“This is insane!”

Yuri slammed her can of beer down to the ground. She had too much in Jessica’s room. It was chaos. Jessica went amok and Tiffany was clinging on her ex girlfriend tightly. The other girls tried to calm Jessica down but Yuri couldn’t take it any longer.

Jessica wasn’t the only one feeling the pain. Yuri was feeling it too. It was probably ten times worse the pain anyone else could feel.

“Yoona...”

Yuri’s tears kept flowing down her cheeks. Her heart ached so badly. She took out her wallet pouch and pulled out a photo taken of her and Yoona back in those days when they were dating. She loved the photo so much because Yoona looked stunned in it. The prankster Yuri tried to kiss her and snapped the photo at the same time. Yuri chuckled at the thought.

The thought of Yoona gone forever tormented Yuri so much. She started to regret about everything – from the first day she decided to leave Yoona for Tiffany. They could be happier together; Tiffany and Jessica would be so much in love as well. But Yuri resigned to her fate. Maybe God was telling her that he loves Yoona so much that he would want her to return home earlier than what she could live for.

She was still drinking when her phone rang. She took out her phone and Tiffany’s name was blinking on it. She wondered if she could be happy with Tiffany but so far, she was indeed. Tiffany cares about her as much as Yoona did. She couldn’t let Tiffany worry for her as well. She answered the phone.

“Yuri ah, where are you?”

“I’m just downstairs, Tiffany.”

“Which part?”

“I’m near to the playground.”

“I found you.”

Yuri turned to find Tiffany wheeling herself closer to her. She looked around her area and there were only empty cans of beer. She quickly scooped them up and dumped them into the plastic bag; hoping Tiffany wouldn’t notice. But she had already seen them.

“Why are you drinking here alone?”

“Nothing, I was just stressed out.”

Tiffany stretched out for Yuri’s hands and gripped them tightly. Yuri looked on as Tiffany caressed her hands gently.

“I know you’re devastated as well.”

Yuri just looked away; tears were already b in her eyes. But Tiffany knew better. She pulled Yuri closer and the other lady went down on her knees so that she could be on the same eye level as Tiffany’s. Yuri stared deep into Tiffany’s eyes and it hurt Tiffany so much to see the pain lingering in that stoic eyes. She leaned closer before cupping Yuri’s cheeks with her two palms. Yuri felt warmth from those gentle hands and tears fell immediately.

“Everyone’s worried about Jessica. But nobody realized that you were feeling the pain as well. Yoona’s your ex-girlfriend and I know you still deeply care for her.”

“My heart feels so much pain that I cannot express it out anymore, Fany.”

“I know, Yuri. I could see the pain lingering in your eyes. You’ve always known to be the stronger one but I know this news is killing you softly. I’m here for you, Yuri. I’m going to be by your side just like how you’ve been by my side all this while.”

Yuri was surprised. Tiffany just smiled at her before giving her forehead a soft kiss.

“But Jessica needs you now.”

“No, both of you need me now. I know you’re slightly stronger than Jessica but I’m not going to leave you alone. If Yoona really leave us like this, then I’ll make a promise to her that I’ll take good care both of her important ladies in her life.”

Yuri burst into tears when she heard that. Tiffany pulled her closer and hugged tightly. The pain that Yuri was feeling inside slowly faded the moment Tiffany whispered softly in her ears.

“I love you, Kwon Yuri. And I’m not going to leave you. You’ll have me by your side until the end of time.”

-

Soo Young was searching for Tiffany as Jessica wanted her companion instead. She went looking for Tiffany and found her at the playground with Yuri. She didn’t show herself but instead subtly hiding at a corner where both ladies couldn’t spot her.

She overhead Tiffany’s conversation with Yuri and her heart sank. She has somehow forgotten about Yuri and her past with Yoona. This news was equally devastating as for Yuri too. How could she forget that? Soo Young reasoned that it was because of what Yuri did make her feel that Yuri didn’t deserve any sympathy.

But after hearing Tiffany’s words, Soo Young felt ashamed of herself for having such hatred feelings towards Yuri. No wonder Yuri left Yoona for Tiffany. Soo Young finally understood why both ladies were meant for each other. It was only circumstances forced them to be apart and hurting Yoona and Jessica at the same time.

Soo Young Past

“Soo Young, I’m in love!”

“What?”

“Woo hoo~~~”

“Baby, stop whistling. You’re not a cowboy!”

“I can be a cowboy.”

“Shut up, Kim Hyoyeon! And Im Yoona, come back here! We need to talk!”

Yoona rolled her eyes. Soo Young was becoming her evil sister again. She was a lot worse than her own sister back home but Soo Young had already promised Yoona’s older sister that she would look out for her baby sister in Seoul.

“Sit.”

“Don’t boss me around!”

“Just sit down.”

Yoona reluctantly sat on the sofa and Hyoyeon joined her. She was sulking away after her girlfriend asked her to shut it up.

“Baby, I’m sorry okay?”

“Apologies not accepted. You’re sleeping outside tonight.”

“What?”

“Deal with us later. I want to know about Yoona’s new love.”

“Oh, right. Yes, Yoona, out with it. Who is this person you’re in love with?”

“You know I’ve been going to the gym lately, right?”

“Yes? Oh my god! You’re in love with Taecyeon oppa?!”

“NO! Oh my god, he’s married for god sake!”

“Oh, that’s right. Then who is this person?!”

“Soo Young baby, can you just shut it up and wait for Yoona to finish the story?”

Yoona grinned and did a high five with Hyoyeon. Soo Young rolled her eyes at them.

“Well, I met this girl at the gym. She has the nicest curves.”

“Really??”

Hyoyeon seemed to be interested. Soo Young shot her a look.

“What? I was just interested in the curves.”

“Whatever, carry on Yoona.”

“Hyoyeon unnie, that girl is mine.”

“Who said I’m interested in your girl? I’m interested on how you fell in love with her.”

“You know I love ladies who can dance well, right?”

Soo Young stared at Yoona before turning to her girlfriend. Hyoyeon was grinning away. Yoona smirked at her.

“So you were interested in Hyoyeon as well?”

“Ignore her, Yoona. Her jealousy can get really weird sometimes.”

“What!”

“She’s more gorgeous than Hyoyeon unnie.”

“I didn’t ask you to put me down!”

“The two of you are so difficult to please! Do you want to hear my story or not?!”

“Okay, okay. We’re sorry! Please continue your story!”

So Yoona continued her story and Soo Young was smiling away. It was indeed. Yoona was falling in love with this new girl. Yoona’s eyes sparkled each time she mentioned the girl’s name.

“So when can we meet this Yuri girl?”

“Soon. I’ll arrange a dinner for four of us.”

Yoona was clearly excited about that.

-

“Yuri, meet my best friend and her girlfriend, Soo Young and Hyoyeon unnie.”

“Hi.”

Yuri was shy and Soo Young could understand why Yoona fell in love with her. The four of them got closer and they were always on double dates. Soo Young never thought that Yuri was just like them – an equally potential prankster and her jokes were a lot funnier than anyone else. It seemed like Yuri was the same as Hyoyeon; she was just a little bit smarter because she works as physiotherapy.

One day, Yuri and Soo Young found themselves waiting for their other halves at the restaurant. They were running late and Yuri was the first one who reached at the restaurant.

“They’re late?”

“Yeah, Yoona just called me. She said she saw Hyoyeon and they’re rushing over.”

“Ah, did you wait long?”

“I came about 15 minutes ago.”

“I’m thirsty. Maybe we should order some drinks.”

“Oh alright, let’s do that.”

The two ladies ordered some drinks and they started talking. They were talking mainly about Yoona. Yuri and Yoona had been dating for almost 6 months now.

“I’m so glad Yoona found you.”

Yuri looked up; surprised by Soo Young’s statement.

“Why is that so?”

“She was broken before. It was really bad. It took her awhile before she was out in the dating world.”

“Oh, she has never mentioned anything to me about this.”

“She will never speak of her exes if it was really a bad memory for her. Honestly, I’ve never seen her so happy like this before. You’re her first girlfriend that makes her so comfortable.”

“She’s easy to love. She makes me feel complete.”

“That’s why I’m so glad that you’re with her now. She seems so much happier now.”

Yuri nodded and Soo Young felt at ease. She knew Yoona was going to be in good hands.

-

“What the hell, Kwon Yuri?!”

Soo Young barged into Yuri’s place to find some other girl is in her embrace instead of Yoona.

“Soo Young!”

“You ! Is this how you treat Yoona?!”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Soo Young turned to the other girl. Then she realized the lady looked awfully lot familiar. She thought she has seen this girl before. Her eyes grew larger.

“Wait, you’re Jessica’s girlfriend, right?!”

“Yes Soo Young. I’m Tiffany.”

“What the heck?”

“Yuri’s my ex-girlfriend. I’m sorry that things turned out to be like this. Maybe you want to sit down and listen to our story. You’ll understand why Yuri did this.”

Tiffany told Soo Young the reason why Yuri left Yoona and why Yuri did this. Soo Young was staring at Yuri all the time; not knowing what to say or do. She was actually moved to tears after hearing what Yuri had done for Tiffany but when her thoughts changed to Yoona, she suddenly couldn’t find the courage to forgive Yuri; not as yet.

“Does Yoona know this reason?”

“Yes, I was honest to her.”

“God, are you playing with her feelings?”

“No, I wouldn’t do that. I’ve always loved Yoona. But Tiffany needed my help and I’m her doctor now. I couldn’t possibly put my heart into halves. It’s going to be unfair to Yoona. So I decided to take this painful decision to let her go.”

“You do know the consequences of this, right?”

“Huh?”

Yuri was confused. Soo Young sighed and stood up. She looked at Tiffany and Yuri simultaneously.

“You both know that Jessica and Yoona are going through the most difficult times now, right?”

Tiffany looked away; Yuri was staring into space.

“I don’t know about you, Tiffany but I’ll look after Jessica for you. I hope you know what you’re doing, Tiffany. And as for you, Kwon Yuri, I’ll never let you return to Yoona.”

Yuri nodded her head.

“You’ve lost your chance to love her. So don’t you ever come back into her life! Don’t ever come back ever again!”

-

“Soo Young, where are you?!”

Soo Young left Yuri’s place with a subtle warning. She knew she didn’t have the right to but she had the right to protect her best friend. Yoona went through hell and it hurt Soo Young so much to see her best friend became lifeless. This time, it was worse than before. And the phone call scared the hell of her.

“WHAT?!”

“HURRY UP! YOONA TRIED TO KILL HERSELF! I’M RUSHING HER TO THE HOSPITAL! MEET ME THERE!”

Yoona tried to end her life but fortunately Hyoyeon stumbled on her attempt. They managed to revive her and Soo Young was scared to death.

“IM YOONA! ARE YOU NUTS?!”

Yoona didn’t answer. She just stared into the empty blank space.

“You don’t ever do that again! I’ll kill you myself if you ever try this again!”

Soo Young was determined to keep Yuri away from Yoona at all costs.

-

“Soo Young?”

Soo Young turned to find Yuri looking at her. Tiffany was looking at them as well.

“Uh?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, Jessica’s looking for Tiffany.”

“Oh alright, I’ll go up first.”

Tiffany went on by herself; leaving Yuri with Soo Young. The silence was awkward and Soo Young knew she needed to do something.

“Why are you drinking alone?”

Soo Young finally asked when she saw an empty beer can in Yuri’s hand.

“I just needed to clear my mind.”

Soo Young bit her lower lip when she saw Yuri’s red puffy eyes looking at her. But her tongue was tied. She didn’t know what to say to ease Yuri’s pain. Yuri just gave her a smile before throwing the empty can into the dustbin. She then turned to look at Soo Young.

“Are you coming?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right behind.”

Yuri nodded and headed towards the lift. Soo Young followed from behind. They waited for the lift together and when it reached, Soo Young pulled Yuri’s hand. Yuri was confused and looked at the latter.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry about Yoona. I know you’re hurting as well. I have totally forgotten about you.”

“It’s okay, Soo Young. Tiffany helped me a lot just now.”

Soo Young smiled.

“I heard what she said to you. I finally understand why both of you need each other. You’re perfect together.”

It was Yuri’s turn to smile.

“But I worry about Jessica. How is she going to handle this?”

Soo Young sighed.

“I don’t know. I just hope time could heal all pain.”

Both ladies felt sorry for Jessica.

-

Jessica was staring into space. Taeyeon was with her; watching her from just now. Taeyeon was extremely worried for her. After all, she did love Jessica for that short period of time.

“Sica, talk to me.”

Taeyeon was begging her to. She needed to hear Jessica’s voice to assure her.

“She’s gone, Taeyeon.”

“They are still searching for survivors.”

“The damn plane went into the sea. How could they find survivors?”

“Sica..”

“I don’t know, Taeyeon. I wish this is just a nightmare.”

Taeyeon couldn’t say anything much so she kept her silence. But she sat closer to Jessica and pulled her closer. Jessica just allowed herself being manoeuvred around.

“Where’s Tiffany?”

“She went out to look for Yuri.”

“I need her.”

“Okay, I’ll get Soo Young to look for her.”

Taeyeon left the room. Jessica was left alone in the room. Her mind was full of Yoona and she could still hear Yoona’s voice just behind her ears. She wished she could turn back the hands of time. She would do anything to have Yoona back in her life.

“Sica?”

Jessica turned to find Tiffany at the foot of her bed. She burst into tears and Tiffany quickly rushed over with her wheelchair.

“I’m here, I’m here, Jessica.”

Jessica wrapped her arms around Tiffany and hugged her tightly. She went down on her knees so that she could nestle her head against Tiffany’s chest.  Tiffany swept Jessica’s fringe aside before planting a soft kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll always be right by your side, Jessica.”

“Tiffany, I miss her.”

“I know, sweetie. I know you are.”

Jessica tightened her grip around Tiffany.

-

“Sica~”

Jessica fidgeted restlessly in her sleep. Her forehead was creasing so much as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead.

“Sica, wake up.”

Jessica felt a stir in her left arm and she slowly turned to find the love of her life smiling at her.

“Yoona!”

Jessica sat up immediately and wrapped her arms protectively around Yoona. Yoona responded by pulling her closer and kissed her hard on her lips.

“Don’t cry, Jessica.”

“Yoona, I miss you. I love you. I really do.”

“I know that, Jessica. I really know that well.”

“Please come back to me, Yoona. We can start all over again and I swear I’ll never let you leave me.”

“I’m sorry, Sica. I’m here to say goodbye.”

“What? Where are you going? No, you cannot leave me!”

“Jessica, I’ll wait for you in heaven.”

“NO!”

“Goodbye Jessica.”

Jessica was appalled when Yoona was slowly fading from her grip; from her view.

“No, Yoona! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Jessica jerked up almost immediately. She timidly looked around and realized it was just a dream. She put her face in her palms and started crying.

“Yoona, please. Please don’t leave me behind.”

She was sobbing bitterly.

-

Yuri was lying on the bed; Tiffany was beside her. The two girls stayed over at Jessica’s place. The other ladies went home. Tiffany offered to stay behind to look after Jessica. Taeyeon volunteered to come the next day.  But Yuri couldn’t sleep.

She kept tossing about on her bed. She was trying to get comfortable but her mind was filled with memories of Yoona. Suddenly she felt certain familiar warmth wrapped across her stomach. She glanced to her side to find Tiffany smiling at her.

“Hey.”

The eye-smiling Tiffany was looking at her.

“I’m sorry, am I disturbing you?”

“You can’t sleep?”

“I was thinking of something.”

“Or someone?”

Yuri’s eyes turned watery again. Tiffany pulled her closer and Yuri turned sideways before putting her arm around Tiffany. Tiffany tucked her under her chin and hugged Yuri tightly. Yuri felt comfortable and buried her face in Tiffany’s neck.

“Try to sleep.”

Yuri nodded and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long before Yuri fell asleep. Tiffany kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight love.”

-

Jessica was in the living room; drinking her wine. She couldn’t sleep. She just didn’t want to. She had nightmares of Yoona leaving her and each time she closed her eyes, she could see Yoona smiling at her.

She couldn’t bear the pain so she sobbed silently in the darkness. She was sitting on the sofa with her knees tucked under her chin; closely to her chest. The wine glass was hanging from her palm; and Jessica couldn’t stop the pain from flowing into her heart. It was hurting so badly.

Suddenly she felt her glass was taken away and someone was invading her space by grabbing Jessica’s body closer to her. Jessica looked up to find Tiffany smiling at her.

“Tiffany...”

“Hush now. Just try to get some sleep.”

Jessica moved a little and Tiffany pulled herself away from the wheelchair. She sat on the sofa and Jessica went straight for her lap. Tiffany was independant so she was able to move around without anyone’s help so getting onto the bed or sofa was easy for her.

Tiffany gently caressed Jessica’s back and wiped those tears that kept falling from the corner of Jessica’s eyes. Tiffany was obliged to stay up for the both ladies who are equally important in her life. She had to be strong for them.

“Tiffany..”

“Yes, Sica?”

“Will Yoona return to me?”

Tiffany smiled and gave a soft kiss on Jessica’s forehead.

“If you want her to return, she will.”

“I want her to return to me, Tiffany. I need her.”

“Then she will return to you. Trust me, okay?”

Jessica nodded. She seemed so fragile and vulnerable. Tiffany didn’t like it

“But Jessica must promise Tiffany that she will try to be strong.”

Jessica looked at her.

“First time you have to do tomorrow morning is to eat breakfast that I’ll prepare for you.”

Jessica smiled and nodded.

“Good, now try to get some sleep. I’ll be here with you.”

Jessica fell asleep almost instantly.

-