Chapter 5: Crumbling Into Pieces

Yuri shrugged on her blazer, sighing as she smoothed out the creases. Her father’s birthday gathering at their residence isn’t something she would want to attend, but it wasn’t like she had a choice, no matter how strained their relationship was.

She wondered how they arrived to this point of their relationship. It was after her mother died that they became estranged. He drowned himself in work, came home drunk every night, and never bothered about her. Her mother’s death took a toll on him, and he never really got over it. She came to resent him over time.

But whatever happened, happened, and there’s nothing she can do to change it.

By the time she entered the guesthouse, everyone had already arrived, and the party went on in full force. She smiled at an old couple, good friends of her mothers’, and stopped to chat with them, exchanging the usual pleasantries. Yuri excused herself after a moment as another guest arrived, relieved to get away.

In the distance she saw Taeyeon angrily making her way towards her, and when they met she was grabbed by the elbow and dragged off to one side.

“What the—Taeng.”

“You’re late.”

Yuri wrenched her elbow out of Taeyeon’s grasp.

“I don’t exactly have to attend.”

“What are you talking about. Yes you do. You’re the daughter of the man hosting this party. It isn’t right for children to not attend.”

Yuri rolled her eyes and grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.

“It’s not like the man actually cares.”

“Still, you have to be here talking to the guests, not me.”

Taeyeon sipped her drink as she looked around.

“But you’ve been holding up just fine, old friend.”

“That’s because you do it too often!”

“So I can count on you again this time?”

“Hell, no.”

“I’m going out to the garden. Thanks Taeng.”

She didn’t wait for Taeyeon’s reply, leaving her best friend to choke on her drink as she slipped away. Taeyeon would forgive her.

The double doors that led to the garden were open tonight for the guests who wanted a change of atmosphere. She weaved through them, moving further into the quieter parts of the garden. Her father couldn’t say she didn’t attend; she did. Just because he didn’t see her that didn’t mean that she wasn’t present.

She stopped at a split way and looked around. Satisfied that no one else was with her, she moved away from the path, slipping into a hidden pathway. Yuri emerged on the other side and breathed in the fresh scent of roses. She had always come here when she missed her mother, but she had been too busy with work to come to the garden nowadays.

Yuri a blooming rose gleaming softly under the moonlight—soft, delicate, and full of mystery. A perfect rose for love at first sight.

The sound of footsteps distracted her from her thoughts. She snapped towards the sound and moved towards the entrance. She hid behind the wall and waited silently. The person making their way to the rose garden struggled to move through the dark passage; Yuri could tell from their unsure footfalls.

A figure emerged, and Yuri swiftly grabbed their elbow spinning them around. The face she saw was the face she least expected to see.

“Tiffany?”

“M-Ms Kwon.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I…I was just getting some fresh air.”

Yuri let go, and Tiffany nervously smoothed out her blouse. In the dark of the night, the glint of a necklace caught Yuri’s eye.

“How did you get in here?” she demanded.

Tiffany looked back at the way she came in. “I was just…taking a walk…and just…happened to find this path…”

“Do you know where we are?”

Tiffany looked around.

“The rose garden…?”

Yuri stepped closer towards Tiffany.

“What are you doing?” Tiffany asked, shrinking back.

Under the soft glow of the lamp, Yuri could make out the carvings of an insignia on the infinity shaped pendant that rested on Tiffany’s collar.

“Your necklace. Where did you get it?”

Tiffany reached for her necklace and hurriedly hid it underneath her blouse. Yuri could see the look of surprise on her face, and she knew that she wasn’t meant to see it.

“A friend gave it to me.”

It was hard, standing in front of the person she had searched the world for, pretending like there was no past between them. The background check was all the proof she needed, but a lot of things could have happened during the past seven years. A part of her wanted to believe that under the façade of layers Tiffany built, there was still Stephanie—the Stephanie she knew.

“How did you know where we are?”

Tiffany laughed at her question like it was the most ridiculous question she heard in her life. “I see roses Ms Kwon. Of course I know we’re in a rose garden.”

“How did you find the path?”

“I was, you know,” Tiffany shrugged, “just walking and I happen to stumble upon it.”

Yuri clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Tiffany’s constant pretense frustrated her.

She grabbed Tiffany’s wrist and pulled her towards the entrance. “Come with me.”

“Let go!” she demanded.

Tiffany tried to twist out of her vice grip futilely. She was being rough with Tiffany, she knew, but right now, she didn’t care. She wanted answers—answers that she will believe, only if Tiffany said it.

They were almost out onto the split path when Yuri heard hushed, frantic voices. She quickly pulled back into the hidden path, crashing into Tiffany.

“Ow! That hu—”

Yuri wrapped an arm around Tiffany and clamped a hand over .

“Quiet,” she whispered in her ear.

The voices were louder now, and Yuri could just about make out what they said.

“Have you convinced them yet?”

“… No.”

“What have you been doing!” the first man hissed.

“I’m sorry, but it seems like they’re not interested.”

“Then do something about it!”

“I’m trying.”

“Well, your efforts aren’t enough. I don’t care what in takes. Those investors cannot invest in Kwon Enterprises. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Get out of my sight.”

There was the sound of footsteps fading away, and it wasn’t long before the first man made his way back to the guesthouse.

Yuri looked out from behind the hidden wall. Seeing the coast clear, she released her breath she didn’t realize she was holding and let Tiffany go.

“I’m sorry.”

Tiffany stumbled back from her hold, staring at her, fazed.

“Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

The question seemed to snap Tiffany out of her stupor. She her lips and gulped.

“N-No. I’m fine.”

Yuri nodded. “Let’s go.”

* * *

As the heiress to Kwon Enterprises, she should be worried about the conversation she just overheard. But as she watched Tiffany move towards the long window in her old study, she was reminded of the real reason she was here.

“Why did you bring me here?” Tiffany asked.

Instead of answering her, Yuri moved towards the fireplace, lighting it up, and bathing the study in the warm glow of flickering flames.

“When I was young, I used to come here and sit by the fireplace, with a cup of warm cocoa. Chilly fall days like tonight was the perfect weather for it. I would sit, and I would stare at the flames, and I would think. It would help, sitting here and thinking, but it hasn’t been helping lately. So I just, decided to do the first thing that comes to my mind.”

Yuri turned around to look at Tiffany, who tilted her head in question.

“What do I have to do with this?”

Yuri moved towards the desk in the room and opened a drawer. She took out the manila folder and placed it on the desk for Tiffany, silently inviting her to take a look. Tiffany cautiously moved towards her eyeing the folder.

“What is this?”

Yuri gulped nervously as Tiffany slowly took the folder and opened it. When Tiffany’s eyes widened, her hand stiffened, and her breath shallow, Yuri knew she figured it out.

“When…when did you find out…?”

Tiffany’s question hung in the deafening silence that suffocated Yuri. She took a deep breath.

“The moment I saw you. Just now, when I saw your necklace. And, I never took anyone else to the rose garden except you. No one else knows the pathway except my father and I.”

“Yuri…”

“Stephanie…” her voice cracked, and only now Yuri realized how hard it was for her to breathe, how her heart beat erratically, and how she trembled underneath Stephanie’s stare; the high walls she built all crumbling down with each passing moment. “Why…why did you leave without a word, without telling me where you were going, or what was happening? Where have you been all these years? Why appear now when you’ve been gone for so long? Why appear in front of me and pretend like nothing happened. Stephanie, tell me: why?”

She gripped the edge of her desk like how she was trying to grip onto the last shred of sanity left in her as she felt the pieces of her heart finally fall away. Hot streams streaked down her cheeks when she closed her eyes. She just wanted to hold Stephanie, right there and then.

“Steph, I missed you so much…”

Her face twisted in pain as she forced her eyes to open. Stephanie looked at her with tears in her eyes, a hand grasping her chest, the other pressed over , holding back the cries that threatened to spill.

“Steph…” she took a step forward. Stephanie mirrored her action.

“No.” She shook her head. “Don’t come any closer. You and I both know it’s impossible between us.”

“Steph…no, don’t go!” Yuri scrambled to block Stephanie’s path as she headed for the door. “Steph please, don’t leave me again.”

Stephanie closed her eyes and pursed her lips. “I’m sorry.”

Yuri made no effort to stop Stephanie as she brushed past her. She heard the door shut behind her, and Yuri crumbled to the floor in a mess, trying to pick up the pieces of her heart. 

A/N: After the last update, I had midterm after midterm. And life happened. It happened to coincide with Jessica’s news. Heh. I hope you liked it! P.S. Thanks silky, for being an awesome unofficial beta/test reader <3

If the ending made you feel all lost, and saying, "NO!" in your head, and if you knew Tiffany/Stephanie tried to hold herself back when Yuri held her, then I did my job. If not D: Nuuuuuuu.