Yuri sat on her mother’s couch as she watched the lady pour a cup of coffee for her. She was a big fan of the beverage, finding it to clash with Yoona’s hatred towards it. The latter would always get pissed every time they went to a café because Yuri would always order the same cup of coffee.

Her mother, however, loved it almost as much. And so did her father. The fondness for coffee simply ran through the family as if it flowed through their veins.

The older sat down with a smile after handing her daughter the cup, watching as she hummed in pleasure at the taste of her mother’s coffee.

“I feel like you only ever come over for the coffee.”

Yuri shook her head. “Untrue! I come over for the cooking sometimes as well.”

Her mother couldn’t help but laugh. Even after all that she’s been through, Yuri was still able to look like the happiest girl she’d ever seen. A beautiful talent.

“How are things, dear?”

“Good. I told Yoona and she’s been sleeping over a whole lot more recently. She just drives us to school the next day.”

The lady nodded in approval. “She loves you a lot.”

“She has no trouble telling me that every day. It’s starting to get annoying.” Yuri put the cup down, revealing the fact that it was already almost finished. “After I told her, she worries about me more than usual. Whenever she isn’t sleeping over, she doesn’t hang up the phone until I fall asleep. It sounds cute but it’s annoying.”

She nodded her head with a sincere smile, proud that her daughter had finally found someone able to protect her.

“I don’t want you to go back to that house anymore, Yul.”

Yuri scoffed. “You always say this but you know I’m going to go back. I love you both deeply and no matter how many times you insult each other, it won’t make me love either of you less.”

It was obvious Yuri was the rope that kept her family close to sanity. If one parent talked crap about the other, Yuri would be quick to retaliate. She’s seen them fight too many times to let it pass anymore.

She’s cried too many times to do nothing.

She’d tell them that they were once in love with each other and they had seen the stars in each other’s eyes. There was no point throwing insults when years ago, they used to throw compliments. Yuri saw the bond breaking from a mile away, but she was young and had no idea what to do.

They’d sleep in different rooms sometimes and her dad would always come home late with another bottle of beer in his hand. He’d whisper and tell her not to wake mum up before crashing on the couch. But mum was always awake. And she’d always be crying.

He only ever talked to Yuri when he was drunk. Never when he was sober.

The first time he hit her was the day mum left. Yuri had forgotten to turn the TV off and earned a beating from it. She didn’t think he ever regretted it.

“I’m strong, mum. You know that.”

“I know. I just wish you’d stop acting like this is okay.” Her mother pulled her in for a hug, feeling tears seep into the fabric of her shirt.

Visits would always end in tears. And it seemed that was all everything was ending in now.

***

“What if people see us?”

“There is no one here. Don’t act so paranoid and have a little fun!”

“The janitor is probably lurking around. He might catch us.”

“Yul, it’s almost midnight. Why would the janitor even be here at this time?”

Yuri fiddled with her fingers as she watched a Yoona swim around the heated pool. She had that stupid smirk on her face just waiting for Yuri to strip and get in but the older was too cautious of their whereabouts.

After finding out about another beating, Yoona took it upon herself to get Yuri into her comfort zone. Her soccer coach never took back the spare keys to the sports building and being the devious girl that she was, Yoona brought Yuri to the school’s indoor pool to skinny dip. But she didn’t expect her girlfriend to get so wary about it.

“The pool’s cold.”

Yoona shook her head. “It’s heated. You dipped your foot in a few seconds ago.”

Yuri was still a little scared of being caught with her girlfriend at a place she wasn’t even supposed to be at.

“I promise you we won’t get caught. You love swimming. Come swim with me.”

Yoona had that soft, caring expression she’d give whenever she wanted Yuri to do something for her and it always seemed to work. She sighed before grabbing the hem of her shirt to pull it over her head, watching as the smile on Yoona’s face had gradually gotten larger.

She then proceeded to slide off her pants and undergarments before dangling her feet into the pool to sit on the edge, just to warm herself up before going in.

Yoona swam her way towards Yuri, stopping herself between her legs. “See? Warm right? Makes you wanna jump in.” She wrapped her arms around Yuri’s waist before pulling her into the water, the latter laying her arms on Yoona’s shoulders.

She kissed her chin and gave a small smile. “We’ll be fine.” And Yoona meant that in every possible way to make Yuri feel safe. Safe in the pool and safe in her arms. “I won’t let anything get to you.”

Yuri couldn’t resist kissing her on the lips. “How long do you plan on skinny dipping with me?”

“As long as you want to. I’m doing all this for you. I doubt coach wants to talk to me anymore so the keys are ours.” She ran her hands down Yuri’s back reassuringly, feeling the older tense up at the touch.

“Your hands are wandering.”

“You know they love to wander. You also look really hot when you’re wet so I can’t resist now, can I?”

Yuri pushed Yoona to the corner of the pool, gripping her shoulders as she nibbled on the younger’s neck. Yoona hummed in pleasure, tilting her head to the side for better access. She grabbed her hips, pulling them towards her own.

Yuri slowly opened her eyes, still kissing her girlfriend’s neck. She examined the clean skin. Pale and new. Not a single wound to be seen. And it told Yuri that Yoona was much more pure than her. Her skin was much more delicate and worthy.

She’d suddenly stopped, all she was doing now was staring at Yoona’s neck.

“Are you okay?” The younger moved her head back to take a look at Yuri. “What’s wrong?”

She caught Yuri staring at her, her eyes moving down towards her shoulder. It was happening again.

“You’re staring at me again.”

“Look at us, Yoona. I feel so worthless when I stand next to you. I feel like my skin isn’t worthy to be so close to yours. They shouldn’t be touching.”

Yoona rolled her eyes. The older would always get like this whenever she saw Yoona . She’d talk about how beautiful and spotless it was compared to her own and she’d tell Yoona that she felt like garbage beside a piece of art.

She knew it pissed Yoona off but she liked downgrading herself to a speck of dust just to keep reminding Yoona how lucky she was to have such beautiful skin but the only thing it ever did to Yoona was make her feel guilty.

“I’ll hurt myself if you keep saying that. I will.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just-” Yoona pulled her into a hug, wanting her to stop saying sorry for stupid reasons. She understood how self-conscious Yuri was of her skin and she’d do anything to take her pain away. But kisses were the only thing she could give for now.

After explaining her abuse, every conversation the girls had would fall onto the topic. They couldn’t really escape it because it acted as the elephant in the room. Yoona would try her best to get Yuri thinking about other things though just to keep her from going insane.

She could feel her girlfriend soften at her touch. And it was almost like everything was okay again. Almost.

“Can I ask you a question?” Yuri nodded against her shoulder. “What is love?”

She lifted her head with a cocked brow. “What is love? Is that what you’re asking me?”

“What is love to you?”

Yuri thought for a bit, not sure how to answer that question or why Yoona was asking it in the first place. She blinked a couple of times before answering. “Love is something that doesn’t come in just a day.”

And Yoona nodded, thinking that was a reasonable answer for a girl like Yuri.

“I don’t believe in ‘love at first sight’. Love has to grow for it to even be called love. Love is a warm feeling that has to undergo the cold for it to be felt. I can’t love someone without knowing them.”

“So you didn’t love me when you first saw me?” She gave a sad pout.

“No. I thought you were stalking me. How could I love you?” And Yoona instantly glared. She earned a chuckle from her girlfriend before the latter gave her a small peck on the cheek. “I love you right now though. That’s enough.”

Yoona took it anyway. It was good enough for her. “What about your dad? What’s your love for him?”

“My dad…” Her smile was gone now. “I wouldn’t be here without him. I can’t just unlove him.”

Yoona wanted to tell her that she could but what good would’ve come of that?

“I know you don’t like it when I defend him but I also know that you understand how I feel and why I do it.”

“Of course. He’s your father.” Yuri smiled at her girlfriend, wondering how she landed a close-to-perfect one like her. Maybe she was being a little stupid for explain the same thing to Yoona over and over again and maybe Yoona was getting tired of it.

But the younger never looked tired when Yuri talked. She always listened. And she always had something to respond with.

“I don’t like him at all to tell you the truth.”

Yuri chuckled. “I know you don’t. You’ve told me that a billion times before. But you love me and I love him. So you have to deal with it for now.”

“I hate your logic.”

Yuri pushed off Yoona to get a good distance away from her. “You have to deal with that too.” She swam off towards the other end of the pool, knowing Yoona was following close behind her.

She’d never thought that one day, she would be swimming in her school’s indoor pool at midnight with a girl who meant everything she said. She never thought she’d find herself in happiness that didn’t belong to her.

When she was younger, Yuri assumed she’d end up with no one to hold and no one to hold her back. She’d be too ugly for girls or boys and too pathetic for people to look up to. But the older she had gotten, the more she’d come to accept herself and accept the love people wanted to give her.

Yuri stood in the middle of the pool now, watching Yoona make her way to her.

“What are these scars to you?” Yoona asked as she approached the older, looking at Yuri’s undeniably y body.

“They are disgusting marks that tally the amount of times my father has thought of me.” Yuri said it with as much seriousness a woman could hold. She asked the same question back to Yoona. “What are these scars to you?”

Yoona smiled and cupped her girlfriend’s cheeks. Her definition much more different than her lover’s. “Your body is a canvas and each of these wounds are of paint that tell stories of your past, present and future. You are my favourite piece of artwork.”

She pecked her on the lips, electrifying shots aimed at every part of her body.

Yoona still had one more question. “When he hits you, what do you think?”

Yuri didn’t know what else to say. “When he hits me, he loves me.”

And Yoona didn’t like that answer. She didn’t like it at all.

***

Seohyun sat herself at their booth at SM Juice bar, finding only 3 people there – Hyoyeon, Sunny and Yoona. It seemed everyone else was too busy to have a drink.

“Where are the others?” She asked.

Sunny was the one to speak first. “Tiffany and Taeyeon are working on their new fashion designs and Jessica and Sooyoung are ‘studying’.” She put bunny ears around the last word. Everyone already knew those two were dating so it was stupid for them to still be hiding it.

It wasn’t even a secret anymore. The obviousness they exuded was so overwhelming, it was hard to even see those two apart. That’s how bad it had gotten.

“Yul’s with Taecyeon.” Yoona jabbed her straw into her drink, sipping on it rather harshly. She thought she would’ve gotten used to them hanging out by now but she wasn’t. And she would’ve joined them but the last time she did, she’d pissed off Yuri due to the amount of times she tried to start an argument with the boy.

After, Yuri had told her to get rid of her jealousy and grudge before she could hang out with Taecyeon again, and that was that.

“Aren’t you getting tired of hating your ex? He likes that new girl now. The really new one.” Hyoyeon casually leaned back, watching Yoona’s reaction.

“Yeah well if he did, he would stop hanging out with my girlfriend.”

“They’re friends, Yoong. You know Yuri loves you.” Sunny attempted to reassure her.

Seohyun nodded with her friends, agreeing with them. She’d seen this a couple of times where Yoona would get jealous whenever Yuri passed by the older boy and smiled at him.

But she didn’t know why the deer always had to get mad. Everyone in the school knew her and Yuri were dating so no one ever assumed Yuri was with Taecyeon.

No one.

Because who could forget a couple like Yoona and Yuri? They didn’t do a lot of PDA besides holding hands and kissing each other’s lips but they had no problem turning heads whenever they did.

It was funny to even think about the two dating different people. They were just so in love, nobody could stop them from being together.

“I just don’t understand why I can’t go with them. I wanna join…”

“You’ll probably just end up breaking his arm anyway. Just let Yuri do her thing.” Hyoyeon added, finishing her drink.

Yoona sighed in defeat. She twiddled with her phone, waiting for a text from Yuri. Anything. But she knew Yuri never texted her when she was out with friends. Yoona, however, would be texting Yuri every minute.

It was amazing Yuri didn’t mind though. In fact, she thought it was quite cute which provoked Yoona to keep texting her until she got annoyed by it.

“Yoona, I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a while…” Seohyun stated, a bit nervous. “There were weird bruises on Yuri’s neck the other day. I don’t know if you knew about it but I thought you’d like to know.”

Yoona spat out her drink all over the table while Hyoyeon sat there, laughing her head off. Sunny trying to tame the both of them.

“Oh, Seohyun.” Hyoyeon shook her head. “They were hickeys.”

“H-Hickeys?”

Yoona darted her doe eyes to the dancing machine, wide at how open she was to tell the younger girl. “What the hell, man?!”

“What? She’s not 7. She knows what a hickey is.” Hyoyeon turned back to Seohyun. “Basically, Yoona and Yuri have already had so-”

“Oh for god sakes, Hyo! You don’t have to go into so much detail!”

Seohyun looked down at her lap, blushing. To think her OTP had finally gotten to that level in their relationship. Seohyun wasn’t keeping up at all. She obviously needed to pay more attention.

Hyoyeon scoffed. “Don’t get all mad. Just the other day she was wondering about Jessica and Sooyoung.”

That’s what everyone’s been doing recently.

“They were feeding each other during lunch and Hyunnie just couldn’t stop staring.” And neither could the students around them.

Yoona was pretty sure the whole school thought everyone in her group of friends was somewhat gay. No one’s speculated Seohyun yet but it could be possible, being around a bunch of girls who were dating each other was tempting.

“They’re totally dating, Seo. I caught them making out in the restrooms but they denied it when I asked.” Sunny stated nonchalantly. “It’s so weird hearing them insult each other now. They look so uncomfortable when they do it. Almost like you and Yuri.” She nodded her head to Yoona.

“Except you guys are cuter.”

“Aww! Did you just call me cute?”

“You know what? I’m taking it back.”

Yoona gave a small pout and frown, earning chuckles from the other girls.

“I actually wouldn’t mind if they just came out to us. It wouldn’t make much of difference than now except they’ll probably be much more open.”

“We can’t really force them though, Hyo.” Sunny, being the reasonable one, said to her girlfriend. She grabbed everyone’s empty glass before standing up.

“I know, but I don’t get why they’re trying to hide it? They’re doing a bad job at that anyway so they might as well just tell us.”

“Why are you so eager anyway?” Yoona asked with a raised brow.

“So I can tease the tall one about it.”

From the counter, one of the employees called out to the shortest girl at the booth. “Break’s over, Sunny.”

“Okay. I’ll see you guys later.” She gave Hyoyeon a long kiss and waved at the other two before leaving them to attend to the customers.

Hyoyeon tapped her fingers against the table, bored expression on her face now that her girlfriend went back to work. Seohyun was still a little confused.

“So…Jessica and Sooyoung are dating?”

Yoona chuckled. “Yeah, Seo. They’re dating.”

***

Sooyoung sat across from Jessica at one of the tables in the park. She watched as the shorter stuffed her face with the food she bought, smiling at how much she could actually eat. It was almost more than herself.

“Don’t choke yourself. I can always buy more.”

Jessica blushed. She swallowed down the food in before tucking her hands in her lap, embarrassed Sooyoung had to see her like that. “Right.”

“Come on. We’ve known each other for years and only now do you start acting like a shy school girl. Don’t play dumb with me.”

Jessica scowled. “I could say the same about yourself. You’re a lot nicer than before.”

“I have to be nice to my girlfriend, don’t I?”

It was still so weird for either of them to say that. Maybe it was the wrong time to let it slip but Sooyoung didn’t want Jessica to forget that they were dating. Secretly.

“You can still be the annoying brat that you are.”

“Alright then.” Sooyoung grabbed the food from Jessica and shoved it down her own throat, leaving none for the older girl. “I was gonna let you finish it but I’m hungry as hell.”

“Hey!”

“What? You said I can still be an annoying brat.” Jessica huffed in defeat, crossing her arms before turning her eyes away from the girl in front of her. Sooyoung only gave her a cheeky grin, loving to tease the older girl. “You’re such a baby. I’ll buy more on the way home.”

She leaned back in the chair, satisfied as she heard her new girlfriend mutter a ‘fine’ before unfolding her arms. The younger never thought that one day, she’d be able to call Jessica that. Out of all the people, it was Jessica.

“You know, we can’t keep hiding from them forever.”

“Hiding from who? The girls?”

“Who else?”

“Sica, I’ll find the time. I’m just not ready yet.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure they already know. They’re just waiting for us to confirm that it’s true.”

“Yeah, well they can wait a little longer. I ain’t ready.” Jessica didn’t really mind it at all. She understood that Sooyoung didn’t want to share the information just yet and to be quite honest, neither did her.

After all the bickering and hate between them, no one would’ve thought they’d get together. So they were quite anxious of the group’s reaction.

“You want more food?” Jessica gave a slow nod, looking at Sooyoung straight in the eyes. “Okay. Give me a kiss first.”

A smile arose from both their faces as Jessica leaned forward, pecking her girlfriend on the lips.

***

“Just keep them closed for a sec. I don’t want you looking.”

“Where the hell are you taking me? You know I hate surprises. I feel like you’re taking me to a torture room or something.”

Yoona rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s weird predictions as she led her along the sidewalk. They were outside and the only thing Yuri could hear was the chatter of the people walking past, the cars driving by and Yoona’s soft voice.

“It won’t take long. We’re almost there.”

“Did you have to cover them right after we got out of the car? We’ve been walking for years.” It’s been 2 minutes.

“Shush, you.” They stopped in front of a building, Yoona’s mouth instantly watering at the sight. She’d almost forgotten there was a blinded girl beside her. She counted to three before moving her hands, watching her girlfriend’s reaction.

“Remember that time we came here and you said you weren’t up for it? Maybe you’re up for it now! Because I sure am!”

It was like last time all over again. Yuri has the same look as before as she stared at the giant sign. She should’ve known. “Yoong, I-”

“I’m hungry as hell, babe. C’mon. I’ll order you the best thing on the menu.” She wrapped an arm around the older girl’s waist, almost dragging her to the door before Yuri could stop her.

“Wait Yoona.”

She stopped and looked at Yuri. “Are you not up for it again?” She pouted at the fact that they might not be having her favourite food for dinner.

“It’s not that. Yoona…” The older peeked through the glass doors, seeing the round food on each table. “I don’t like pizza.”

Yoona’s doe eyes widened 3 times than they usually were. Her own girlfriend didn’t like her favourite food. Two things that she loved didn’t love each other. Yoona felt like fainting.

“What do you mean you don’t like pizza?! Maybe you didn’t try the right one! There’s like heaps of flavours!”

“Actually, I’ve never eaten it before.”

“What?” Now, Yoona was utterly confused. “Why don’t you like pizza then? You can’t hate it without trying it.”

“I don’t like it because…my dad likes it.”

“Your dad li-” Yoona finally understood now. And it was a perfectly reasonable explanation. “Does pizza remind you of your dad?”

Yuri nodded, embarrassed she admitted a type of food gave her memories of her father. It was stupid. At least, that’s what she thought anyway but it was okay for Yoona. She grabbed her girlfriend’s hand and gave a small squeeze.

“I want you to try new things. I know you’ll love this. And if you do, when you first see pizza, I hope you’ll think of me instead.” Yoona knew it was such a dumb thing to say and it was anything other than romantic. To want Yuri to think of her when she saw pizza? She needed to step up her game.

But she’d rather have Yuri imagine her own girlfriend than her own father. She’d rather have her remember nice memories instead of the bad. Anything to keep her happy.

Instead of wanting to hit Yoona for her attempt to get her to eat pizza, she actually quite liked how hard she was trying. She smiled. “With a stupid line like that, I think I’ll think of you every time I see it now.”

Yoona had the biggest grin on her face. “So will you come in? I don’t want to eat alone.”

“Of course.” They found a table and sat down, Yoona smiling at Yuri the whole time, making the older uncomfortable. Yuri looked around, fiddling with her fingers. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Yoona shrugged. “I’m just really proud of you.” She leaned over and kissed Yuri’s cheek before calling for a waiter and ordering the food. Yuri was blushing the whole time. The waiter came back with two pizzas, placing one each in front of both girls.

“A whole pizza each?”

“If you can’t finish yours, I’ll eat the rest.” Yoona took a slice from Yuri’s pizza and tried to feed the tip to her, stopping when Yuri backed her head away. “What’s wrong?”

“Is that how you eat this? That slice is so big.”

Yoona blinked twice before deciding to fold the slice in half and then attempting to feed Yuri again. This time, Yuri took a bite. The smallest bite known to mankind.

“Oh c’mon. You have to get the toppings too.” Yuri then attempted to chomp on almost half the pizza, surprising Yoona as she almost bit her finger.

Yuri chewed a couple of times before swallowing the food. For some reason, she didn’t feel like dying. Instead, she was quite happy with the taste. “Oh my god. This is delicious!”

Yoona wanted to jump up, ecstatic with Yuri’s reaction. The latter reached out her hand and snatched away the slice, eating the rest of it and letting Yoona watch in amazement.

Instead of Yoona eating most of the pizzas, it ended up being Yuri who ate 1 and a half of it.

Yoona had to order another one.

…

__________

Oh look! Another one added to the ‘y chapter’ list! :D I’m sorry it’s rushed and took so long to update T-T

Btw, the 2nd ep of Local Hero is starting in an hour but I don’t think I can watch another with Park Shi Hoo in it :/// I think people ((as in me)) are only watching it for Yuri and Lee Soo Hyuk.

((BUT YURI LOOKED SO GOOD AND HER ACTING HAS IMPROVED A LOT SO IM GOING TO KEEP SUPPORTING HER AND YOU SHOULD TOO))

Thank you for reading! :)))))