give them a few more minutes so your mother can ask mine 'what has happened to Sungmin? Why does he dress in all black and wear makeup, where did it go wrong?'"

Yoona could do nothing but glare at him.

She was happy to go home, and even happier that her mother had taken the car so they didn't need to take the bus, even though the bus stop was practically just outside Sungmin's house.

She sat in the front seat, leaning her head against the window, ignoring the sound of the radio as she watched the dark surroundings blur as they flew by. She felt as if though she'd been split in two.

A/N: Sorry about the length of this, this is most likely the shortest chapter that I'll post ;; and thanks to all the silent readers that stepped into the light after the last chapter! You have no idea how much I appreciate it. ♥