—————

Flashback

—————

Jessica and Hyomin were seated across each other in a small bar not far from their university. Since it was around three in the afternoon, it was practically empty save for a lone man in the corner. The blonde had ordered two margaritas for both of them and was currently swirling her drink around lazily.

“How do you know about this place, Jessica-ssi?”

“Please drop the honorifics, it makes me feel old. And I used to come here all the time with Yur-, I mean, I just used to come here all the time back in high school. The previous bartender was so old, he could barely tell my age so I was able to get my drink on here easily.”

Hyomin stared in awe at the older girl who seemed to be enjoying the attention she was receiving from the brunette. Leaning back in her chair, she smirked and casually asked Hyomin, “So when did you start liking girls?” She laughed softly when the girl choked on her drink and ended up having a coughing fit. After she had regained her speech, Hyomin softly confessed, “In my last year of high school. I caught my boyfriend cheating on me and broke up with him but didn’t feel a thing.” 

“What about you Jessica?”

“Around the time I met Yuri in middle school.”

Hyomin eyes widened, “She was the first girl you liked?” Jessica smiled and nodded, “She was the first person I had feelings for.” The blonde girl sighed and took a sip of her margarita, “When I met Yuri, we hated each other initially. We used to compete at everything and I got angry every time she beat me at something.” The brunette frowned, “Then how did you fall for her?”

“She told me that she liked me and that’s when I got confused. Then as time passed, I realized that I had been so competitive only because I wanted to impress her. It took me some time to gather the courage to tell her that I liked her the same way. Things just fell into place on it’s own after that. But my parents found out and I’m sure you know how the story goes after that.”

Hyomin noticed that Jessica had a sad expression on her pretty face when she said those last words. “Did your parents disapprove of the two of you?” Jessica lifted her eyes to meet Hyomin’s, “My parents are not like yours. They’re very.. traditional. So they gave me a choice. Leave Yuri or-“ Jessica’s voice trailed off and she closed her eyes as she bit her bottom lip. Hyomin figured that it had something to do with why she accepted the scholarship to Los Angeles but did not press further. The blonde girl slowly breathed out a deep sigh and opened her eyes to look at Hyomin again.

“So why did you choose to leave Sunny?”

Hyomin looked down sadly at the small envelope poking out of her bag, “The president said that he wants to leave his business empire to Sunny and it would spoil Sunny’s image if people found out we were dating.” Jessica thought for a moment, “That’s not all, isn’t it?” Hyomin shook her head sadly, “If I chose to stay with Sunny, he would hurt Jiyeon and the other unnies.”

That man really has no heart, Jessica thought grimly to herself.

“Why did you choose them over Sunny?”

Hyomin’s eyes teared up, “Because how could Sunny love someone who was so selfish to hurt her friends when she still hasn’t forgiven herself for what she’s done to her own friends. But how can I ever tell her what has happened?” She closed her eyes briefly and saw the bright smile of her girlfriend flash before her eyes. Sunny would never smile like that for her again if Hyomin had even thought of choosing to hurt their friends.

The brunette was surprised when her companion lifted the margarita glasses, asking her to drink. Hyomin gladly accepted it and downed the glass, as if trying to drown her problems with it. Jessica watched Hyomin closely and said, “You don’t. She doesn’t need to know, it’ll hurt her less because she would be torn in giving you up and letting you go through what she went through.” She stopped her sentence as the man in the corner was coughing a little too loudly for her to continue. When he had stopped, she rolled her eyes at the interruption and turned back to Hyomin.

“Look, it’s going to be difficult, but listen to me. I left Yuri like that because I needed to protect others too. It’s better to break their heart and allow them to move on without you. That way, you’re the only one who has to live with the guilt.”

“But how do I do that? I-I can’t stand the thought of Sunny being hurt.”

“She’ll only get hurt worse if you don’t do it. Give yourself a week to love her with all your heart, then walk away from her. Tell her you don’t love her anymore, it was a mistake, let her think you are heartless. It’ll make it easier to fall out of love with you and move on.”

—————

Hyomin nuzzled closer to Sunny as she listened to her girlfriend’s gentle snores. She had been trying to sleep for the past hour but was nowhere close to drowsy. Hyomin had thought that making love to Sunny would tire her out enough to drown out the conversation with Jessica but the painful emotions of her choice kept flooding her mind.

She had been planning how to leave Sunny in her head for the past hour and each idea kept striking more and more pain to her heart. Jessica had suggested for her to be nice to Sunny for one week, and then start breaking her heart slowly by acting cold for the next. Hyomin’s parents were visiting them this weekend. She would have one more last loving weekend with Sunny and then she would end it. 

Sneaking out of bed, she walked past her dresser and saw Soyeon’s present to her. They looked extremely happy there and memories of the holiday came rushing back. Her notebook sat next to the photo and the brunette picked it up to softly open it. Reading the lyrics she had written for Sunny, a tear escaped her eye. At the end of the two weeks, she would be on the flight to New York, never to return to her beloved bunny. But before that, she would give one last gift to Sunny. 

Her first and last song of her love for the girl who stole her heart.

—————

After Hyomin had left, Jessica stood up and walked towards the lone man sitting in the corner. “Did you have to spy on us here too?” she said coldly to the president. The man coughed loudly again and looked up at the blonde girl. “I do what I need to do to make sure my niece will take over my empire.”

Jessica sighed, “Why did you have to do the same to her?”

Mr. Lee raised his eyebrows, “I gave you both choices, good ones at that. Isn’t your sister getting the best education in Los Angeles right now?”

“Don’t bring Soojung into this,” Jessica growled.

The man stood up and straighten his jacket, “It doesn’t matter. You’ve kept your end of the deal and I’ll keep mine. Make sure that Park girl leaves on that flight and you and your sister will continue receiving support from me. If not, your parents will be informed of your whereabouts and I don’t think you want them to know.” He smirked when Jessica shot an icy glare at him, before turning to leave a fuming Jessica.

The blonde girl stood unmoving for her moment when she suddenly clasped her hand over in an attempt to alleviate her nauseousness. Running to the bathroom, Jessica heaved her drink earlier and what was left of her lunch. Thinking that it must have been the weird looking pizza the cafeteria had served today, she stepped out of the bathroom and whipped out her phone.

“Tyler, can you come pick me up? I’m not feeling too well. I’ll text you the address.”

—————

Sunny yawned loudly in class and blushed when the lecturer squinted warningly at her while her dorm mates chuckled around her. 

“Rough night, huh?” Yuri teased as she nudged Sunny without being caught by their lecturer.

Sunny glared at her friend but sighed in admittance to her tiredness, “Hyomin was being feisty last night. We were talking about something serious and then she went into one of her moments.” Sunny paused to explain to Yuri what Hyomin’s moments were and continued, “Then when she snapped out of it, she was insatiable. Not that I’m complaining though.” 

“Byuntae.” Yuri said with a grin.

“Aniyo, byuntaeng is over there.”

Yuri looked towards where Sunny was pointing to with her chin and saw Taeyeon sitting extremely close to Tiffany. Initially, Yuri did not think anything of it but she caught a slight movement from under their desk and shook her head when she saw Taeyeon rubbing Tiffany’s thighs with her hand. Sooyoung who had been sitting behind the TaeNy couple, looked over at Sunny and Yuri who had similar grins to hers as the tall girl crumpled a paper ball. She patiently waited for the lecturer to face the board before tossing the paper ball at Taeyeon’s head as hard as she could.

“What the-!” 

Taeyeon ceased her motions and rubbed the back of her head while the trio giggled behind them. The kid leader knew it had been one of them judging by the way their giggles were getting louder but controlled herself as the lecturer turned around to face them. Turning to Tiffany to receive a beautiful eye smile, she placed her hand back on Tiffany’s smooth thighs and gently rubbed the fair skin. 

That was until she felt another thud on her head when the lecturer wasn’t looking and she stood up fuming. “YAH! Which one of you knuckleheads threw that?” she yelled at the three stooges laughing hard behind them. A confused Tiffany watched Taeyeon lunge at Sooyoung when the taller girl choked out the word byuntaeng through her laughter.

“MISS KIM! MISS CHOI! PLEASE BEHAVE!”

Taeyeon slowly let go of the girl’s neck that she had been trying to strangle to shoot glares at Sunny and Yuri who were clutching their tummies from trying to hold in their laughters. Sunny knew there would be hell to pay for when she got home to the dorms and quickly pulled out her phone to text Hyomin that she would be staying over tonight.

—————

Sunny was halfway through bashing up an ugly looking octopus like boss on her latest game when she heard a beep of the studio door being unlocked. Pausing the game, she looked to see a tired Hyomin walk into their home. “Hey Sunny,” Hyomin said tiredly with a smile.

“Hey baby,” the blonde girl immediately moved to hug her exhausted girlfriend and took the heavy sling bag from Hyomin’s aching shoulders to place it on the dining table chair. Hyomin slumped into the sofa in front of the television and sighed contentedly when Sunny expertly massaged her shoulders.

“Rough day today, Minnie? You’re back pretty late today.”

Hyomin nodded with her eyes closed, enjoying the relief the small hands were providing her. “Yeah, I was going over my assignment with Soyeon and she wouldn’t stop until I got it right.”

“Aww.. My poor baby, shall I heat up some dinner for you? I’ve already got a pot of your favourite samgyetang on the stove.” She smiled when Hyomin gratefully agreed to the idea of food. Sunny guessed that the slim girl had not eaten for hours knowing how serious Soyeon was with her coaching. Hyomin let out a small whimper of sadness when she felt the hands leave her shoulders but she was glad that she felt a lot better after the short massage. Her brown eyes followed Sunny to the kitchen and watched her lover prepare a meal for her.

Her eyes flickered to the screen showing the paused game, “Bunny, were you halfway through a boss stage?” Sunny nodded from the kitchen. “I’m sorry for making you have to pause your game for me,” said Hyomin feeling guilty since she knew how seriously Sunny took her gaming times. Sunny flashed a bright smile at her girlfriend, “Aniyo, for you, I’d even quit playing games. Don’t worry about it, you can watch me play as you eat.” 

Hyomin could not stop the guilt from eating her up inside as she thought of the future hurt she would be inflicting on Sunny when she had said those loving words. She quickly hid her emotions when the short blonde carefully handed her a steaming bowl of delicious soup which Hyomin gladly indulged in as Sunny went back to winning the game level.

“Didn’t your parents say they were coming down this weekend?” asked Sunny once she had beaten the boss to a pulp.

“Yeap. We’re gonna have lunch together with them before we attend Taeyeon and Tiffany’s performance,” said Hyomin as she slurped the last of her soup down. Taking the empty bowl from her girlfriend’s hands, Sunny cleaned off the rest of the dishes in the kitchen before coming back to sit next to Hyomin. The brunette girl noticed the worried look in Sunny’s eyes and although she knew why it was there she asked her what was wrong anyways.

“I’m just worried your parents won’t like me.”

“Don’t be baby, they’re gonna love you.”

“I know you’ve told me that they’re open to our kind of relationships but my parents, although they’ve accepted it, they’re not exactly overjoyed about it.”

Gently cupping her lover’s cheek, Hyomin kissed her gently. “Sunny, my parents are happy I’ve found someone who loves me with all their heart. They’re already so excited about us before even meeting you. Believe me when I say that you have nothing to worry about.”

Sunny nodded and smiled back at her princess. Hyomin patted the girl’s head gently and moved to leave the sofa when Sunny whined about her sudden absence. “I need to take a bath bunny,” chuckled Hyomin. “Can I join you?” Sunny said with a cheeky grin. 

“Only if you can catch me.” 

The brunette sprinted to the bathroom before Sunny had time to react. When she did, she was facing a closed bathroom door, “Minnieeee, let me in pleeeeease.” She whined loudly when Hyomin responded with a sing song voice, “No no bunny, you were too slow.” Sunny pouted hard and hung her head as she slowly moved away from the door in dismay.

Suddenly she saw a bright light shine from behind her and felt a hand pull her arm backwards. Sunny spun around quickly to see a grinning Hyomin and heard the bathroom door click behind her. The blonde’s cheeky grin reappeared and their lips met in a passionate kiss. The pigeon that rested outside the bathroom awoke with a start for the second time as loud noises poured out from the vents and it ruffled it’s feathers in annoyance, deciding it should find another home soon since this one had noisy occupants.

—————

“Ahh.. They’re not open today.”

Yuri sighed sadly as she looked at the dim stall that was covered by vinyl sheet. She had been craving for her takoyaki snack at her favourite stall after helping Taeyeon and Tiffany out with their song arrangement earlier. The couple had long left to head back to the dorms to catch up on their sleep and Yuri had wandered to this place hoping for something to satisfy her growling tummy. She heard another sigh from her right and turned to see a familiar blonde hair girl gazing at the closed stall with a disappointed expression. 

“Jessica?” The blonde girl jumped when she heard her name and her heart strings pulled at each other when her eyes met Yuri’s. Her breath caught in as she looked at the beautiful tanned girl, memories quickly tumbling back to her of their first kisses, their first dates, and had to practically shake her head to stop the flashbacks.

“Yul..”

“What are you doing out this late?”

“Erm, I got hungry and remembered this was your favourite place for takoyaki.”

“I thought you hated anything with octopus in it.”

“Lately I’ve been getting weird cravings. Tonight, it was for octopus.”

“How about cucumbers?” Yuri couldn’t contain her laughter as the ice princess shuddered at the thought of that horrible vegetable. Jessica continued to frown at the laughing girl as she stamped her foot in annoyance. When Yuri had calmed down, she looked at the fuming girl, amused by her temper. “Come on, I know another place that serves octopus at this hour.”

Not long later, they were seated at a food stall and Yuri was surprised at the mountain of food the skinny girl had ordered. She was even more surprised when Jessica cleaned out plate after plate. “Are you alright? You don’t usually eat this much from what I remember.” 

“I can’t help it, I’ve been getting crazy cravings and eating double from my usual portions.”

“More like triple,” Yuri mumbled as she observed Jessica finish off a whole plate of 

ddukbokki by herself which was usually impossible. Jessica placed her cutleries down and patted her satisfied tummy happily. An awkward silence hung between the two as their eyes met for a split second.

“H-have you been well?” Jessica asked slowly, careful not to bring up anything that could trigger the tanned girl’s emotions. She sighed with relief inwardly when Yuri nodded. 

“How about you? Is Ty-, is your boyfriend treating you well?” Yuri was also being careful about her questions as she watched for the blonde girl’s reactions.

“Mmm. He’s been kind to me.” But he’s not you.

“That’s good to know.” 

More silence.

“Have you found yourself a girlfriend?” Jessica asked softly. She wondered why she felt a rush of jealousy when she asked that question and it ebbed away when Yuri shook her head. Deciding it was a safe time for a small joke, Jessica smiled and leaned forwards, “Is there no girl that can match up to the great Kwon Yuri?” The tanned girl blushed hard, “Aniyo, I just don’t have time to date.”

Lies, Kwon. You just won’t let yourself get over Jessica Jung. Yuri wanted to smack the small voice at the back of her mind who was having a concert with her emotions when she heard Jessica’s twinkling laughter.

The two maintained a more comfortable silence until Jessica received a text and told Yuri she should be getting back, albeit sounding a little disappointed. The two parted ways and they both had stopped to look back at each other, both of them feeling the pain of lost love as the took a step further from each other. Yuri allowed a single tear to fall as she let herself recall watching Jessica’s shocked reaction when she had called out to her. The blonde girl was still the most beautiful creature she had ever met and she longed to hold Jessica close again. But alas, she knew it would never happen and allowed the darkness of the night to swallow her pain as she made her way back home with a heavy heart.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Author’s Note:

To be honest, I wrote this chapter a long time ago and now I’ve forgotten what I wanted to say in my author’s note. 

Nevertheless, my favourite part to write was surprisingly the YulSic part.

I guess it’s cause Hyomin is going through a rough time and it pains me to see that although I’m technically the one who put her there.

Thanks for continuously reading this story and I hope to hear some feedback about how it’s been going so far. :)

P.S. T-ARA IS MAKING A COMEBACK IN NOVEMBER!! I'M SO HAPPY I CAN DIE!! :D