( Sooyoung X Yuri )

It was a chilly morning that day, well, it was the first snow of winter in Seoul. A morning filled with busy people in the streets, either people taking their dogs for a walk in the park or people driving to work or for some lonely lives, they were walking aimlessly on the passageway. Some hated the snowy season, it was burdensome. But not for Sooyoung and Yuri. They pretty much liked it when it was snowy and freezing... It reminded them of how they first met when they were eight. Sooyoung wasn’t as tall as she was now, in fact slightly shorter than Yuri with Big glasses. Whereas Yuri was such a playful and mischievous kid who Sooyoung was scared of at first. A kid with a very weird personality? That is what Sooyoung thought. They're now eighteen; many things have changed, but not their friendship.

“Its colder than expected today.. Aish, why are you even wearing that stupid sweater.. " Yuri scolded Sooyoung as she took off her coat, hanging it around the girl’s shoulder instead.

Sooyoung was taller, those big glasses are totally off and of course, her lady like figure was showing with her wavy black hair cascading down to her back. She gave a puzzled look to her best friend but just smiled in return after Yuri had walked back to her seat.

“This sweater isn’t stupid... It’s a gift from my grandmother..." Sooyoung pouted as she adjusted the coat on her shoulders and looked through the menu.

Yuri chuckled. “It was a gift from your grandmother a few years back Sooyoung ah. It’s not as perfect as it is... Anyway, I’m sure Grandma would understand if you bought a new one."

Sooyoung loved the scent of the sweater. The warmth.. It just reminds her of her late grandmother. The sweater had worn out and the fabric was not in good condition anymore.. But she still kept it. She felt guilty at the thought of throwing it away.

 " Then, wont you buy it for me?" Sooyoung asked jokingly .

 Yuri hummed and tapped her chin. She then shook her head cutely.  " Haha! No." She answered.

Sooyoung's shoulder slumped down as she rested her back on her chair. Yuri then called for the waiter to take down their order. After a few moments, their order arrived.

 " So... We're not going to school together right? " Sooyoung asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

 Yuri was a senior in school, since middle school and now high school too. Yuri was a queen-ka in school because she was taking a higher class for business studies and also because she's wealthy. Sooyoung never once complained about Yuri's popularity. After all, Yuri did reasoned that she doesn’t want her to get hurt by being friends with her in school since the students might bash her for being an average class student who gets to be friends with a queen-ka. She found the reason too selfish but never once said a thing. She didn’t want to lose Yuri.

 Yuri nodded. " Right. You won’t want to get killed by those rough students." Yuri stood up and drank up her hot tea. She walked towards Sooyoung and ruffled her hair lovingly.

" I'll go first! You study well... Keep the coat with you, i'll just ask my driver to bring me another one later. " Yuri gave Sooyoung's head a little pat before leaving the cafe'.

Sooyoung sighed as she tapped the table. Why does her heart feel heavy every time her best friend left her like that. Why does it hurt so much not being able to go to school with her?

 The vibration of her phone in her jeans pocket, startled her. She pulled it out and unlocked it. She smiled at the message she received and looked out of the window, expecting to see the person walking in. She stood up when she saw her and gave the girl a hug as she pecked the girl's cheek.

 " You came here early.." Sooyoung said as she sat down, raising up her hand asking for another cup of mocha.

The blonde haired girl adjusted her coat and smiled. " Yeah.. Early enough to see that best friend of yours staring affectionately at you." Sooyoung choked on her tea and just then Hyoyeon's mocha arrived.

" Hyoyeon ah, Yuri just treats me like that... I'm her best friend ."

Sooyoung met Hyoyeon at her dance class a few weeks back and had fell in love with the girl's dancing skills... After what seemed to be an extra session through the weeks... Hyoyeon had confessed her feelings towards the girl. Sooyoung felt shy but nonetheless, her heart does beat irregularly around her. So ,she accepted Hyoyeon as her girlfriend.

" Doesnt look like it. Anyway, i dont like how close she is to you... I'm your girlfriend yet i dont even show too much PDA in public ." Hyoyeon reasoned and sipped her mocha.

Sooyoung chuckled." You're secretive.. and i like it that way. Aigoo... Her jealousy is coming out.. " Sooyoung joked.

Hyoyeon scoffed. " Very jealous.. "

 It was silent for a few moments until Hyoyeon cleared .

 " Have you told her.... about us? "

 Sooyoung got the question by surprise and shifted in her seat uncomfortably as she sat up. " No... I dont know how to tell her and even if i wanted to, she's just sometimes not in a mood."

 " But you told me, you'd tell her by last week." Hyoyeon raised her voice a notch higher.

 Sooyoung held Hyoyeon's hand which was on the table and caressed it softly.

 " I know.. I'm sorry.. I'll tell her soon. I promise."

 " Dont promise if you cant keep it."

 Sooyoung gave a smile and nodded. " I promise. “

Hyoyeon couldnt stay mad at Sooyoung longer, she knew that. She cupped the girl's left cheek and caressed it with her thumb.

" You have to go to your class soon right? Kaja, i'll send you." Sooyoung nodded as they walked out of the cafe' with arms hooked around each others.

 --

Yuri walked into her class with a smile plastered on her face. She giggled as she thought of her bestfriend silly acts back when they were in high school. She has always loved the way Sooyoung laughed,smiled, joked, pout... everything. She heard a few whispers from students and some even came up to her asking for signature, there were also some who pleaded to have a one on one tuition for business studies with her but of course she refused. Honestly, she hated the attention..but what could she do, she cant avoid them. She casually walks into her classroom and sat at her place. While she waited for the teacher, she took the chance to call her driver, Sir  Park to bring her an extra coat... She also requested that Sir Park waits for her at the side gate this afternoon after her class. She had planned to go somewhere.

 --

 " Sooyoung! " Yuri called out when she saw the tall girl right beside 7-11, waiting for her. They always met at a place a bit further from school, afraid that the students might find out.

Sooyoung beamed a smile. " Should we go now? I have a dance class at 3pm. I need to get home and wash up too."

 Yuri rubbed her nape nervously and showed an apologetic expression to the tall girl. " Sorry... But i gotta go somewhere, im sorry i didnt tell you earlier.. I had to pay a lot of attention to the class today, i cant make room to send even a quick text."

 Sooyoung sighed and clutched the folder in her arms tighter onto her chest. " Its okay. I guess i could even take sometime to rest." Sooyoung smiled.

 Yuri wrapped her arms around the tall girl with one hand at the back of the girl's head,massaging it gently and the other around the girl's waist. Sooyoung smiled as she exhaled a little . She liked the way it felt whenever Yuri hugs her, it was warm.. comfortable..safe. She placed her head on Yuri's shoulder and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. Yuri pursed her lips, preventing herself from kissing the other change.

"Just rest well. I'll make up for today, maybe tomorrow? We'll eat ramen together tomorrow. " Yuri pulled away, holding the other girl by her shoulders.

 " Dont promise if you cant keep it."

 Yuri furrowed her eyebrows. " Where did you learned that line from? Using it against me, fun huh?"

 " My gi- " Sooyoung almost slipped the words ' my girlfriend' but cleared .

" I- I just sort of learned it." Sooyoung answered confidently with a grin.

 Yuri chuckled and ruffled the girl's fringe. Sooyoung waved at Yuri as she watched as Yuri's car drove away. Sooyoung sighed inwardly.

  It must be important than me that she skipped lunch this time.

Meanwhile, Yuri was just fiddling with her coat button when Sir Park spoke up.

 " You said you wanted to go to the mall? What for? I thought you hated shopping." Sir Park said and chuckled. Yuri hummed an answer.

" Christmas is coming soon. Just two weeks from now.. i wanna buy something special for someone." Yuri answered and smiled.

 " And that person must be Sooyoung...Right?" Sir Park looked at Yuri through the rear view mirror and laughed when the girl nodded.

When they arrived at the mall, Yuri felt disappointed that she couldn’t find what she wanted. She wanted to find the exact same sweater of Sooyoung's but since it was kind of old and vintage, she couldn’t find it at the mall. She googled search and even asked her driver to look for all the places that sell old vintage sweaters. Sir George found out a store but it will take them one hour from here. Yuri didn’t care, all she wanted was that sweater.

-

" Do you by any chance sell this sweater?" Yuri showed the owner of the shop a picture of Sooyoung in that sweater and her smile grew wider when the owner nodded. The owner went into the store room and came out with a newly wrapped sweater. Yuri took a look at it and felt relieved that she could find it. It was the same, dark blue with white stripes; it was exactly the same brand too. It was special because it has the brand name signed at back collar of the sweater. Yuri paid for the sweater and asked for the owner to place it in a nice box. She held the box and smiled.

“Sooyoung ah, I can’t wait for Christmas." She muttered to herself.

--

A week had passed and the two best friends were heading to the park for a stroll. It was a routine every Sunday. Yuri slipped her hand into Sooyoung's and interwined their fingers together as they walked. Sooyoung"s body tensed and Yuri noticed it which she later gave it a light squeeze.

" I'm a little cold.. Dont mind sharing your body heat?" Yuri chuckled.

 Sooyoung chuckled and nodded. They talked about everything under the sun and anything that came to mind but never about their inner feelings. Sooyoung felt right with both Yuri and Hyoyeon. It confuses her how much Yuri makes her feel than Hyoyeon. Yuri makes her heart beat faster when she chuckle or smile and it hurts worse than anything when she was left alone or when she had never been known as Yuri's best friend by anyone in school. Sooyoung just thought it was the feeling that all best friends would have and would brush it off.

" Christmas is next week. Wah, sure the time is passing by fast." Yuri said as they took a seat at a bench.

Sooyoung nodded then turned to Yuri. “What are you doing for Christmas?"

Yuri pursed her lips as she thought.

 “Maybe, the usual... Eating turkey over dinner, have drinks... Things like that. You should come over."

“I don’t think so. My mum too has prepared herself for Christmas. I have to accompany her for Christmas or she'll feel lonely... It'll only make her think of my late dad more." Sooyoung replied and looked down at the mention of her late father.

 Yuri nodded. " Can we meet at the night before Christmas? "

 

“ So, you’re meeting Sooyoung tonight? Appa is always proud of Yuri ah and I’ll always support you. Tell me how it goes when you get back, arraso?” Yuri’s dad said with a grin as he sliced the meat on his plate.

Yuri had told her parents about her plan of confessing to Sooyoung. She was nervous and excited at the same time. She hoped for the best to happen. She was waiting for this very day, where she gets to profess her feelings and not to worry about anything else and be brave enough to show the world her love for her bestfriend. She was all the while guilty of how she couldn’t talk to the taller girl when they were in school, how she was also an unapproachable person for Sooyoung. She had told her bestfriend beforehand to not approach her. She had seen the people she liked leave because of it, she didn’t want to lose Sooyoung.

Yuri smiled widely at her dad’s words as she continued eating her dinner before meeting Sooyoung at the rooftop of her father’s hotel. Yes, she was rich because her father was an owner of a 5 star hotel in Seoul. Her father had helped her prepare for this day, booking the rooftop and setting up the rooftop to be a little romantic. He hoped everything goes well for his daughter.

 

The Kwons were all happy for Yuri. Little did they know….

 

“ What?? What for??” Sooyoung shrieked through the phone, standing up as she quickly rummaged through her closet.

She was shocked that her bestfriend suddenly told her to dress up nicely that night. All she knew was, they were just meeting at Mr.Kwon’s hotel, The Kings Hotel. They used to go there all the time during weekends when they were kids, to play at the rooftop and sometimes in their special indoors playground which was only build for the two back then but now, open for the public. Sooyoung just agreed unwillingly when Yuri kept insisting. She just sighed and quickly got up to find a nice dress to wear, finding nothing pretty in her old closet, she decides to call Yoona, her dancemate to help her since she knew the girl always go to ballroom dances and clubs ( although the standard of a ballroom dance and nightclub dancing was completely opposite)

 

Meanwhile, Yuri was already dressed in her plain buttoned up long sleeve shirt with a grey blazer completing her look, her look was rather manly, well not to, but she felt like wearing something casual . She tied her hair into a messy bun and smiled as she finished lighting up the candles around the rooftop.

“ Miss Kwon, the special dish is ready.” The waiter, Jongin said and gave a smile to Yuri.

“ Thank You Jongin and please bring the present up in a few minutes, stand by at the corner. “

Jongin bowed and smiled. “ Yes Miss Kwon.” He turned around to walk out of the rooftop.

Yuri continued perfecting the area, from the rose in the middle of the table, to their utensils and table cloth.

“ MISS KWON!” Jongin called out as he stood at the edge of the rooftop’s exit.

He gave a thumbs up and grinned, showing the crinkles at the corner of his eyes.

“ Good Luck!”  He cheered and Yuri muttered a thank you in return before he left to take the present.

 

“ Where is she?” Yuri muttered to herself, puffing her cheeks out while she looked down at her wristwatch.

Just then, the door of the rooftop clicked open and Yuri beamed a smile when she saw Sooyoung walked in. Sooyoung grinned awkwardly at Yuri. She felt weird, the decorations, the table, the two seats, the candles… They’re best friends, its normal to have a candlelight dinner right?

Yuri walked over to Sooyoung and stood in front of her for a while as silence engulfed them. They looked at each other, both appreciating each others beauty and presence. By now, Sooyoung was no longer thinking about the setting but more to Yuri herself, her bestfriend. She never have thought that her bestfriend would look so stunning in a suit, that well-ironed blazer, I mean does she compliment the person wearing it or the person who ironed it? For Yuri, She never thought Sooyoung would look so y in a mini black sparkly dress with those snowflakes earrings. She was speechless and the only thing she managed to say was.

“ Wow.” Yuri muttered, breaking the silence.

Sooyoung chuckled. She pulled the dress a little, thinking that it was too short.

“ Its weird isn’t it?” Sooyoung asked and Yuri shook her head vigorously, strongly disagreeing to Sooyoung’s comment on herself.

“ No! It really…looks……. Nice on you.”  Yuri finally said and smiled warmly. She didn’t want to tell her bestfriend that she looks beautiful, wouldn’t it be weird?

“ You don’t look that bad yourself, since when did you even own a suit? Anyway, its perfect on you.” Sooyoung complimented, making Yuri blush a little since the girl was rather tanned, Yuri was able to hide her blushing red cheeks.

Yuri hugged Sooyoung and Sooyoung returned it. It was normal for them to meet and hug, only that today it was kind of a late reaction for both since they were distracted by each others appearance.

“ Lets eat! I prepared a special dish for us.” Yuri exclaimed after she pulled away and dragged the taller girl to the table.

She pulled out the seat and realizing how awkward it was to give away the seat like a gentleman, she quickly sat on it before Sooyoung could. She laughed and she yelpen in pain when Sooyoung smacked her shoulder as she walked over to the seat across Yuri.

“ Idiot.” Sooyoung said and poked her tongue out to Yuri. Yuri just chuckled at her best friend’s childish ways.

A violin started playing not far from them, playing their favourite Christmas song ‘  All I want for Christmas is you’ and Jongin came up with their dishes in each of his hands, he placed them down then popped the bottle of red wine open, pouring them professionally into their glasses. Sooyung muttered her thanks before Jongin nodded and went back again.

 

“ This year is kinda interesting how you’re making our usual dinner to a candlelight dinner..” Sooyoung said as she tapped her glass of wine.

Yuri pursed her lips and hummed. “ Just that… I just want to make it special this year.”

She then took a sip of her wine which later Sooyoung followed suit. Sooyoung’s eyes glittered as she her lips.

“ Wah! Pasta! “ Sooyoung exclaimed as she quickly picked up her utensils and started twisting the spaghetti with her fork.

Yuri laughed. The Sooyoung that was dressed all so beautifully today was surely wasn’t her best friend, now the person eating hungrily in front of her was her best friend, the shikshin she knew all along.  Sooyoung still looked beautiful to Yuri since she did fell for the person before her right now. Yuri inhaled a little as she stared at Sooyoung for a while before she started eating herself.

 

They talked and laughed, reminiscing about the pasts when they were kids, how a string of the spaghetti came out of Yuri’s nose when she sneezed and cried after. They continued teasing and laughing about each other. They were happy, so happy. It felt like it was the best Christmas….

 

“ Ah!” Sooyoung snapped her fingers as she dugged her hand into her bag, she was about to take out Yuri’s gift when she saw her phone blinking.

 

It was a message..Sooyoung chewed on her bottom lip as she saw who it was from. It was from Hyoyeon, her girlfriend.

From: Hyoyeon <3

Babe, where are you? Anyways, Merry Christmas Sooyoung baby ! We’ll spend the day together right, after having dinner at your mum’s tomorrow ? I have a surprise for you! Don’t ask.. haha! See you tomorrow!  Goodnight baby! I love you! ^^

 

Sooyoung didn’t reply the text and shakily took Yuri’s gift out of her handbag. She felt nervous, she felt guilty, she didn’t know exactly. Sooyoung feels right with Yuri because Yuri was her bestfriend. She thought that it was crazy if she falls for Yuri, she cant even be a bestfriend to Yuri, how can she possibly be a girlfriend, everything has to be kept a secret and it annoys her, it hurts too. Being with Hyoyeon was different she felt free, she could be cared for and loved openly…but it just doesn’t feel the same for Yuri. There’s just something off.

“ Sooyoung?” Yuri snapped Sooyoung from her thoughts.

Sooyoung snapped out of it and handed the gift to Yuri, she guessed she had to tell Yuri. She has to, she doesn’t want to feel like she’s a bad girlfriend to Hyoyeon, Hyoyeon’s a nice girl and she doesn’t have any intentions on hurting the blonde, and as she promised to her girlfriend, she have to tell her best friend about their relationship.

“ Yul-

“ I have something for you too!” Yuri beamed a smile as Jongin came walking up again, with a box with a neatly tied golden ribbon at the centre.

Yuri handed it Sooyoung, still smiling. “ Merry Christmas Sooyoung ah!”

Sooyoung took it and kept it in her bag. Yuri furrowed her eyebrows when the girl didn’t open it straight away. From what she knew, Sooyoung was impatient with presents, its weird that today was different.

“ Open the-

“ I have something to tell you..” Sooyoung cuts Yuri off and Yuri was taken aback by Sooyoung’s serious tone of voice.’

She nodded, signaling the girl to go on. She felt uneasy about this. Her palms were starting to sweat as she continuously wiped them against her pants.

“ You know..Hyoyeon right?” Sooyoung asked.

Yuri smiled a little and nodded. “ Oh, Your dancemate right? The one close to you.”

Yuri just realized what she just said, ‘ the one close to you’ . And bringing up Hyoyeon during their best friend Christmas Dinner just doesn’t seem to add up…It took a while for realization to hit Yuri. She felt a pang in her heart.

“ Do you mean…you’re with…”  Yuri managed to say without her voice croaking as she swallowed the forming lump in . Her eyes were burning but nothing was falling out, she felt greatful for that.

 A nod from Sooyoung’s head was enough to break Yuri. Her body slumped down a little but Sooyoung didn’t see it since she was looking down at the table the whole time. Yuri tried to in her tears and inhaled deeply, allowing herself to talk more clearly, afraid that she might break down.

She raised her glass shakily. “ Congratulations Soo! Im happy for you! So…Happy for you!”  Yuri exclaimed with a wide grin on her face.

Sooyoung looked up slowly, confirming if she had just heard the right thing.

“ Im happy for you!” Yuri said again.

That was enough for Sooyoung to know that Yuri was fine with her and Hyoyeon. She didn’t know why she felt like breaking down, she didn’t know why it hurts that Yuri congratulated her and not scream at her, she could not explain herself her feelings towards her best friend because she, herself, didn’t know if she was all along in love with her best friend or Hyoyeon. She didn’t know and she wouldn’t bother to find out right now because she knew. She’s with Hyoyeon and that she’ll never end up as Yuri’s girlfriend because…She’s just a bestfriend isn’t she? Is she even a bestfriend in the first place when they never spent time walking into school together? She does not know..

Sooyoung gave a weak smile and raised her glass.

“ To our friendship…-

 

“  Yuri ah, where are you? “ Sooyoung’s voice was evident that she was worried about the tanned girl.

The tanned girl hasn’t been attending school and they rarely see each other too after the night they met up at the rooftop. During Christmas, Sooyoung had went on a holiday with Hyoyeon after the dinner with her mum , it was a surprise gift from Hyoyeon to her. A trip to Japan. They stayed there for 4 days 3 night, spending their time there at USS Japan and visiting other places and also having delicious food. Sooyoung enjoyed it very much, she told Yuri about her trip through a phonecall and Yuri just felt happy for her. It was not until she came back that she heard from the students around the school that Yuri wasn’t attending school for the past few days that she’s been gone.

“ I’m at home. Don’t worry about me….Y-you must have heard from the kids that I have not been attending, im just overseas.. I’m busy right now. “

Yuri slurred out most of it and Sooyoung was about to ask more but Yuri had ended the call. She was mad. Yuri was lying, how can anyone get through a call from overseas without being charged. Sooyoung’s face then softened a little. She wasn’t that mad but afterall, she was worried about her bestfriend. Sooyoung groaned and slumped herself onto her bed. Her girlfriend just finished washing up and sat beside her as she softly caressed her hair.  Hyoyeon was sleeping over since indeed they were a couple so it was normal for someone to sleepover sometimes.

“ So.. Do you know where she is?”  Hyoyeon asked softly.

She sighed when Sooyoung turned her body, facing the other side. She kissed the girl’s cheek.

“ Just sleep, I’m sure she’s just having a hard time about something right now and will tell you soon, she maybe just needs a little alone time.” Hyoyeon tried to cheer Sooyoung up.

She slept and turned her body away from Sooyoung when the girl didn’t reply her. A few moments later, she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

“ Thank you… for cheering me up. You know, I care for her a lot.” Sooyoung said faintly as she rested her head on Hyoyeon’s back.

Hyoyeon turned and pulled the girl up, into her arms. She kissed Sooyoung’s temple. She sighed.

“ I know… I know how much she means to you..”

 

--

“ Yul! Yah! Don’t !” A slightly shorter girl took the glass of liquor shot away from her.

“ Sica ah, just one more..come on.” Yuri said drowsily , her bottom lips jutting out a little as she lay head on the table.

Yuri has been making herself drunk, living like life has lost its meanings. People say its stupid but what could she do? Everything that she hoped for, waited for was just…gone. Jessica was a bartender at a nightclub that became Yuri’s friend after Yuri had visited the club for three straight days . Yuri has never been to a nightclub, she’s eighteen for sake. Jessica was a nice and a warm- hearted girl, she wont take advantage of Yuri, that’s why Yuri’s cousin recommended this place when Yuri asked about a good nightclub. She has someone that she could trust there.

“ That’s enough for today Kwon Yul! Get up! Taeyeon’s gonna kill me if she knows you’re always coming here.” Jessica smacked the girl’s shoulder, making the girl jerk a little but didn’t moved after that. Jessica’s kinda violent sometimes..

Jessica picked up her phone and dialed Taeyeon’s number. Yuri was afraid of Taeyeon, although Taeyeon was just a cousin but Taeyeon scolds scarier than her father because she doesn’t just do scoldings but physical contact. That’s just how Taeyeon shows her concern actually.

Jessica placed her phone right beside Yuri’s ear.

“ Its dialing….” She sang, smirking devilishly.

Yuri didn’t believe her and groaned but quickly sat up when she heard the beeping tone from the cell. She pushed it away and stood up, swaying a little. She waved her hand.

“ Okay, I get it.. I’ll go now. Thanks Sica. Annyeong!” Yuri slurred and because she was in her drunk state, she was acting a little crazy.

Jessica felt bad to let Yuri go when she wasn’t sober yet so she held onto the girl’s elbow and pulled her back.

“ Yah! Just seat here and wait till you’re sober enough to go home.” Jessica said after she had placed Yuri onto the vip room couch.

 

Yuri walked through the streets blankly with people rushing past her. It was all blur to her, she hears nothing too. She felt too numb and hurt to even bother about anything else. Her lips were pale and her face has gotten thinner too.. It was getting colder but Yuri smiled as a tear trickled down her cheek as the memories of her and Sooyoung playing in the snow when they were six years old played in her head.

 

“ Kwon Yuri…”

Yuri heard her name and looked up. She smiled weakly and waved when she saw Hyoyeon, she felt relieved that her bestfriend wasn’t with her. She wasn’t greeted warmly instead she was greeted with a tight slap across her face.

“ How can you do this? You know how much you mean to Sooyoung yet you continue destroying yourself?! ARE YOU STUPID??” Hyoyeon screamed into Yuri’s face, grabbing onto her collar as tears slowly rolled down her face. Yuri sighed as the tears that were blurring her vision, trickled down her cheek.

“ Listen to me, and you only have this one chance…because im not giving you anymore after this. Sooyoung was all the while, afraid of falling in love with you.. She was not recognize as your bestfriend in high school, how was she suppose to recognize as your girlfriend then? “

Yuri frowned and gave a confused look after Hyoyeon let go of her collar.

“ What im saying is… She is still in love with you, it never did change. What made her not persue you was because of the thought that it’ll be harder to be your girlfriend because… it was already hurtful for her to be your best friend. Not being known as best friends or even friends at school. I know, you gave the reason of protecting her..But why protect her like that when you can protect her by staying close to her? She just wants to be loved and cared freely. She wanted the feeling Yuri and when she met me, she felt it…But it’ll never be the same if she felt it from the person she had yearned for.. She wants to be loved by you…not me..”

Hyoyeon placed a hand on Yuri’s shoulder. Yuri then looked at her, lips quivering.

 

“ Then, what about you?”

 

Hyoyeon sighed and smiled. “ Indeed it hards for me to let her go… But her happiness is far more important than mine right now…Besides, I wont want to continue a relationship knowing that my girlfriend loves someone more than me..even if it’s a bestfriend. “ Hyoyeon chuckled and Yuri chuckled lightly.

 

“ You guys have been friends for long… longer than me, collected more memories, I don’t want to be the reason that you guys stop making more… So please Yuri, the only think I want for you to do…. Is just show how much you love her and care for her to the world, how exactly your heart feels..” Hyoyeon said and then gave a hug, tapping Yuri’s back comforting the girl.

“ How do you know all this?” Yuri asked when they pulled away.

Hyoyeon chuckled. “ Sometimes… Things are obvious seen from others than yourselves…and Sooyoung talks about you kinda often.”

Yuri chuckled.

--

Sooyoung was all alone at home and Hyoyeon was out somewhere, she didn’t know since her girlfriend didn’t mention. Sooyoung decided to clean her room and while moving away Hyoyeon’s luggages, she spotted a familiar box. It was the gift from Yuri. She hasn’t open since she left for Japan and didn’t get to. Slowly she untied the ribbon and opened the box. gaped when she saw the familiar sweater, even though the scent wasn’t there, she just felt touch that Yuri bought for her a new one which was exactly the same.

 

She took the sweater out the box and a card fell to the ground. Sooyoung picked it up and turned it over. She pursed her lips, holding back her tears  when she saw what was written on it.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas Sooyoung ah, I bought it for you, so wear it well… and,

I actually really like you. Tell me how you feel, good or bad. I don’t mind, you’re still my bestfriend, right?   Hehe, ok Merry Christmas!! >< 

                                                                                                    Your bestfriend forever,

                                                                                                                                           Yuri

 

She dropped her hands to her lap as tears kept rolling down her cheeks. She sniffled and wiped her tears. Is it too late?

 

--

The next day Sooyoung woke up early, she found it weird that Hyoyeon told her that she was leaving to the US to persue her dreams as a professional dancer that morning. It was too abrupt. They didn’t announce a breakup but the tight hug that Hyoyeon gave says it all and also the last words she said before she left.

“ It was nice to meet a warm-hearted, funny and beautiful girl like you Sooyoung ah, I wont forget you and that you’ll always stay in my box of good memories. Thanks for being with me.  Take care. And… I love you.”

She guessed it was over between them. She sent Hyoyeon to the airport before going to school. She sighed deeply as she walked towards her school. She hoped she’ll be able to meet Yuri after school at their usual meetup, at 7-11. She sighs, she wished she could just looked for Yuri and asked her about her absence and the card in the gift box. Before she was able to go through the school gate, someone grabbed hold of her wrist walking into school with her, hand in hand. Her breathed hitched and her eyes widened when she that it was Yuri. She tried wriggling her hand away but Yuri’s grip on her hand was to strong. Yuri then turned to her and smiled when they reached the cafeteria. She heard the buzzing of people whispering and looking at their connected hands. She knew it will happen, she was getting annoyed and yanked her hand away.

“ Yah! “ Yuri called out and grabbed her wrist again, this time Sooyoung's body tensed when she felt those warm and pinkish lips meeting hers.

She heard some gasping from around them but some even cheered which made her smile into the kiss and kissed Yuri back. Sooyoung dropped her bag onto the floor and wrapped her arms around the girl’s neck instead. Yuri placed her hands on each side of Sooyoung’s hips as they continued kissing each other until they felt that they needed air, they pulled out. Their breathing ragged, Yuri placed her forehead Sooyoung’s and interlocked their fingers together.

“ Now, you’re my bestfriend, my girlfriend, and if only we last that long…until you become my wife… Everyone knows now. There’s nothing to hide. I’ll show the world how much I love you and care for you Choi Sooyoung.” Yuri said assuringly and placed a kiss on the girl’s forehead.

“ I love you Kwon Yuri.”

“ I love you too Choi Sooyoung, with all my heart.”