The afternoon fell all too quickly, with a grey tinted sky that made it seem much later than it actually was. As Yoona walked, she could barely register her own steps or even the direction she was taking. She could hear her heartbeat, fast yet erratic, resonating in her ears. Yoona only stopped walking when her vision got slightly blurry. She spotted a bench on the hallway, across the street, and thank Heavens there weren’t any cars coming because she didn’t even look before she crossed. She sat down and pressed her index and middle finger to her pulse point in her neck, observing her watch as she counted the beats of her heart. A slightly elevated pulse was her conclusion, but it wasn’t elevated enough to make her pass out. She stood up and continued to wander, running a hand through her hair. She felt devastated and scared, but beneath those two main feelings there was something else; deception. Yoona was beyond disappointed. The time she had spent in Alpha Sector, at least through most of it, she had been so sure she was doing things for the good of people. All the people she had been assigned to spy and deceive were wrongdoers, people who hurt others without actually fearing any consequences, but did Jessica really fit in that category? She wasn’t sure. Did Seohyun? Of course not.

Unable to keep her thoughts in check, Yoona stopped walking and rested her back against the wall of an apartment building. People around her stared, wondering why she was so distraught, but no one cared enough to actually reach out to her. Bae Yong Joon’s words still replayed over and over in her mind. She was sure that if she didn’t cooperate with the mission, her family would suffer the consequences. The commissioner basically left her to make a choice; Seohyun or her family. But what if she didn’t want to make that choice? Armed with all the courage she had, Yoona decided she was not going to make that choice. If Bae Yong Joon wanted to play this game, she was going to play along, all the while making her own rules. And if things came out fine, neither Seohyun nor her family would be hurt and the truth behind Bae Suzy’s death would come out. She took out her phone and dialed Seohyun’s number, breathing in and out steadily so that Seohyun wouldn’t notice the agitation in the voice through the phone.

“Yoboseyo? Yoona-ah?”

“Seohyun-ah, are you busy?” Yoona asked. There were a few nanoseconds of silence.

“I’ll be out of class in about 45 minutes. Why?”

“Would you meet me at my apartment? I’ll buy coffee.” Yoona offered, knowing Seohyun wouldn’t say no to her company and the coffee invitation.

“Sure, is everything alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry. I just got off of work and I’d like to see you.” Yoona’s voice wavered a bit, but she hoped that Seohyun wouldn’t have noticed.

“I’ll be there in about an hour. See you.” Although Seohyun’s words would have seemed very formal and somewhat cold, her tone of voice showed some anticipation and warmth. It even made Yoona smile slightly.

“See you then, Hyun.”

…

Yoona was sitting on her own bed – that same bed she had shared with Seohyun—while gathering her thoughts and waiting for the younger girl. The latter was going to be there any second and there would be no time to improvise anything; Yoona needed to be sure of what to ask and what to ask without arousing suspicion. Besides all her worries, there was a sense of joy deep inside her, that came from knowing that she was going to be spending time with Seohyun. She changed into more comfortable clothing and waited about ten minutes more, when she heard a knock on the door of her apartment. She opened and definitely wasn’t expecting Seohyun to give her a hug that almost tackled her to the ground. Yoona giggled slightly as the arms wrapped around her neck tightened. She wrapped her own arms around Seohyun’s back, returning the squeeze. Yoona couldn’t help but close her eyes and slightly hide her face in the crook of Seohyun’s neck, wishing that the heavenly feeling of their embrace could remain on her memory, so that when she was feeling lost and scared, it would comfort her. Seohyun pulled away slightly and pecked Yoona’s lips.

“I brought some snacks.” She said cheerfully, her cheeks tinted a light pink color after the kiss. Yoona smiled and stepped aside, letting Seohyun come inside. The younger girl was dressed in a simple outfit, a purple v-neck shirt and blue jeans, as she let herself in and placed the snacks she’d bought on the breakfast tables of Yoona’s kitchen. The doe-eyed girl followed suit as she served two mugs of gourmet coffee she’d made herself and placed them atop the breakfast table as well.

“Thanks” Seohyun said sweetly as she took a sip of the coffee (which was absolutely delicious to say the least).

Yoona took a seat across Seohyun and took a big gulp of her own coffee, finding Seohyun staring deeply into her eyes as she set down the coffee mug.

“You’re quiet.” The young musician commented. Yoona bit her lower lip and nodded her head. “Did you sort out your problems at work?”

“Kind of.” Yoona whispered, before forcing a smile. “I’m not fired just yet.” She joked, making Seohyun smile lightly. She felt truly worried about Yoona but at the same time she didn’t want to intrude.

“Where do you work? I mean, I don’t want to be nosey or…”

“It’s okay.” Yoona interrupted with a gentle tone of voice, not wanting to treat Seohyun the way she had treated her that morning. “I’m… and EMT at a private clinic downtown. The head of the clinic is mad at me because of some paper work…” You liar – a recriminating voice seethed inside Yoona’s mind – didn’t you want to make things right?

“Wow, that’s a very noble career.” Seohyun praised, thinking that the job suited Yoona’s caring personality.

“Yes it is. But lately the boss is being a bit unfair and putting a lot of pressure on me.”

“Maybe you could start looking at other workplaces? There are many great clinics around and I’m pretty sure they’re short on personnel.” Seohyun suggested. Yoona shook her head.

“Not for now, but well. I can deal with it.” Yoona shrugged, taking a bite out of the warm biscuits Seohyun had brought. “These are really good…” She commented.

“I bought them in a bakery nearby.” Seohyun said. “Maybe our next date could be there.” Yoona couldn’t help but smile widely at the offer. Seohyun immediately looked away in embarrassment as she realized how forward she’d been and began to stutter. “I-I mean, we could just go as friends…”

“I’d love to have our next date there.” Yoona interrupted her, taking her hand and running her thumb over it. “It’d be much nicer than my apartment definitely.” They both laughed at the comment, with Seohyun shaking her head.

“Your apartment is really nice.” Seohyun was quickly to say. She thought that she’d love to invite Yoona over to her apartment, but that was totally and adamantly out of the question, since her mother was staying there for a visit.

“Seohyun-ah, can I ask you a question?” Yoona asked after they fell on a comfortable silence. Seohyun nodded, squeezing Yoona’s hand that was still holding hers. “What happened with Jessica Jung?” The younger girl was taken aback by the question as she furrowed her brows. “Can you tell me?” Yoona asked gently, ready to take ‘no’ for an answer and start looking elsewhere for answers that would help her finish the mission and leave Alpha Sector for good.

“It’ll be hard for me, but it’s better if I get it off my chest. I owe this to you after I ruined our date at the fashion show.” Yoona shook her head, her gaze warm and comprehensive. “She used to be my co-worker, so to speak. But most importantly, she was one of my best friends.” Seohyun said nostalgically, biting her bottom lip.

“Okay…” Yoona trailed off, wondering if Seohyun could continue her story without breaking down in tears.

“Four of my friends, Jessica included, and I were working on an internship to help pay for our studies. We were under a man named Lee Soo Man, the uncle of one of my friends, who was starting on a music label. From that time till now that company has grown much bigger, you might even know it. He managed big groups like H.O.T and TVXQ. All five of us wanted to pursue music, and he even suggested that we debut as a group under his management, but we talked it out among each other and decided we’d better get a degree before trying our hand at anything else, since none of us was that well off economically to take that chance. Anyways, we would compose and produce music for rookie artists. We had the time of our lives making music, and we were paid fairly well. Jessica had always been the most creative of us when it came to lyrics and music imagery, and about two years ago she began taking sketching classes and making her own designs; she started with CD front covers to sunglasses, scarves and sweaters. We all supported her and encouraged her since she was so talented. Even Lee Soo Man supported her. Last year, Lee Soo Man’s wife passed away, leaving a friend of his in charge of the label. The new CEO was much more uptight and demanded more of our time and work, to the point where one of my friends neglected her college subjects so much she had to repeat a semester. Jessica still managed to do her own thing, but eventually he found out that she had signed a partnership contract in order to launch a sunglass collection. He gathered all of us except for Jessica, letting us know that if Jessica was neglecting her job at SM so much, she might as well just leave. He threatened to finish off all of our contracts if we didn’t agree to let her go, and although we should have stood together for Jessica, we felt cornered. We all needed the financial support from SM to continue paying for college…” Seohyun’s voice broke. She let go of Yoona’s hand and covered her own eyes, embarrassed for crying so hard in front of Yoona. “The girls and I agreed that we would tell Jessica-unnie what was going on and convince her to take a hiatus from music for a while. We’d find a way to renew her contract and have her back, but she was faxed by the CEO before we could even talk to her. She came to us and begged us to not let her go, but the decision had been made and there was nothing we could do, and even if there was, we were too coward to act. That night, she went to some bar and drank too much, and she got into a horrible car accident in which she was the least injured. There was a girl in the same car as Jessica-unnie, someone we didn’t know but was apparently close to her, and that girl died.” Seohyun’s body shook with sobs, as she shut her eyes close and once again buried her face in her palms. Yoona’s eyes were wide in pure horror, as she finally put two and two together with what she already knew about Jessica Jung.

“Seohyun, was the name of that girl Bae Suzy?” The younger girl widened her eyes open, giving Yoona a slightly surprised look.

“Y-Yes, how did you know?” Seohyun asked. The doe-eyed girl gulped slightly.

“The clinic I work in was the one that took her in. I was one of the EMT’s that tried to reanimate her along with a doctor, but she was dead on the spot.” Yoona lied, hoping she’d sound convincing. Seohyun lowered her gaze and nodded her head. Actually, all Yoona was saying she’d found on an obituary of Bae Suzy that Eunji had facilitated her before she left Alpha Sector that morning.

“And Jessica didn’t get in trouble for that accident?” Yoona asked, furrowing her brows. She wanted to feel mad at Jessica for being reckless and causing commissioner Bae so much pain that his heart had been crippled and obscured by it, but hearing the story from Seohyun’s lips, she could only feel deep sadness for everyone involved in this mess, except for that tyrant of a CEO who had left those girls no choice than to turn against each other.

“The accident wasn’t entirely her fault. I don’t know much details about it because not much was revealed through the media and of course we would never know what really happened from Jessica-unnie herself, but unnie was cleared of all charges concerning Suzy’s death, as forensics proved that her death had been directly caused by the other party involved in the accident. Jessica was only indicted for DUI charges, but after some social work, she was cleared of all charges.”

“Wow… so you two haven’t spoken since then?”

“Up until yesterday, no. She hadn’t spoken to any of us. It’s obvious that she blames us.” Seohyun said sadly.

“But you know it wasn’t your fault, right? It was a shame and a tragedy, but you shouldn’t feel guilty over any of this, okay?” Yoona insisted zealously, standing up and kneeling in front of Seohyun. The latter stared into Yoona’s eyes as she nodded her head.

“It’s easier to think that than to believe it, y’know?” Seohyun bit her bottom lip, shaking her head. “I keep fooling myself into believing that there wasn’t anything we could have done but that’s a lie. There should have been something, anything. Anything to make her feel that we loved her and wanted her to stay with us.” Yoona couldn’t help but reach out to wipe Seohyun’s tears with her thumb, feeling for the younger girl.

“I understand… I’m sorry I even brought this up” Yoona whispered gently as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Seohyun’s shoulders. Yoona couldn’t help but think that the young musician didn’t deserve any more pain. All she deserved was to be loved and be reassured. Yoona pulled away slightly after a while passed, when Seohyun’s body stopped shaking with sobs and the tears stopped running down her cheeks. The two girls locked eyes for a moment before Yoona felt the magnetizing force pushing her forward into Seohyun’s addictive lips.

“Yoona…” Seohyun whispered as their mouths were only a breath apart. “What are we?”

The question, a breathless whisper, made Yoona pull away. She stared into Seohyun’s eyes as she breathed out a sigh.

“You are my first in a very long time… All through the night, I felt I had to hold you tighter so that I would know that you were really there with me, that it wasn’t all just a dream.” Yoona said, honesty coating her words. Seohyun had to look away because of the intensity of Yoona’s gaze. Still a small smile grazed her lips. Yoona couldn’t help but lean in again, this time pressing her lips softly to Seohyun’s. The latter placed one of her hands on the back of Yoona’s neck, keeping her in place, as their lips moved harmoniously against each other’s.

“I feel so happy that you’re with me, Yoona.” The younger girl whispered as Yoona pulled away and pressed her forehead against hers. “But I also feel bad that you had to come into my life when I’m feeling so lost and hopeless.” The doe-eyed girl let out a slight chuckle.

“This is definitely not the best time in my life either, sweetie.” Seohyun blushed at the nickname. Yoona’s hands came to cup her face softly, with feather-like caresses. “… but maybe that’s why we found each other. So that we can help each other through our trials.” This time, it was Seohyun who couldn’t help herself and leaned forward, taking Yoona’s upper lip in-between hers. Yoona, enjoying that the younger girl had taken the initiative, also let her lead the passionate and sweet kiss. They both pulled away with a smile, their lips making a small smacking sound as they parted. “Would you be my girlfriend, Seo Joohyun?”

“Of course.” The young musician immediately answered, as she wrapped her arms around Yoona’s neck and dove in for a deeper kiss.

A/N: Hey readers! I want to apologize for making you wait so long keke these past few months have been quite crazy. I also want to thank all of you who have subscribed and are still following this story, it means a LOT to me. Again, thank you so much for reading and please comment and let me know what you think! :)