Chapter 4: Revelations

Yuri walked tiredly out of the conference room smoothing her throbbing head of its headache. She took off her blazer stepping into the office, tossed it aside and sunk into her chair. Her sigh heavy and filled with frustration. She closed her eyes and threw her head back against the chair, wondering why she was here—managing a company, having shareholder meetings, entertaining clients. It wasn’t what she wanted.

“Ms Kwon?”

She blinked, sitting up in her chair. “What is it Wendy?”

The secretary placed a folder on her desk. “The information you requested for Ms Kwon.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Wendy bowed and left. Yuri eyed the thin manila folder, pondering for a moment what she would find in it—whether it would tell her what she wanted, or give her a slap or reality in the face and leave her disappointed.

She picked up the folder and opened it.

Birth Name: Hwang Miyoung, Stephanie

Other Aliases: Tiffany

* * *

It took a week and a half, after the bruises on her ribs were healed, when she could walk properly again, that Yuri saw Stephanie.

She flipped a page of her textbook, oblivious to the chatter around her as the popped a gummy bear into . She looked up just as the seat in front of her was pulled back, and a familiar face appearing in her vision. Stephanie smiled.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi,” Yuri whispered back, smiling. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m bored. I haven’t seen you in a while. How are your ribs?”

“All better.”

“That’s good.”

“Don’t you have homework to do?”

“I gave up on my physics homework.”

“I can help you.”

“Really?” Stephanie asked, surprised.

She shrugged. “Why not.”

Stephanie raised an eyebrow in disbelief, a slow grin starting to spread on her lips.

“Okay.”

* * *

It wasn’t easy for Yuri to make friends because she didn’t like approaching people, and people didn’t approach her, too cautious of her family’s name and heritage, and what that entitled. She didn’t bother either—she coped fine without the obnoxious girls and their vanities.

In the brightly lit study of her mansion, Yuri watched Stephanie seated across from her. Stephanie’s brows were pulled down by the ferocity of her concentration, her sharp eyes darting back and forth at the problem presented before her.

Yuri didn’t know what motivated her to reach out and help Stephanie that day weeks ago, given her unwilling nature. She allowed Stephanie’s saving act to contribute to the impulse of her decision and granted her emotions full control of her actions despite the lack of logic in the situation. She smiled when Stephanie groaned and flopped onto the desk in defeat. All logic thrown aside, Yuri felt the same feeling as she did when Stephanie helped her up many weeks ago, and all she knew was that she liked the feeling. Stephanie was just like any other person in school, and it didn’t make sense, but that didn’t matter. Yuri liked Stephanie’s presence.

“This is hurting my brain,” Stephanie mumbled.

“It’s easy once you get it. You just need to practice.”

“Yeah right.”

“I’m serious.”

“I hate physics.”

clicked shut in hurt. “Maybe if you said you loved it instead you’d do better.”

“Yeah right.”

“I’m serious.”

“I hate you Kwon Yuri.”

“Maybe if you said you loved me instead you would listen to what I say.”

“You’re insufferable.”

Yuri laughed.

* * *

Sometimes Yuri wondered why her parents had a huge garden made when no one takes a walk in them. Her father just makes sure that it was well taken care of, and Yuri just admires it from her study. Her mother took care of it, but that was a long time ago, when she was still alive.

Stephanie grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her over to the rose bush.

“Yuri, take a look at this!” Stephanie a purple rose and sniffed it smiling in appreciation. “I never thought I’d see a purple rose bush in your garden.”

“It’s just a rose bush. I think you’d be able to find a purple rose bush in the Rose Garden.”

“Do you know how rare a purple rose is?”

“No.”

“Very.”

“Okay.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes at her and turned her attention back to the bush. “So pretty…”

Yuri glanced over at Stephanie. “Do you really like it that much?”

Stephanie chuckled. “Don’t you?”

Finding an obscure full bloom, Yuri reached out and plucked it from its stem.

“Fany.”

“Hmm?”

“For you.”

Stephanie looked at the purple rose in her hands and smiled.

“Do you know what does it mean to give me a purple rose, Kwon Yuri?”

“Does it matter what the colour of the rose is?”

“Yes, it does.”

“So what does it mean?”

Stephanie took the rose from her hand and drew close, lacing their fingers together.

“That’s for you to find out.”

* * *

Yuri felt unexplainably disappointed, and sad, that it was time for Stephanie to go home already. She dragged her feet along behind Stephanie as they headed to the foyer, already thinking of when she could see her again.

Stephanie stopped in front of the double doors and turned about.

“Goodnight Yuri. I had fun today.”

“Me too.”

Yuri saw that Stephanie was reluctant to go too, hesitating about what to do next as she eyed the tiles and chewed her lips.

“Yuri?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what the purple rose meant?”

“You told me to figure it out on my own.”

Stephanie laughed nervously. “Yes, I did. Do you want to know what it means?”

“What does it mean?”

“Love at first sight.”

Yuri blinked, her blood rushed, and she gulped. “Ahh, so that’s what it means…”

The smile on Stephanie face flashed and disappeared in an instant. “I’ll get going now.”

“Fany wait.”

Stephanie stopped at the door and looked at her in anticipation.

“I like you, Stephanie. I liked you the first time I met you. I like being with you, being around you, and when I don’t see you I can’t stop thinking about you I feel like I’m going crazy. I—”

“I like you too, Yuri. And everyday I think about you, and I miss your touches sometimes I don’t know what to do.”

Yuri felt giddy with the rush of emotions she couldn’t control. Her mind was a mess and once again she allowed her emotions to take over.

She pulled Stephanie close and guided her hands to her shoulders.

“Can I…can I kiss you?”

Stephanie’s soft lips met hers impatiently, and as Yuri wrapped an arm around her waist, she brushed her fingers against Stephanie’s jaw. Yuri knew the moment didn’t last long, but it did to her, and she knew this feeling would be forever burned in her memory.

* * *

Yuri paced back and forth restlessly at the foyer of her mansion. Her gaze shifted frantically between the door and the item in her hand. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and anxiety gnawed at her thoughts. Would Stephanie like the present? What if she didn’t? What if—

“Hi!”

Yuri stared at Stephanie standing in the middle of her foyer like she was going to have a panic attack.

“S-Stephanie. H-Hi, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“You were too busy making me dizzy with your pacing.”

“Oh— um— I was just— uhh—”

She pulled back when Stephanie leaned in with an eyebrow raised in suspicion. The lips twisted in scrutiny.

“Hmm…what are you hiding from me?”

Her eyes widened. “No-Nothing!”

“Don’t lie to me Kwon Yuri.”

“I-I’m not!”

“Why are you stuttering?”

hung with her breath hitched in her lungs and the words a jumble in her head.

“I—”

“Did you cheat on me?”

“N-No!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Then what is it you have to tell me?”

“I uhh— got a present for you.” She stretched out her arms, holding the small box preciously. “Happy birthday.”

Stephanie stared at her blankly, and Yuri just wanted to shrivel up under the weight of the silence between them.

“I’m sorry, I—”

“No!” Stephanie grasped her hands tightly. “Thank you for the present.” She smiled. “Can I open it?”

“S-Sure.”

Yuri watched nervously as Stephanie opened the velvet box and lifted the delicate chain inside.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I uhh— didn’t know what you liked. But I just didn’t want to get you something everyone can have. So I had one custom-made, for you.”

“I love it.”

She nodded absentmindedly. “Good, I—”

Stephanie kissed her chastely. “You talk too much sometimes. Will you help me put it on?”

Stephanie turned around for her, sweeping her long hair to one side. She took the necklace, taking a long time with the clasp as she put it on Stephanie with shaking hands.

“All done.”

Stephanie turned around the infinity pendant.

“How does it look?”

“Perfect.”

* * *

Yuri shifted on the sofa restlessly, her eyes darting over the same sentence repeatedly for the past fifteen minutes. Her eyes flickered towards the library door, expecting Stephanie to come in any time, but the opening door always left her disappointed. She chewed on her lip nervously. Stephanie was never late.

She snapped her book shut and shoved it into her bag. Something is wrong.

Her feet took her to Stephanie’s classroom, hoping that she was still talking to her professor. But she would’ve told her. Yuri slid the door open to an empty classroom, save for one girl in the corner. She looked up in shock from her notes.

“O-Ohh. Hi Yuri.”

“Hi Sunny. Did you see Stephanie?”

Sunny shook her head. “No, she didn’t come to school today.”

Didn’t come to school…? Yuri furrowed her eyebrows.

“Did you come to get her notes? They should be under her desk.”

“No…um, do you know why she didn’t come to school today?”

Sunny thought about it for a while. “I heard something about a family problem a while ago. Not sure what it was though. But I—”

“Thanks Sunny.”

Yuri dashed out of the classroom whipping out her phone to dial her driver.

Family problem?

She passed her form teacher who questioned where she was going.

“I’m sorry Ms Cho. I have to go.”

She pushed the front doors open and rushed down the steps to the waiting car. Her driver opened the door immediately.

“Take me to Stephanie’s place. Hurry.”

This was only the second time Yuri ever went to Stephanie’s neighbourhood. The one time she came was only to drop her off after school. She never got down from her car, and she never bothered to. Stephanie insisted she didn’t.

Mr Kim stopped the car in front of a worn down apartment and said, “Her apartment is on the second floor.”

Yuri looked out of the window at the chipped off paint on the walls and the bad condition of the building. She felt guilty. Stephanie knew so much about her, yet she never knew much about the other girl. Where she really lived, about her parents, or about anything in her life.

She got down from the car and climbed the rusty stairs that creaked with each step. The blinds of the windows were closed, there was no dust, but it looked like it was closed in a hurry. She knocked on the door.

“Is anyone home?”

She knocked again when she didn’t get an answer. She tried to peek through the windows, but the place looked empty. Strange.

She looked at the floor, and there, underneath the door, a piece of paper stuck out. Yuri picked it out with caution, afraid it might slip underneath instead. She grabbed it and pulled it out.

EVICTION NOTICE.

Eviction? Yuri hurried down the steps.

“Did you find anything, Ms Kwon?” Mr Kim asked.

She handed him the paper. He shifted his sunglasses uncomfortably.

The door to the apartment in front of them opened, and a middle-aged man shuffled out, carrying bags of trash.

“Excuse me?”

The disheveled man glared at her and threw the trash into the bin.

“What do you want?”

“I was wondering, do you know what happened to the tenants upstairs?”

He stopped and looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Got kicked out.”

“Did you know why?”

He looked at her, irritated. “Do I really have to answer you? Why else would someone get kicked out?”

The man shuffled back into the house.

“Do you know what happened to the girl?”

He snorted. “Miyoung? That girl’s got bad luck.” The man ruffled his head. “Smart young lady, she is. Too bad she’s got a drunkard for a father. The bastard drank so much he didn’t even have enough to pay his rent.”

Yuri blinked as the man grumbled something about rehab, another city, foster care…

“Mr Kim.”

“Yes, Ms Kwon?”

“Find her for me. Hwang Miyoung.”

* * *

Mr Kim did find her, tracing to a foster family somewhere in Jeonju. By the time they reached, the family had moved to another city, and the track ended there.

“But that’s not all.”

He handed her a manila folder, which she took with confusion.

“What is this?”

“Just some extra information that I thought you might like to know.”

She opened it. A passport picture was clipped to the edge of the first page that contained Stephanie’s basic information. Well, not Stephanie—Miyoung.

The second page contained her parents’ information. Yuri’s hand stilled.

“How…how did I not know this…” Yuri breathed.

She had been so stupid. All this time they had been together, why had she never bothered to ask. Why didn’t she see all the signs? The bruises Stephanie always had, the dark circles under her eyes, and why she was always tired. Yuri ran a hand through her hair in frustration, growling in anger.

Of all people, she should have known. She gritted her teeth in guilt and tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill out.

* * *

“Hey guys look, it’s Nerd again.”

The girls snickered and circled Yuri.

The leader glanced around, a mock ready at the tip of her tongue. “Hey, where is that of a girlfriend of yours?”

“I heard she dropped out of school.”

“Yeah, got a job just like her mother. A .”

The girls laughed. Yuri clenched her fists.

“Hey Nerd. You gotta be real pitiful, for someone like you to need a like her to protect her. Aren’t you—”

Yuri rushed forward and slammed the leader against the lockers, gripping the collar of her shirt.

“Say another word, and I’ll rip your tongue out of your mouth and beat you till you’re a dead piece of meat,” she snarled. “I’ll make sure you never walk, or talk again. You understand me?”

The bully nodded, her lips trembling, her eyes filled with fear. Yuri shoved her against the lockers and walked off.

Outside, Yuri screwed her eyes and slammed her fist against the brick wall.

Stephanie, where are you?

A/N: A long one, before another round of midterms.