You're gunna have to expand your imagination on this one.

I don't think you'll like it.

Inspired by a dream.

I don't know if only my Hyosica readers voted or if people who cared enough to vote only like Hyosica but here you go.

The world had turned into ashes. After a horrific meteor strike from the angry heavens above, life on earth was not possible anymore. It had wiped the world of most of its population. Out of the seven billion people who roamed the earth, only a fraction of them had survived. It was the one billion well prepared survivors that continued the humans' legacy. They had managed to engineer several airships to shelter the survivors out of the ruins. Centuries had passed and now all hopes of returning to their homeland were long gone. People had adjusted to living in space and grew accustomed to this new lifestyle. Everyone had a role; everyone had a job, even the kids, even the disabled.

----

One sullen girl made her way through the halls. It had been months since she had set foot back into her airship. After what happened a couple of years ago, she couldn't be bright and cheerful anymore. It hurt her to the very core and she couldn't handle it, so she signed up for the Earth Reconstruction Unit to gain distance. She should have been ecstatic to be reunited with her family and friends but she wasn’t. Her return only brought her back to the reality she'd rather not face. She didn't want to be here but they sent her back home for her hard work and all she could think about was going back.

Her fingers trailed the walls of the airship and suddenly stopped her tracks remembering that there was a particular person waiting for her return. Her feet changed course and headed for the opposite direction. She reached the room and had her finger scanned. The door slid open and she entered to see a little girl playing with her stuffed animals. The girl looked up to see who the intruder was but the intruder was no intruder at all.

"Hyoyeon unnie!!" She ran and jumped onto the elder for a bear hug.

"Hey kiddo! How have you been?" Hyoyeon hugged her back.

"I've missed you so much!" The little girl wrapped her legs around her unnie's waist.

"Me too, I've missed you just as much if not more!" she giggled.

The little girl untangled her arms from Hyoyeon's neck and twisted her body to point at her wall. "Over there!"

Hyoyeon carried her to where she was pointing.

"Look! My teacher gave me an award for my project!" She giggled while pointing at the paper on the wall so carefully framed. "Unnie's proud right?" She looked at Hyoyeon hopefully.

"Of course I am!" Hyoyeon released her right arm and pinched her nose, "what was it about?"

"Teacher told me to write about the person I admired the most and who I wanted to be when I grow up and guess who I wrote about?" She giggled.

"Oh I don’t know… Captain?" Hyoyeon pretended not to know.

"No!" she shook her head.

"President?"

"No! Unnie! I wrote about Unnie!"

"Really?!" Hyoyeon exaggerated her shock.

"Yes! Unnie is the best! I want to be just like Unnie!" She gave Hyoyeon a big kiss on the cheek.

"Well, Unnie is honored that an awesome, smart and beautiful little girl wants to be like her," she kissed her back.

"Unnie is prettier!" She blushed.

---

When Hyoyeon began her first expedition on earth, her unit found a struggling family underground and trapped. How they and their ancestors survived for so long, they didn't know but when they tried to locate any other survivors the family couldn't answer. They had rushed down to help them but they couldn't save them all. Her Captain had went down to bring them back up but just as they managed to get the little girl safe, the cave collapsed from an undetected earthquake trapping her parents and  her Captain.

After Hyoyeon had brought the little girl back to the airship she asked what her name was and the latter simply shook her head. Despite not knowing her name, the little girl brightened up Hyoyeon's day. Instead of sulking in her room, Hyoyeon would spend her free days with her new friend. Eventually the little girl grew comfortable enough to tell Hyoyeon that her name was Krystal.

---

Hyoyeon bid Krystal farewell and promised to come by again tomorrow. She left her room with a big smile and headed towards her parents room but on her way she passed by her old room. Out of curiosity she peaked through the small window to see who had occupied it but no one was there. She shrugged and continued down the hall but her eyes had met a pair she dreaded to see. The very person whom she wanted to avoid was her best friend looking right back at her. Hyoyeon wished she could runaway but she couldn't because she wanted to keep the last of her pride.

"Let me leave. Please," Hyoyeon pleaded.

"You can't leave me so suddenly without telling me!" The latter head onto her wrist tightly.

"This is what I want to do, Sica. Please let me go," she looked away.

"You're not telling me something and you've been avoiding me. What is going on, Hyoyeon?" Jessica finally popped the question.

"Nothing is going on. I-I just didn't want to tell you that I'm going to be gone for a very long time," she stuttered.

"Don't you dare lie to me! I know when you're lying before you even speak!" Her grip was getting tighter.

Hyoyeon turned and looked at her with pain stricken eyes. Anyone could tell that pain was there for a long time. Jessica was taken aback and her grip loosened. Why did it take those eyes to notice now how sullen her best friend was?

"You chose him instead of me," Hyoyeon peeled her hands from her wrist, "I might have been there for you through it all but I'm tired of only being your best friend. I don't think I need to tell you why I'm leaving for you to understand. I'm tired, Sica."

Without even saying goodbye, she quickly boarded the shuttle and left the girl dumbfounded.

Her heart was collapsing. Even with all that time away, it was still her that she wanted. The girl ran towards her and threw her arms around Hyoyeon's neck tightly. How Jessica's body fit so perfectly with hers, how her best friend's slim arms enclosed her, it hurt. It hurt her so much to know that Jessica could never be hers.

"This hurts more than seeing you with him," Hyoyeon closed her eyes, "please let go."

"No," Jessica's arms tightened.

"Please, Sica. It hurts," on the verge of tears, Hyoyeon weakly tried to pry her arms off to no avail.

"No," Hyoyeon could feel tears seep through her uniform, "I've missed you too much."

Hyoyeon sighed and let the girl embrace her one-sidedly.

"You're parents said you've been back here and there but you've never visited me. You would've kept it that way if I didn't run into you, huh?" she spoke into the crook of Hyoyeon's neck.

She nodded.

"Please don't leave me again. I don't think I can take another three years without you."

Hyoyeon sighed and pried Jessica's arms away and held her at arm's length.

"No no no! You're not pushing me away again!" Jessica held onto her arms.

"Jessic-"

"Don't!" She interrupted, "Listen to me first."

Hyoyeon didn't want to listen. She didn't want to hear what the girl had to say. It wouldn't change anything anyways. Her heart was still going to hurt, Jessica was never going to be hers and she was going to be leaving in one month's time. Something inside of her told her it was going to be different and Jessica's eyes were pleading and she couldn't look away so she let her continue.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I'm sorry I couldn't notice what you were feeling. I'm sorry that I spent more time with him than I did with you. I'm sorry that I chose him instead of you. I'm sorry that you had to feel that way one-sidedly for so long but I'm here to say that it's not going to be one-sided anymore," Jessica looked at her with longing.

Hyoyeon's eyes furrowed. She didn't like where this was going. She didn't need to be reminded that she was just a friend.

"I need you now more than ever. During that time when you were still beside me and that emptiness I felt when he wasn't there didn't compare to that gaping black hole I had when you left. I realized a few months after you left that I need you more than I need him. So I'm begging you to not leave me again."

"I'm not your rebound, Jessica." Hyoyeon ripped her hands away and turned around to walk the other way.

"YOU'RE NOT MY REBOUND!" Jessica screamed after her.

Hyoyeon stopped in her tracks. She didn't want to revel in the idea of a possible relationship with her because she wouldn't be able to take the pain if it wasn't real. She didn't want Jessica to tear her he