Bright lights twinkled prettily in the streets of Jongno-gu and a loud festive cheer rang in the air. The festival area resembled a fair with street carts lined up along the streets and children chased each other carrying various lanterns. Excitement ran through the large crowd gathered to celebrate Chopail on a warm May evening. An amused vendor eyed two girls who were bickering over which type of tteok that should be bought.

“The red bean ones taste the best.”

“Ani! Mung bean ones are better.”

“Must you argue with me all the time, Stick Legs?”

“It’s cause you have bad taste.”

Sooyoung swore under her breath as Jiyeon stood her ground for her precious snack. The dorm mates had planned to attend the festival together with their recent friends from Sungkyunkwan a week before and Sooyoung was still bewildered as to how she got stuck buying food with the sharp eyed maknae. Knowing there was no way out of this fight, she handed some money to pay for the rice cakes and a happy Jiyeon picked up their food. “Yah, why aren’t you at least thanking me for buying you food,” she complained when Jiyeon shot her a sharp look after sweetly thanking the man for the food. Jiyeon ignored Sooyoung’s words and bounded off without looking back at the fuming tall girl. She felt her arm being pulled by Sooyoung and her body bumped backwards into the tall body as a bicycle sped past her face, narrowly missing her foot by inches. “Try not to get yourself killed too, otherwise your sisters will have my head,” said Sooyoung looked down at the shorter girl who was still in shock.

They stood there for a moment as Sooyoung slowly watched the colour return to her companion’s face. When she saw Jiyeon had calmed down, she moved to walk ahead when she heard a small voice.

“Gomawo Beanstalk.”

Before Sooyoung could come up with a snarky reply, she felt a rice cake being shoved in . Jiyeon bounded off once more and Sooyoung sighed, chewing on her rice ball and stepped forward to catch up with the maknae. “This tastes like.. red bean?” A small smile formed on her lips and she had a newfound spring in her step as she set to chase Jiyeon down the street.

—————

“Let’s all go on a holiday!” Tiffany announced excitedly to the group of girls who were currently sprawled out the large patch of soft grass. They had just finished walking the festival’s street market and decided to rest at the park next to it while waiting for two shikshins to return.

“That sounds like a good idea Pany. Shall we go next week? Most of us are already on our term breaks anyway,” suggested Soyeon. The others nodded their heads in agreement and proposal on their destinations went flying.

“Where do you wanna go Minnie?” came Sunny’s question, looking up from her girlfriend’s lap. The long fingers her hair stopped momentarily as she watched the cogs in Hyomin’s head turn. She had wanted to do something for Sunny when she found out their birthdays, which was around the corner, were just fifteen days apart. “Since the weather has been pretty warm, let’s go to a beach,” she decided, smiling down at Sunny. Soyeon overhead the couple who was laying next to her, “That’s a pretty good idea actually. The sun and sand should be good at this time of year.”

“It’s settled then! We’ll go this weekend!” squealed Tiffany loudly as she pounced to hug an unsuspecting Taeyeon. The other girls sniggered watching her squirm uncomfortably in Tiffany’s bear hug. Although the two of them had already cleared the air between, Taeyeon still wasn’t being honest about her growing feelings and she planned to keep them that way. 

—————

“Just how am I supposed to do that with these room arrangements?! Ugh, I’m gonna kill Yuri and Soyeon.” thought Taeyeon miserably as she dumped her duffel bag on her side of the queen bed. She hid her emotions as a bouncing Tiffany came back from inspecting the other rooms to inform her that the rest were ready to go get breakfast. Taeyeon nodded and told her she would meet them in the hotel lobby after she changed to a fresh set of clothes.

Squinting their eyes at the morning rays that sparkled over the warm sand making it glitter like precious stones in the distance, Hyoyeon pointed out a nearby restaurant which seemed to be a popular spot as it was filled with tourists. The girls headed over and was glad that the waiter seated them in at a table reserved for large groups on the patio, giving them a generous view of the seaside. The group was in the midst of abusing Hyomin’s camera to take their hundredth group shot when they heard an eerily familiar voice.

“Yuri?”

All eyes turned to a slim blonde girl who was stood at behind their table. Her icy aura permeated the group and Yuri’s eyes flickered from Jessica’s face to the man that she was holding hands with. Receiving only silence and cold stares, Jessica spoke with words dripping in sarcasm, “Fancy seeing you girls here. Who are your new friends?” Her eyes roamed around the table as she took in the unfamiliar faces. 

“None of your business, Sica.” Sooyoung said with a hint of a growl in her voice. Jessica flashed a cold smile at her words, “Now now, Soo, is that the right way to greet an old friend?” Sunny stood up at that and glared at Jessica, “You’ve no right to call yourself our friend. Not after what you’ve done.” Turning her head to the blonde, her eyes paused momentarily at the brunette seated next to Sunny before lifting a hand over her chest, feigning shock, “Oh Sunny dear, how could you say such a hurtful thing to me after all we’ve been through.” Sunny frowned at her while a confused Hyomin gently tugged at the hem of her shirt. Jessica caught the action and turned her smirk to Hyomin, “And just who is this, Sunny? You finally found the courage to brave your uncle’s warning and got a girlfriend? She looks a little like me. I was unaware that we were your type or-”

“Watch your mouth, Sica.” Taeyeon warned in a low voice.

“Taengoo.. How have you been?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Mwo, you’re going to treat me like this as well? You-”

“ENOUGH.”

Yuri had slammed the table and stood up to whip her face around to face her ex-girlfriend. “You’re not welcome here. Leave.” Yuri’s rage burned higher as the man that Jessica had been clinging to moved to stand in between them. “Yul, don’t speak to her that way,” Tyler said. “Take her and get out of here,” Yuri hissed venomously at her cousin. As Tyler opened his mouth to retort, Jessica pulled her boyfriend back. “It’s alright baby, I think we’ve overstayed our welcome. Let’s go.” They both turned to leave and Seohyun pulled Yuri to sit down, patting her unnie’s back as she did so.

“I thought Sica-unnie had moved back to Los Angeles for good,” asked Yoona turning to look at Tiffany who shrugged, “The last time we spoke, she never mentioned anything about coming back to Korea.” Low murmurs moved around the table as the Sungkyunkwan girls held confused expressions. “Jessica is Yul’s ex-girlfriend and that man is Yul’s cousin,” explained Sooyoung to Jiyeon whom she grew closer to after saving her during the festival. “I don’t know why she’s back, but it feels like it’s not gonna be the last time we see Jessica Jung.” Sooyoung had a dark expression on her face as the other girls started to get lost in their own thoughts. 

“Come on girls, we’re here to have fun. Let’s forget what just happened and enjoy our weekend here!” Tiffany said trying to recover their sour moods. They were in mutual agreement as they tried their best to brush off the gnawing feelings of resentment and dug into their meal loudly, except Hyomin who had a million questions running through her mind.

Uncle? Warning? All they’ve been through?

A small hand covered hers, interrupting her thoughts. “You’re having one of your cute moments again,” said Sunny. As though she could read her girlfriend’s mind, “I’ll explain everything later baby. Now’s not the time.” Hyomin returned Sunny’s smile and joined the rest of the girls deliberating about going to the beach after breakfast, the brief stint with Jessica put behind them.

—————

Sunny felt light headed. Very light headed.

Watching Hyomin frolic around the beach in a bikini was driving her nuts as she pondered what lay under those tiny articles of clothing. Leaning back on the railings of the beach lookout post, she took a long swig of the beer she was holding, hoping to dispel her impure thoughts. 

Bad Sunny. Bad, BAD Sunny!

“You look like you’re trying to drown yourself in that beer.”

A cheeky Taeyeon interrupted her thoughts as she joined Sunny to lean against the railings. Sunny smacked her friend’s arm and heard a familiar squeal from the waters. They turned to watch Hyomin and Tiffany start an epic water fight battle which lead to Eunjung and Yoona running down to the water’s edge to join them, not before succeeding in accidentally knocking down the sandcastle that Jiyeon, Boram and Sooyoung had been meticulously building. Even Seohyun looked up from her book to laugh at the whining trio when she heard Qri and Soyeon’s chuckles next to her. 

“Whew! The guys on this beach are pretty cute.” Hyoyeon exclaimed, watching her unnies jump in surprise when she snuck up next to them. “Yah, stop breaking hearts around the world, you flirt,” came Taeyeon’s annoyed voice. “Watch out girls, hotties incoming, nine o’clock.” Hyoyeon giggled while pointing in the opposite direction and left them to start walking towards a cute lifeguard she had been eyeing for the past hour.

The two short girls turned their eyes back to the waters to see a drenched Hyomin and Tiffany running towards them. Their mouths slowly drooped watching the movie like scene as Sunny’s imagination went on a spree seeing her girlfriend’s assets bounce with every step. 

“Yah, you s. Stop fantasising and focus.” Tiffany snapped her fingers in front of the dazed duo who immediately blushed when realisation hit that they were still gaping at Tiffany and Hyomin. Sunny shook her head and Hyomin giggled before jumping into her girlfriend’s arms to smother kisses on her cheeks. Feeling a little jealous about the open display of affection going on, Tiffany jumped into an unsuspecting Taeyeon’s arms and they both fell down on the soft sand in a crumpled heap. The Sunbyung couple laughed as Taeyeon frantically tried to untangle the mess of legs and arms. Remembering she still owed her girlfriend an explanation, Sunny grabbed Hyomin’s hand in her own to walk towards a small cliff towards the end of the beach. 

“She was one of my closest childhood friends,” started Sunny, breaking the comfortable silence between them. “I grew up with the other girls at our dorm. But when Soyeon left our hometown, I grew closer to Sica and Taeng.” Sunny paused and turned to look at Hyomin who beckoned her to continue. “They were the first to find out among the rest about my liking for girls and accepted me despite my choices. Back then, we were the talk of the small town. Top students in a high school owned by my uncle, destined to be enrolled into the top university in Seoul, making a name for our small town.”

They had reached the cliff and Sunny sat down, patting the spot next to her. Hyomin took a seat next to her girlfriend and shivered slightly in the cool breeze. Sunny shrugged off the light shirt she was wearing over her tank top and draped it over her girlfriend’s shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

“When my uncle had found out about Sica’s relationship with Yuri, he had spoken to her mum about it and retracted Yuri’s scholarship to his university. I knew only during our graduation ceremony when Jessica was missing and Yul failed to show up. I found her in the gym crying her heart out because Jessica decided to break up with her.”

“Why though? I mean, if Yuri’s scholarship had already been retracted, it seems kind of cruel to break her heart further by leaving her.”

“Because she took my uncle’s offer of a full scholarship to study overseas,” Sunny said darkly. Hyomin gasped, not believing her ears. Sunny sighed, closing her eyes, “I had that same reaction as well. I went back to the graduation hall to confront my uncle and he told me that he did what he thought was best for them.”

—————

Flashback

—————

“How could you do this to them?!”

The stern man turned to his niece, “Soonkyu, keep your voice down. There are reporters here.”

“I don’t care! Why did you do it?! You’ve ruined Yuri’s future!”

“You do not seem to understand how harsh society can be towards these kind of relationships. I did this for their own good.” Sunny lashed furiously at the man she called her uncle who had calmly taken off his spectacles to wipe them.

“So what?! Would you do this too, if it was me?!”

Lee Soo Man stopped his actions and turned to his niece to say in a low voice, “Are you telling me that you have similar likings?” Sunny watched as her uncle anticipated her next words.

“And what if I do.”

Only the clicks from the camera shutters around them could be heard as they two family members stared at each other for the longest time. Taeyeon and the other girls had rushed off the stage to gather behind their friend to support her. Everyone in the hall held bated breaths waiting for the answer to Sunny’s confession. 

“Get out.”

The man stood up from his seat and glared at the defiant group facing him. “All of you, GET OUT. Don’t you ever step back into this place and you can all forget about getting into Sungkyunkwan!”

—————

Sunny’s knuckles were turning white from clenching her fists and her usually strong voice was shaky. “Because of me, my friends lost their chance to get the best out of life.” Hyomin had been listening in shock as her brain was working overtime to piece the puzzle together. Revelations of Sunny’s tale threw her back to her conversation of the niece who had broken her president’s wishes and her eyes welled with tears wondering how her girlfriend had been living with the guilt of ending so many dreams.

Hyomin flung her arms around her girlfriend whose dam of emotions broke when she felt the warmth of Hyomin’s embrace. The sound of years of pent up guilt and frustration pained her as she kissed the blonde hair on top of the head buried into the crook of her neck. As she held the sobbing ball in the arms, she remembered how willing Taeyeon and the rest were ready to go the distance for their friend even after she had taken their chances away and a tear escaped her eye, realizing that their sisterly bond ran deeper than she could ever imagine. 

Moment passed and the tears turned to sniffs. Sunny reluctantly pulled out of those arms that held her so securely and turned to see nothing but love in those dark brown eyes. She reached up to touch Hyomin’s cheek and their lips met in a loving kiss as the setting sun shone softly to add a beautiful orange glow to a moment they would never forget as long as they lived.

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

Author’s Note:

Hey everyone, here’s another chapter update.

It was quite difficult trying to churn out this chapter as it had to involve a lot of emotions and I was sick at that time so my only emotion was to be sleepy.

Nevertheless, it was still fun to write and I hope you guys will comment on the good and bad about it.

Have a great weekend ahead!