Yoona stood up and stretched. Ah, that felt good. She has taken to sleeping in her computer chair every night, and the endless hours of sitting and sleeping on that infernal chair have taken its toll on her back.

She walked up to the window and opened it wide, and squinted in the sunlight flooding her now-opened window. Damn, I’ve been cooped up in here for too long, Yoona thought. Perhaps a walk outside would do me good. She also hoped to pick up some tips from the people outside—perhaps I’ll get to see some lovey-dovey couple and see how they act, and then I can end this accursed romance novel that I am writing. She sighed. Why did I ever choose to write in this genre in the first place?

She hastily grabbed her cellphone and her wallet from her desk, and as she did so, she saw the elephant keychain, lying immobile on the desk and yet seemingly tantalizing. If the keychain could speak, Yoona imagined it could have been saying, “Ah, take me outside! Take me!”

Aissh, mwolla, as she grabbed the keychain and stuffed it into her pocket before heading outside.

The walk, Yoona was pleased to realize, was doing her wonders. She could already feel the rusty gears in her brain working up, and her skin tingling with the warmth of the sun. Ah, could this day get any better?

As she put her hands into her pockets she felt the elephant keychain inside, and it as if it were a talisman. Ah, SeoHyun…

Though she did not want to admit it, the reason why she kept on procrastinating her writing was because of SeoHyun. With every page she wrote, thousands of what ifs? came to her mind. What if I chased her that day? What if we had a long talk over things, could we have settled things between us…?

What if I told her that… I still have feelings for her? And an even scarier question: Will I still get the chance to do that?

* * *

For days, SeoHyun has been trying her hardest to get Yoona out of her mind. She tried doing yoga (at Yuri’s suggestion), walking dogs in the park (SooYoung’s suggestion), even helping out at Jessica’s boutique store, but none helped. Even her no-fail go-to during her toughest times at Yale—reading books—did not help her one bit. In every page she thought she could see Yoona’s name, or in every dress that she helped Jessica with she would imagine Yoona wearing it, and how good it would look on her. Ah, I’m hopeless.

One thing that sort of worked for her was singing. After accidentally stumbling upon her singing alone in her room, HyoYeon wasted no time in telling all of their friends that their maknae could sing really well. But despite her unnies’ continuous requests to hear her sing, SeoHyun refused. I just… I’m not in the mood. She would sing while in the shower, she would sing when she was in her room, but she would not sing in front of everybody. Her unnies knew her to be very shy, but not to the extent that she would actually be shy in front of them, so they could not understand why she refuses them so adamantly.

*Flashback*

 “Aigoo, our maknae has outsmarted us! We never knew you had a thing for Yoona! AIGOOO”, as TaeYeon continuously ruffled her hair.

It had been just a few days after she and Yoona officially became a couple, and all the unnies were teasing her for it.  “Aish, stop it guys!” Yoona said half-heartedly, because although the unnies were teasing her as well, she seems to be enjoying all of it.

Unable to hide her blush any longer (which Yuri conveniently pointed out to all the others—causing everyone to gush all over again), she mumbled a “I’ve got to finish something, be right back—“ and ran away, before her unnies could stop her.

“YAAAHHH SHE’S SHY!! OMG HOW OUR MAKNAE HAS GROWN!!” Tiffany’s loud voice carried over to her, and she could hear everyone’s pleasant laughter.

SeoHyun rounded a corner and leaned against the wall. Oh, now everyone’s going to be teasing me again! She was used to her unnies’ constant teasing about her upright personality, but this was different. She was shy to admit it, but she liked that they were teasing her and Yoona. And Yoona looked so cute with her smile…

Deciding that she won’t return to her unnies until she felt that she could hide her blush (which, judging from her reflection in her cellphone screen, hasn’t gone yet), she opened the door just to her right and entered.

SeoHyun saw that she was in the music room. She walked and touched the instruments on display, and picked out a guitar. Their class has just started learning how to play a guitar, and SeoHyun—though she had no idea why—was already far ahead of her class, prompting her music teacher to call her a “natural genius”.

She sat down and started strumming a few random chords on the guitar. After a few minutes of strumming, she recalled a song that she heard over the radio that she actually liked and downloaded onto her mp3 player.

The song was actually easy to play on the guitar, and in no time SeoHyun was already singing it while playing the guitar.

You are my only, you are the one

You’re everything I want and baby

I should have told you that I love you

Oh, nothing compares to you
I’m crazy thinking ‘bout you lately
You and I were meant to be
And baby this is real-- 
 

Suddenly she looked up, and saw that Yoona was standing at the door, beaming.

“Yoona! I—how long have you been there?”

Yoona stepped forward and closed the door. “Long enough for me to hear your beautiful voice. Ya, SeoHyun, why didn’t you say you were a good singer?

“Um, I just thought… I didn’t actually think that I can sing well, you know.” She peered at Yoona and tried to detect a hint of bluffing in her face, but didn’t see any.

“Ya, I mean it. You sing hella well!” Yoona plopped on the seat beside mine.

“You were the first to hear me sing, Yoona,” I said, as I smiled shyly at her.

“Ah, you’re shy.” SeoHyun nodded, and Yoona smiled understandingly.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your golden voice, unless you’re ready to unleash it to the world.” SeoHyun laughed, and Yoona thought Damn, I’d give anything to hear that laugh again.

“But for now, sing for me.” Yoona nudged the guitar and beckoned SeoHyun to sing again.

“Starting today, Yoona, I’ll only sing for you.”

Yoona looked shocked for a second, and then said with a laugh, “Ya, SeoHyun! Since when did you learn to be so forward and so… cheesy?” Yoona laughed again, and when SeoHyun threatened to just leave the room, Yoona grabbed her hand and said, “Ya, ya, don’t go! Sing for me.”

SeoHyun sat down, cleared and started to sing.

You are my only, you are the one

You’re everything I want and baby

I should have told you that I love you…

*End of flashback*

It’s because… I only want one person to hear me sing.

* * * 

As Yoona approached the shopping mall, a crowd was gathered around a band performing for free. After every song, the crowd would cheer and hand them some money, and then some of the audience would submit song requests for the band to sing. Thinking she had nothing else to do, Yoona sat down at the nearest café, bought an espresso, and watched them with interest.

“Hey hey hey everybody!” the band vocalist called out to the audience, and the crowd cheered. He waited for the cheering to die down, and announced: “Okay, here’s the deal. We know we’re not the only good singers here, so for those who want to express their inner singer, come out and sing! If you don’t know how to play an instrument, we’ll gladly play for you for free. And”, the vocalist added, “if you sing well enough, we’ll give you all of the money the crowd will give for your song!” The crowd cheered again, and some of the audience pushed some of their friends to sing, though all were reluctant.

Yoona laughed. It was a weird deal, considering that the band was doing well enough by singing on their own. No one would be brave enough to sing in front of all these strangers…

* * *

SeoHyun was wandering aimlessly in the park, humming to herself. As she approached the plaza, she heard someone saying to a crowd of people: “Okay, here’s the deal. We know we’re not the only good singers here, so for those who want to express their inner singer, come out and sing! If you don’t know how to play an instrument, we’ll gladly play for you for free.” 

She walked towards the crowd, and though the crowd looked excited, no one was taking the bait: some looked as if they wanted to sing, but were just shy.

When a man walked away and cleared a path in front of SeoHyun, she saw, straight ahead, seated in an outdoor café, was Yoona. Yoona could not see SeoHyun, but she saw Yoona clearly, sipping coffee and looking on at the crowd with interest.

SeoHyun felt her heart pounding wildly. As the crowd chatted excitedly around her, SeoHyun felt that the world had suddenly gone silent, and the only sound she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat.

She didn’t know what took over her. She didn’t know why she did it. She stepped forward from the crowd, and—I’ll sing.

As the crowd went quiet around her, she saw Yoona squint in her direction and saw her eyes widen in recognition.

* * *

Yoona couldn’t believe her eyes. SeoHyun…! She stood up from her chair, and slowly approached the crowd of people eagerly waiting for that brave soul to start singing.

SeoHyun walked over to the vocalist’s stand, and he motioned for her to hold the microphone. SeoHyun whispered something to the vocalist, and he nodded, and motioned to his guitarist to hand over his guitar.

“I…” SeoHyun started, and the crowd went silent again, “it’s actually my first time to sing in public. I…” she breathed deeply, and nervously strummed the guitar. “I actually promised this person that I would sing only for her.”

As Yoona pushed her way to the front, SeoHyun continued, “I wanted to say a lot of things to her, mostly ‘sorry’, but I don’t think that’s what she wants to hear from me. I think what she wants to hear—and what I would also like her to hear from me—were the words that she never heard from me, eight years ago. I had a lot of chances to tell her back then, but I was either unsure or I just didn’t know what I was feeling.” She paused, and at that moment Yoona had successfully pushed her way to the front, and SeoHyun looked into her eyes as she said the next words. “Now I am sure of what I feel, and I want her to know that. I want her to know that I am so sure of my feelings now, that I am ready to proclaim it to anyone and everyone.” The whole crowd cheered wildly, and SeoHyun smiled shyly—and at that moment, when SeoHyun flashed her shy smile, Yoona felt her heart beating in the same fast pace back when she and SeoHyun were still in college, when she was still madly in love with SeoHyun.

At that moment, Yoona realized “was” isn’t the right word. I am still in love with her.  

* * *

She thought she would falter when she saw Yoona right in front of her. But as she saw Yoona’s beautiful doe eyes, looking at her the same way when they were still together, she felt her nervousness ebb away.

I can do this. She breathed deeply, and praying hard that she would still remember the chords, started strumming the opening strains of the song.

Yoona’s eyes widened in recognition as she recognized the song. (please play this, close your eyes and imagine SeoHyun singing this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg6VR6uVYwg )

You are my only
You are the one
You’re everything I want and baby
I should have told you that I love you

Oh, nothing compares to you
I’m crazy thinking ‘bout you lately
You and I were meant to be
And baby this is real

Every time you turn around and walk away
I just can’t resist and I’m wishing I could say

You are my dream
You are my hope
You are my love
And baby you are my heart
I want you to know
And let it show that I’m in love
Every time I see you near
I wanna be close to you
But how can it be?
‘Coz I know it’s impossible to make it happen
But still you are

You know you had me
With your beautiful smile
It’s always in my head
I can’t get you off my mind
You got me fallin’

Maybe someday
I’ll be with you
You’ll say the words I love to hear
Because I need you here
And I’ll do everything

‘Coz you are my dream
You are my hope
You are my love
And baby you are my heart
I want you to know
And let it show that I’m in love
Every time I see you near
I wanna be close to you
But how can it be?
‘Coz I know it’s impossible to make it happen
But still you are
You are, you are, you are, you are, you are

You are my dream
You are my hope
You are my love
And baby you are my heart
I want you to know
And let it show that I’m in love
Every time I see you near
I wanna be close to you
But how can it be?
‘Coz I know it’s impossible to make it happen

At that moment SeoHyun looked into Yoona’s eyes, which were now b with tears, and poured all of her emotions into the last few lines of the song.

You are my dream
You are my hope
You are my love
And baby you are my heart
I want you to know
And let it show that I’m in love
Every time I see you near
I wanna be close to you
But how can it be?
‘Coz I know it’s impossible to make it happen
And I’ll wait for you to say that you love me
But still you are
Baby you are

Everyone in the crowd had tears in their eyes, and as the song ended everyone burst into loud applause. But SeoHyun wasn’t paying attention to all the cheering around her, for her eyes were on Yoona, who was now walking towards her.

“Um…” Yoona looked down and silently sniffed.

SeoHyun took her hand and asked, “let’s talk?”

“Uh, yeah. Of course.”

* * *

As Yoona walked away with SeoHyun amid cheers from the audience, SeoHyun pulled her hand and stopped walking.

“W-what?” Yoona asked, looking questioningly at SeoHyun.

“Just… this.” And SeoHyun leaned in close and gave her a peck on the lips. Just an innocent peck on the lips, but it was a kiss nonetheless.

Yoona’s eyes widened in shock, and turned her head to see the audience hooting wildly.

“Wha-what was that?”

“I…” after that bold move Yoona thought SeoHyun was a different person already, but at that moment she became the SeoHyun Yoona had known for so long—adorably shy and looking as innocent as an angel.

Seeing SeoHyun’s expression Yoona laughed out loud, and tugged at her hand. “Come on,” she said, “we have a lot of catching up to do, and I have a lot of things to teach you.”

“Like what?” SeoHyun looked quizzically at her.

“Like how to kiss properly.”

* * * 

There! Finally got to update this after so long! :D If you're curious as to the title of the song, it's "Baby You Are", from Julie Anne San Jose's debut album (yes, I am from the Philippines. Wooh! :P) 

As to the inspiration of this story, it was inspired by my own (sad) love story. Lol. I sort of hoped that we would end up the same way as Yoona and SeoHyun did in this story, but the world had other plans for the two of us. 

After that long hiatus from AFF, I have resolved to write more often, so please anticipate my next stories. :) Thank you to everyone who has read and commented on this story! Hopefully I'll still get to see you guys on my next story! Thank you! :D :D :D