Their two day stay at the resort owned by Jay’s family has come to an end. The girls were hauling their bags to the car and Key took this opportunity to talk to Yuri, pulling her to the side.

“Progress report.”

Yuri let out a long sigh. “She dongsaeng-zones me every chance she gets and she doesn’t even know it.”

“That is not a thing. When I said ‘Go get her, Tiger,’ I meant what I said. We left you two alone in one room and you still didn’t grab the opportunity to pounce on her? What is wrong with you?” Key looked to the side and saw Taeyeon helping Jessica with her things.

“I don’t want to scare her off. Why do I even need to ‘pounce’ on her?”

The information that Krystal gave him the other day about Taeyeon and Jessica’s past was going to help him get Yuri and Taeyeon together. Sure he promised not to tell a soul but he didn’t say anything about using it to his advantage. “You need to be aggressive. If you could be a then be a .” He based it all on the fact that Taeyeon managed to be with Jessica despite her absolute cattiness.

Yuri stared at him hard. “I’m not going to do that,” she said with certainty and walked away.

Key didn’t stifle his laugh. One of the things he’s been wanting her to do is to stop being such a push-over. She’s been doing what he tells her to do and all he wanted was to say no and stick to it. Not to say no and do it anyways. Just when he was starting to lose hope, she proved him wrong. Right then and there, he made up his mind. He wasn’t going to help her get Taeyeon anymore. No, he would help her get out of her goddamn shell. Hermit crab Yuri wouldn’t exist once he’s through with her. He was going to teach her to stop being so timid and if that required him to push her over the edge, then pushing her over the edge is what he was willing to do. Key was going to help her have the self-esteem of Alexander the Great.

---

“Do you think we should buy drinks for the rest of the people there? We need to kiss up so they’d treat Tiff better.”

Key and Krystal were at a coffee shop, getting snacks for Tiffany who was currently rehearsing at a studio nearby. After they got back from the trip, Tiffany got a call saying she didn’t get the lead part that she auditioned for but she was offered another role. It wasn’t the part that she wanted but she still said yes because she knew she had to start somewhere. She was a newbie and passing up on a small role wasn’t exactly practical since she should be after experience at this point.

Key side-eyed her. Never in his life had he imagined that he’d be seeing his best friend acting like this. “Who are you? Where is my snarky best friend who couldn’t care less about people getting thirsty? Much less people she doesn’t even know.”

“I don’t care about them. I care about how they’d treat Tiffany.”

“And that’s our problem right there. When I saw you two I said to myself ‘aww they’re cute.’ I didn’t go ‘Omg! They should get married and have ten kids and live on top of a hill with two cats.’ You see where I’m going with this?”

Krystal frowned. She wasn’t stupid and she knew exactly where this talk was heading. “No, I don’t.” She turned her back to Key and focused on the cashier whose pink braces reminded her of Tiffany.

“You’re losing track of who you are because of her, to be honest. I’m not saying she’s bad for you but stop acting like you only exist because of Tiffany.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“The only thing stopping me from literally slapping some sense into you is your sister who would definitely murder me if I lay a finger on you. Do you hear you hear yourself?”

“Yes, I do and pretty clearly too. You’re acting like it’s a bad thing that I’ve found someone I’d care a lot about.”

“I’m not doing no such thing. The issue here is this is your first serious relationship. Do you think it’s a good idea to...settle down so early?” He cringed at his own words.

“Yoona-unnie’s only a year older than I am and she’s going to marry my sister pretty soon. How does our situation differ?”

“I don’t know Yoona very well but I do know you and I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be thinking that Tiffany’s going to be your last. This would probably end up with one of you getting tired of the other. Have I mentioned that by doing this you’ll never be able to go out with anyone else anymore? It’d be Tiffany for the rest of your life.”

“I know that. That’s how monogamous relationships work.”

The line finally moved and Key has finally stopped talking. The silence between them was short-lived. Soon as she got her order, he started again, refusing to drop the subject. “That’s how you see things but what about Tiffany?”

It was as if a bucket of cold water was poured on her. “She thinks the same way. Why would she still be with me if not?”

Key was able to catch that short moment of hesitation. “You both think the same way now but what about tomorrow or next week? Next month?”

Krystal walked out of the establishment faster than key could say ‘eyeliner.’ When he’s finally caught up to her, he placed an arm around her shoulder and laughed. “Okay, okay. I believe you now. I just wanted to see if you could really stand by what you believe.”

Truth be told Key just decided to play it off as some joke because he didn’t want his best friend to be upset at him. All the things he said earlier were his real thoughts about the matter. He didn’t mean any harm by saying it. He was just genuinely concerned about her.

Krystal didn’t respond to what he said. What Key didn’t know was that he’s managed to shake her thoughts and now she was starting to question things. Will they come to that point where they’re finally fed up of each other? Krystal was pretty sure she’s not going to be bored of Tiffany. She just wasn’t sure if Tiffany actually feels the same way.

---

“How long have you been staying at their home and how many times seen have you seen her husband?”

Yoona pondered about it while looking at Heechul skilfully sketching his new designs. She admired how his hand seemed feather-like as he drew lines that slowly turn into a detailed drawing of a garment. “I’ve been staying there for a month but I’ve only seen him twice. It was very brief, too.”

“Exactly. You see now why getting married at such an early age spells disaster?”

The two were chatting about George Clooney and ended up in that topic somehow. Now that she’s thought about it, she should’ve known they would end up talking about how getting married young soon as he declared he was going to follow the Clooney lifestyle.

“Is he cheating on her?”

“Yeah, with the worst , his work. He’s a goddamn workaholic. He stays in his office more often that he stays at their house.”

“Why would he do that? It’s not like his wife is an old, wrinkly, nagging lady. Minyoung-unnie is the exact opposite. She looks youthful at her age and she doesn’t even look like she’s been married that long.”

Heechul dropped his pencil and shot Yoona a knowing look. “I see you like older women, huh?”

“What? No, I don’t. I’m just stating a fact,” she said defensively.

“Why do you sound like liking older women is bad? You’re engaged to someone who’s older than you.” Yoona has only been his intern for a month but the daily chats has caused him to know her fiancée even when he hasn’t met her in person yet.

“I’m just saying that there’s no reason for him to not go home every night when someone like Minyoung-unnie is waiting for him.”

Heechul shrugged and turned the page of his sketchbook, starting a different design. “Sometimes feelings just disappear and you can’t do anything about it.”

Yoona frowned at that. She thinks if the feeling could just disappear then it wasn’t even there in the first place. That’s what her previous relationship with Tiffany has taught her. “Maybe her husband just needs to be reminded of the old days and how in love they were. We could do something about that.”

“Tell me when they’ve decided to throw you out in the streets.”

“They’re not gonna do that. I’m too cute to live in the streets.” Yoona did a couple of cute gestures that made Heechul want to poke her eye with a pencil.

“If they do decided to throw you out, you could call me.”

“Omo, oppa, you’d let me stay at your place?”

“I’d give you boxes so you could use it as your bed. Wouldn’t want you to be lying on the cold pavement now, do we?” Her grin instantly turned into a scowl.

Later that night, she went on Skype with one thing on her mind. “Jessica, I need help with my English.”

“What for?”

She told her about the situation between Minyoung and her husband. Jessica didn’t agree with her idea at first but relented in the end and helped her by translating what she wanted to say from Korean to English.

Yoona wasn’t able to go through with her plan right away because she needed an extra time to learn how to say certain words. Also, Mr. Lefebvre either went home really late or never went home at all. It took her three days of waiting ‘til the wee hours to see  him.

“Hi, Sir. May I have a word with you?”

He looked at his wrist watch then nodded. The two of them decided to talk over a midnight snack. Yoona thought she would be able to talk to him alone but minutes after they’ve moved to the kitchen, Minyoung came and offered to whip up their snack for them. Minyoung’s presence wasn’t going to stop her from her plan so while they waited for their food, she started talking.

“You are a really busy man.”

The old man looked at her and smiled. “I am.”

“Is that why you don’t have time for your wife anymore?”

He looked surprised and confused. Her blunt question throwing him off-guard and he couldn’t answer it. Even Minyoung stopped what she was doing to look at her.

“You have a really lovely wa-waifu.” The tense atmosphere making her stutter and revert back to her accented English. “She does not deserve being second to office work.”

The stern look he was giving her made her turn her statement into a question. “Don’t you think so?” At that point, she was getting scared of actually being thrown out just like what Heechul said but she’s already started and there was no point in stopping. “Y-You two need time together. You need break from work, Sir. You need to make time for your wife.”

She paused, thinking Mr. Lefebvre was going to say something but he didn’t so she looked at her cue cards once again and continued, “I don’t think you would be able to last 20 years together if you don’t love each other that much. You probably would have left her if you’re not in love with her anymore so I think you’ve just forgotten how much you love her since you’ve buried yourself in work. I don’t know how you two were when you guys were younger but I’ve seen Minyoung-unnie’s face when she talks about the things you two have done together and I could see how happy she is when she recalls those moments.”

Mr. Lefebvre stared at his wife and she stared back at him.

“I think you two should go back to that. I mean, your last name is Lefebvre and I think that means February in French which is arguably the most romantic month.”

The man chuckled. “It doesn’t mean February.”

She looked at Minyoung for confirmation and the latter shook her head. “Oh, it sounded like Feb—it doesn’t matter. From the stories Minyoung-unnie has told me, it seemed like you were such a romantic guy so why don’t you ditch the office and,” she read from her cards again, “go home every night and take her. Push her up...against the wall and just take her. Make her scream your name.”

She missed Minyoung’s gasp. Somewhere in Seoul, one Jung Jessica was laughing her off. Yoona asked her to translate something but the older girl decided that that was a good time to play a prank on her so instead of translating what Yoona wanted to say, she changed things up a bit.

Mr. Lefebvre, after the initial shock Yoona’s words brought,  let out a hearty laugh. One Minyoung hasn’t heard in a while.

Yoona, thinking she’s done a good job, smiled in satisfaction. “I’ll leave you two alone now.”

The next day, she told Heechul what she’s done and showed him the paper where she’s written her little speech that Jessica translated in English for her. When he read the last part, he couldn’t stop laughing and almost fell off his chair. Once his laughing fit has stopped, he told Yoona what the last part actually meant and Yoona felt like she could die of embarrassment. She might as well just told them to do it like bunnies would.

When she got home, she could face neither of them but she was glad to see Mr. Lefebvre spending time with his wife. The thought was immediately replaced with a very graphic mental image of what the couple might’ve done in the kitchen that night when she left them alone. She was going to get back at Jessica for that.

_____

so i've made a timeline of events just so i don't forget when things would happen and lol i realize it'd be frustrating for the readers who like yoona and who's itching for her to know about taengsic because it won't happen soon.

and i thought this chapter would be a lot longer. guess not

Title: look after you by the fray