Sunny arrived at the hospital with a bag of persimmons in her hand. It was her uncle’s favourite and she had been informed by the nurse that her uncle was able to eat solid food. She made her way to her uncle’s private hospital room and knocked softly on the door twice before turning the knob to peek into the room. Her uncle was still fast asleep and careful not to make a sound, she moved to sit on the armchair across the hospital bed. Her mind brought her back to the time where in place of this frail aged man, was her strong, loving uncle.

—————

Flashback

—————

“Higher!”

The little girl was laughing happily as her uncle pushed her back harder, making her swing so high up that she felt that she was flying. It was her favourite time of the year when her uncle from the big city of Seoul visited her family. He always spent time with her and brought her beautiful gifts.

“Soonkyu-ah, Uncle Lee is getting tired.”

Sunny slowly brought the swing to a stop and got up to pat her uncle’s arm. “Thank you for bringing me out to the playground. Let’s go rest there, Uncle Lee.” The man beamed at his thoughtful niece who was pointing to a nearby park bench. He held the young one’s hand and they both took a seat on the bench.

Watching her tired uncle use one hand to wipe the sweat off his face, Sunny placed a hand over the one within reach. “Uncle Lee, are you okay?” she asked worriedly. The man smiled, “I’m fine Soonkyu. Just a little tired from the last few weeks of work.” Sunny sat with a thoughtful frown on and turned to her uncle after awhile.

“When I grow up, I’ll help you Uncle Lee. Then you won’t be so tired.” The man chuckled at his niece’s words.

“You sure, Soonkyu? Uncle will make you work hard to become successful.” 

The young girl nodded enthusiastically, “Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. Promise!” She stuck her pinky finger out to show how serious she was and Mr. Lee chuckled once more before he stuck his own pinky towards Sunny. The small finger curled around his and the girl emitted a smile as bright as the sun. She’s a good kid. She’ll definitely be a good heir to the business, thought the man and he felt himself regain his energy at the thought.

“Come on, Soonkyu. Uncle will treat you to some ice cream.”

“Yay! Only if it’s chocolate!”

—————

A good hour later, Sunny was falling asleep as she waited for Hyomin to reply her text and for her uncle to wake up. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the man stir and quickly sat in attention. Her uncle let out a small groan as he squinted at the bright lights in the room and sensing a presence, his eyes roamed around to stop when he spotted his niece.

“Soonkyu, what brings you here?” the man said and made a movement to sit up. Sunny quickly moved to the bedside to help him. “I heard you were doing much better and brought you some fruits,” Sunny said and pointed to the bag on the table for her uncle to see. The man’s eyes lighted up when he noticed that the girl had not forgotten he liked persimmons best. 

“How are you feeling today, uncle?”

“Much better,” said the man as he bit into one of the fruit.

“That’s good to know. Make sure you have a speedy recovery.”

“Mmm, it would make me feel better if I had someone I could trust to handle the business when things like this happen.”

Sunny fell silent at the man’s words, ridden with guilt. Mr. Lee did not push further and continued munching on the treat until they both heard another set of knocks on the door. A lady dressed smartly in a suit walked in and bowed deeply to the two persons. “Good day, Mr. Lee and Miss Lee, I presume.” Sunny bowed back to the lady and her uncle beckoned the lady closer. She moved to hand a folder over to her boss, “The acceptance of the student has been completed and all records have been successfully transferred to Juilliard. She leaves in a week.” Sliding the documents out to scan them briefly, Mr. Lee thanked his assistant and she bowed once more before excusing herself.

Sunny tried to strike a conversation with her uncle, “Wow. Juilliard. This student must be really gifted.” Her uncle nodded and stretched to documents out to a surprised Sunny, “Mmm, would you like to see her files?” It was weird to Sunny to review another student’s file but she figured that she wanted to keep this peace between them and took the folder. Her eyes widened when she saw the name at the top of the file and her heart raced when she saw the picture of the student attached to it.

“Hyomin..?” she stammered weakly. Frantic eyes moved to look at her uncle. “W-what is the meaning of this?” she asked breathlessly.

“Miss Park accepted my offer to transfer her to the best university in the world for arts a week ago. It’s a proud moment for her, she will be funded fully by Sungkyunkwan’s top scholarship program.”

“That’s impossible. S-she’s never mentioned anything before..” Sunny said with tears gathering in her eyes.

The man pretended to be surprised, “I assumed both of you were together after last night. This scholarship was offered to her because of her excellent performance in her current course. All the board members agreed to offer it to her out of all our candidates. Is there a reason that she did not inform you of this?” He watched the girl shake her head slowly as she let the tears fall down from her face.

“H-how could she-“ Sunny could not choke out anymore words as her heart shattered into a million pieces. She allowed herself to weep silently and felt her uncle pat her back gently. “There, there Soonkyu. Uncle Lee is here.” The broken girl melted into the protective father figure in her life and the man comforted her like a child. He could not help but feel some pangs of guilt for being the source of his only niece’s heartbreak.

When Sunny had calmed down, Mr. Lee held her shoulders gently and spoke to her in a soothing voice, “First love is always painful Soonkyu and time will work it’s magic to heal a broken heart. But if you ever feel the need to distract yourself, come work with me. I’ll teach you everything you need to know about this business.”

“I-I need to speak to Hyomin. There’s got to be some e-explanation to this.”

Her uncle nodded in a serious manner, “Do what you need to do. Remember that Uncle Lee will always be here for you.” He smiled when the young girl nodded.

“I’ve got to go.”

“Alright. Remember my words Soonkyu.” 

He watched Sunny shakily stand up from the bed and gathered her bag before leaving. The president sighed and rubbed his temples as his assistant walked in shortly afterwards. “Am I being too harsh on them?” he said weakly. “Maybe, maybe not sir. But you’re doing what’s best for your niece,” came the curt reply.

Am I really doing what’s best for her?

—————

Hyomin sat nervously waiting for her girlfriend at the park where she had first met Sunny. She sighed as she reread the text message that she received earlier from the short girl. The more she read it, the stronger the foreboding feeling grew on her.

From: Sunny Bunny

• -    Meet me at the park. Now.

She received the message after she had dropped Jessica back home and she had been waiting at the park since then. Hyomin was supposed to meet her parents for dinner with Sunny but her gut told her that she might show up alone. She nervously rocked herself back and forth on the bench, her heart in a state of unease and it grew worse when she saw the short blonde walking towards her with a somber expression.

Sunny did not speak when she reached Hyomin but continued walking on, like she had not seen the girl. The brunette girl sat confused for a moment before getting up to follow Sunny from behind. They did not speak until they reached the shack where Hyomin had kissed Sunny for the first time and made their way in. Sunny stood with her back towards Hyomin for the longest time and the brunette wondered what was going through her girlfriend’s mind but she did not dare to speak as she felt a grim aura permeating from the shorter girl.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Sunny with a dull tone.

Hyomin was shocked for a moment but she decided to play dumb, “Tell you what?”

Sunny turned around at that point and looked at Hyomin straight in the eyes. “That you received an offer to Juilliard.”

. How did she know? thought Hyomin as she tried to mask any signs of surprise. Remembering that Sunny had visited Mr. Lee earlier in the hospital, she came to the conclusion that the man must have told Sunny about it after the fiasco they caused the night before. Hyomin straightened her back and played it cool although her heart broke with every syllable she spoke.

“Yeah, I did. Who wouldn’t? It’s a great opportunity.”

“Were you even planning to tell me?”

“I figured it would be pointless. I’ve already accepted it anyways,” she said, faking a careless shrug like it was the easiest decision in the world to make. Hyomin was mentally kicking herself as she watched tears pool in Sunny’s eyes.

“And how long will you be gone for?”

“A couple of years.”

“Are you planning to come back?”

“Probably not.”

“What about us? W-what about all this time together? Was it all a lie?”

Tears were flowing down freely on Sunny’s face and both of their hearts were breaking into pieces, with Hyomin hiding that emotion from Sunny. The next few lines was something Hyomin knew she would regret for the rest of her life.

“Sunny, being with you was fun while it lasted, but a relationship is the last thing that’s on my mind right now and I think it’s best for the both of us to end things here. I need to focus on what my future-“

“NO!” Sunny screamed.

Sunny moved to hold hug Hyomin and it took all of Hyomin’s strength to resist returning it and remained stoic. When Sunny realized that Hyomin was not reacting, the short girl let her arms drop and took a step back to look at the fixed expression on Hyomin’s face. “Y-you’re lying.. We love each other so much and a-after last night, how-“

“People change, Sunny.” 

“But your song-“ The blonde was stammering and Hyomin sighed.

“Look, I wrote that song when I thought I was madly in love with you. Those feelings have faded and I need you to stop trying to deny it.”

“Hyomin, but we-“

“ENOUGH!”

Sunny was taken aback. Never before had Hyomin looked so pissed off at her and the words that she yelled next sliced into Sunny’s heart and tore her soul apart.

“I loved you. Maybe it wasn’t even love but infatuation. I’ve grown tired of you. You hurt your friends, you turned down the chance to be successful and you’re stupidly clingy. Everything about you annoys me. Besides, I can’t be seen in public anymore with a girl. It would ruin my reputation for Juilliard. Maybe it’s time for you to heed your uncle’s advise and date a guy instead of rebelling like a brat. It’s over between us. So, do us both a favour and just leave me alone.”

They both stood in silence for a long time. The sunset that had once amazed them and watched them fall in love, casted an orange glow that seemed to match the sunset of their emotions. After a few moments, Sunny moved her eyes up to meet Hyomin’s. She too, regretted the next line she spoke.

“I guess I should have known then. You’re exactly like Jessica. Fine then, I won’t be a bother to you anymore. Thanks for reminding me that love doesn’t exist.”

With that, Sunny pushed past Hyomin and stormed out the tiny shack, resisting the urge to turn back for one last look at the love of her life. She walked and walked until she ended up in front of the supermarket where she had first met her beautiful girlfriend.

Ex-girlfriend, Sunny thought miserably. She wanted to crawl into a dark hole and die. Her life which had shone brightly when Hyomin loved her, was now bleak and meaningless. Sunny had lost what she knew to be her one true love and she was going to kill herself if she was left alone. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialled a number.

“Taeng?” said Sunny with tears in her eyes.

—————

The girl was a mess. 

Hyomin’s parents looked worriedly at each other when they saw the state that Hyomin was in. Her eyes were blood shot and the makeup she wore was smudged from all the crying. She had not said a word since she arrived at the restaurant alone and the elderly couple wondered if she just had a fight with Sunny.

“Sunyoung-ah, you haven’t touched your food since you got here. Is something wrong?” her mum asked gently. She sighed when she watched her daughter maintain the strained silence and she was about to ask Hyomin again when her father stopped the woman. Mrs. Park looked at her husband worriedly and the man shook his head, indicating that they should not prod further if Hyomin did not want to talk about it. The family continued to eat in silence with Hyomin staring at her food with a blank expression.

“Is there a point to hurting one person that you love most to save a few people?”

Hyomin’s parents were surprised when their daughter asked the question. Hyomin still had her eyes looking blankly at the plate in front of her and her voice sounded like she had cried for hours, which was not far off from the truth. Her father knew this was about Sunny and slowly placed his cutlery back on the table, and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Well, if the person you’re hurting loves you, they should understand why you had to.”

“What if I couldn’t tell them why?”

“Is there a reason to hide it?”

The man watched Hyomin remain silent and knew his daughter had retreated back into the protective shell of silence. “Sunyoung-ah, sometimes we need to share our problems with our loved ones in order for them to help us.” Her parents continued watching their daughter who refused to speak again. After a long wait, Hyomin sighed and announced dead tone, “I’ve been accepted into Juilliard.”

Her parents were stunned at the sudden news and Hyomin’s mother spoke, “Congratulations darling! You must be very excited since you’ve told me and appa that it’s the top university in the world for your course. When do you leave?”

“Next week.”

“But what about Sunny? Is she going along with you?”

Mr. Park took his daughter’s silence and sudden sob to put two and two together. He quickly moved to embrace his young daughter in a hug and the brunette allowed herself to bawl for the second time that day in her father’s protective arms. “I-I hurt h-her so bad a-appa, she’ll never f-forgive me,” she said between sobs. The man gently his daughter’s head, “There there sweetheart, I’m sure she will some day when she finds out the truth.”

“I-I can’t tell her the t-truth.”

Gently moving his daughter to hold her shoulders, he looked into similar brown eyes, “Don’t worry Sunyoung. The truth always reveals itself, and when she finds out, she’ll understand.” He wiped the tears falling down from Hyomin’s eyes, “Have faith sweetheart. She loves you as much as you love her. You’ll both find your ways back to each other someday. For now, do what you need to do and let destiny have it’s time to work it’s magic, alright? No matter what happens, me and omma will always be here for you.” Hyomin nodded slowly, “Thank you appa.”

Kissing his daughter’s forehead softly, “We love you, Sunyoung.”

“I love you, too, appa and omma.”

—————

Hyomin lay alone in her bed, feeling its emptiness break her heart further. She still felt like she had hurt Sunny so badly that the short blonde would probably never speak to her again. But she recalled her father’s words and sighed. 

It’s probably for the best.

She stared out at the moon that seemed to reflect on how blue Hyomin was feeling. I still love you with all my heart, Sunny. I’m sorry I hurt you, she thought to herself and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. Hyomin softly repeated her father’s words under her breath to regain her strength and sanity.

For now, do what you need to do and let destiny have it’s time to work it’s magic.

Destiny, you had better do a good job.

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

Author’s Note:

I AM SORRY SUNBYUNG SHIPPERS! T^T

My heart broke writing this chapter, it was one of the most difficult to pull off so far.

I had thought about this over and over again and I’m sorry for having to do it.