The pile of mess in the studio looked about the same as the state of Hyomin’s mind.

Her flight was in two days time and she had barely packed most of her things. She had not stopped crying since she started the heartbreaking task as she uncovered bits and pieces of the proof of Sunny’s set existence in her life. She was now holding the music box that she received from her girlfriend that seemed like it was yesterday.

Ex-girlfriend, Hyomin reminded herself tearfully.

She could have not been more torn as she quietly sobbed as the soft music of Sunny’s song to her filled the heavy air around her. Hyomin recalled the soft words of her parents.

—————

Flashback

—————

“Sunyoung-ah, you need to eat something.”

Hyomin shook her head and her mother looked over worriedly at Mr. Park. The elderly man shook his head, signalling his wife to cease questioning their daughter. The woman sighed and made her way over to her husband who was seated on the dining chair of his daughter’s studio. 

“What are we gonna do?” asked Hyomin’s mother worriedly.

“This is between Sunny and Sunyoung. Give them their time to sort things out.”

“But how are they gonna work things out when they’re not even speaking.”

“My dear, sometimes fate needs to take it’s time. I’ve seen the way our daughter and Sunny look at each other. They love each other very deeply and Sunyoung already told us her reasons for hurting Sunny.”

“Can’t we do something for her? The president can’t do that to her! It’s blackmail! We could sue-“

The woman’s worried ranting was stopped when her husband gently placed his hand over hers. “Dear, we need to let Sunyoung ride this one out on her own. I believe in both of them. We just need to be there to support her as her parents.” Mrs. Park sighed and smiled softly at her husband, “You know, our Sunyoung takes after you a lot.” The man chuckled softly, “And that’s why you should have faith in our daughter. She’s a fighter like her appa, she’ll get through it and come out stronger.”

Unbeknownst to the elderly couple who had been speaking softly to avoid Hyomin from hearing them, she had caught every single word and she was touched by her parents’ belief in her. They had been so patient with her as they helped her pick up her transfer documents to Juilliard and even told her that they had kept the studio for her in case she had ever wanted to return to it, although she doubted she could with happy memories becoming tools of hurt as she looked around the space she and Sunny had come to call home.

—————

A knock on the door interrupted Hyomin’s thoughts and she moved to answer it thinking it was her parents who had returned from dinner. 

“Omma, I-.” Hyomin stood in surprise as she saw her friends from Sungkyunkwan standing at the door, bearing gifts and smiling at her.

“W-what are you guys doing here?” the brunette girl asked surprisedly before Jiyeon jumped on her excitedly as she squealed, “Because we missed you, unnieeeeeee..” Hyomin could not help but smile at the maknae’s antics and she patted the young girl’s back. She gestured for the girls to enter and quickly apologized for the topsy turvy state of her studio. “Gwenchana, Boram leaves our dorm in a worse state sometimes,” chuckled Soyeon, earning her a light smack on the arm from her shorter girlfriend.

Hyomin bit her bottom lip as she wondered if her friends knew what was going on but before she could speak the words, Qri gently held her hand up to stop her. “Don’t worry, Hyomin. We know what happened,” she said with a soft smile. The five girls watched their friend hang her head sadly, “I’m sorry for not telling you.” Eunjung moved to gently pat her friend’s back, “Aniyo, you don’t have to be sorry but you didn’t have to do this alone Hyominnie. We’re your sisters, let us help you get through your hard times.”

The brunette looked around her and saw her five friends, no, her sisters smiling warmly at her and she broke down once more, this time touched with the love she felt from them. With that, she spilled all that had happened, from the ultimatum she received, to her torn decision and her break up with Sunny. Her sisters cried with her at the end of it and moved to hug the poor girl who had given up so much for them.

“B-but Hyomin, you loved Sunny so much. You shouldn’t have done that for us,” Eunjung said as she wiped the tears on her face.

“No Jungie, I couldn’t do that to any of you. You’ve all been so caring for me even when I started distancing myself from you girls.” With that, Jiyeon moved to hug her big sister.

“U-unnie, we’re sorry for putting y-you in that situation,” Jiyeon sobbed as Hyomin patted the maknae gently. 

“Aniyo, I would do it again if it meant saving you girls.”

Soyeon smiled and held Hyomin’s other hand, “Minnie, thank you for protecting us. I know you won’t change your decision even if we forced you to, but know that we’ll always stand by you. You’ve sacrificed your happiness for us, and for that, we will always be grateful. When you come back home, remember that we will be waiting for you with open arms.” 

“Yes! And when I open my dream restaurant, I will feed you for free. Forever!” The girls all laughed at Boram’s words and the laughter grew when Jiyeon whined about wanting to get free food too.

Hyomin smiled through her tears and looked around at her friends, “Thank you girls for being here with me today. I know I’m leaving soon and won’t be able to repay your kindness, I’m sorry if I had hurt any of you with my choices.”

Qri stood up and walked to place a warm hand on Hyomin’s shoulder, “Sunyoung-ah, you’ve repaid us a thousand times over. The least you can let us do for you now, is to let us see you off at the airport and promise us you’ll return to your parents and sisters one day.”

“I can’t promise you if I will be able to come back, but it would make me happy to see you girls before I go,” Hyomin said as she turned to smile at their leader. Qri’s next words were interrupted when Jiyeon wailed loudly at Hyomin’s words of not being able to return.

“But who’s gonna be my unnie from now on?” 

“Yah, Jiyeonnie, you have four beautiful unnies here who love you just as much or more. And besides, don’t you have something going on with Sooyoung?”

The other girls laughed once again as Jiyeon blushed wildly at Hyomin’s words and buried her face into Hyomin’s shoulder out of embarrassment. “Come on, Jiyeon, let’s help Hyomin get her things sorted out,” said Soyeon. The girls quickly moved to help pack up Hyomin’s things and the girls were happy when they noticed their dark haired friend looked more relaxed that the burden of keeping this a secret from her friends had been lifted. 

Soyeon however, noticed the sadness in her eyes had not completely disappeared and thought about speaking to Taeyeon about what had gone on but she quickly remembered that Hyomin had asked them to keep this a secret so that Sunny could focus on her future without Hyomin and Soyeon stamped the thought out.

When they were done, Qri announced that she wanted to buy them all dinner for the next two days to celebrate Hyomin’s acceptance into a top university and also as thanks for the girl’s sacrifice for them. The six of them had a hearty dinner and Hyomin was made to promise to keep in touch with them through a group chat that Jiyeon quickly created.

“Why did you name it T-ARA, Jiyeon?” Boram asked curiously.

“Because Hyomin-unnie is the queen of my heart for being so kind even to someone as naughty as me. For that, I called it T-ARA because Hyomin-unnie deserves to wear one like a queen,” said the maknae with a giant grin. Hyomin blushed at being thought so highly of and ruffled the maknae’s hair lovingly.

“Are you sure it’s Hyomin and not Sooyoung?” teased Eunjung. 

“YAH! Jungie-unnieeeeeee!” The girls laughed hard at Jiyeon’s red face and Hyomin turned to hold Jiyeon’s hand gently which sparked a curious look from the maknae.

“Jiyeonnie, if you like her, hold on to her for as long as you can. Show her you love her, and she will love you back,” advised Hyomin in a gentle voice. Jiyeon saw that Hyomin looked serious, “But unnie, what if something happens? You and S-sunny unnie were so happy but-“

“What happened between me and Sunny, only happened because I made a choice to love her more by letting her go have a brighter future and to make sure that my sisters are safe. It doesn’t happen to everyone, Jiyeon. Don’t be scared to hold back, I know you like her a lot and she seems to feel the same way.”

Jiyeon nodded her head and Hyomin smiled at the young girl. As Hyomin turned back to her food, she felt Jiyeon’s hand tug her once more.

“Unnie, for what it’s worth, I think you and Sunny-unnie are destined for each other and you will find each other some day again.” Hyomin’s smiled at the maknae’s words that were similar to that of her parents and it warmed her heart even in her bleak future.

—————

Sunny felt like she was walking into a funeral as she stepped out of the cab. The gates of Sungkyunkwan seemed to tower over her as she dragged her feet past them. Around her, she caught whispers and stares as nearly everyone recognised her from the stunt she had pulled at the show last week. Being the niece of the university’s president did not help but she squared her shoulders and trudged her way to the administration building. 

Like Hyomin, she was equally awed at the grandeur of her uncle’s office and his secretary immediately stood to greet Sunny when she walked in. “Miss Lee, this way please. Your uncle is anticipating your presence.” The short girl nodded briefly and followed the woman through another door. Sunny spotted her uncle behind the grand desk and the man immediately stood up to greet his niece, “Soonkyu! You don’t know how happy I am to finally have you step into this place.”

“Annyeong, Uncle Lee.” Sunny bowed politely to her uncle.

“Aigoo, there’s no need to be so formal with family, Soonkyu-ah.” Her uncle was all smiles as he gestured for Sunny to sit down at the chairs in front of him and told his secretary to make some tea for them. “Soonkyu, you know I’ve waited a long time for this moment. The time where I can finally pass down everything I own to my favourite niece,” Mr. Lee said with a genuinely happy smile. Sunny however, bowed her head politely with a trace of a sad smile on her lips that was not missed by her uncle who felt bad.

“Shall we get started then?” Mr. Lee said, knowing that it would be best not to bring up Hyomin on their first day working together in which Sunny instantaneously agreed to. The older man looked at his niece sadly, wondering if he had done the right thing for her.

Hours passed and Sunny showed her obvious talent in business, having sorted out a couple of problems Mr. Lee had been facing previously with her quick decision making skills within a matter of minutes. Eventually, it had reached lunch time and the man invited her to join him in his private dining space. They arranged the folders they had gone through neatly in a corner and moved to the dining area. The two ate in silence until a movement below the glass windows of the cafeteria caught Sunny’s eye.

Sunny watched her goddess laughing among the other girls and felt her heart drop every time Hyomin looked sad when her friends weren’t noticing. She still held the belief that there was something more to the story, especially when she recalled Mr. Park’s words of his daughter keeping her troubles to herself. 

But how to confront Hyomin? Sunny had tried that the last time and it nearly ended up with her going to jail for almost beating the life out of Jessica. The short girl sighed and went back to her now unappetising food, but not before stealing one last glance at the girl who still held her heart.

The rest of the day crawled by as Sunny stayed past dinnertime to read into some files that concerned her. The accounts for one of the private hospitals run by her uncle did not add up and the short blonde found it suspicious. When she had asked her uncle about it, he had merely stared at her blankly. Sunny called in her uncle’s assistant and asked her to arrange for someone to take her uncle home to rest since he looked worn out from the day’s work.

“Something’s not right. There’s someone cheating on the funds, I need to sort this out before Uncle Lee gets in trouble.”

She realized that it would require her weeks or maybe months to sort out all the documents and accounts that had oddities spanning over years and decided in the end to call it a day. Sunny packed her bags and made her way out of the quiet building. The weather was freezing and the rain earlier had only served to make things worse and the blonde girl decided to brave the weather when there was no cab stopping in front of the university.

“This is a stupid idea.”

Sunny grumbled to herself and shivered in her rain soaked shoes. As she turned the corner, she saw a familiar figure walking towards her direction and the figure stopped in shock when Sunny sped up towards her. 

Jessica froze in her steps when she saw her old friend and their last meeting flashed in front of her eyes. She was literally outside her condominium building but her legs did not seem to obey her as her brain screamed at her to run. The ice princess watched Sunny draw nearer and nearer until they stood staring at each other.

“Sica, I need to know. What happened to H-hyomin?”

Jessica was taken aback by Sunny’s surprisingly soft tone that was laced with sadness but steeled herself.

“I’m sorry, but it’s something I can’t say.”

“Why not?”

“Because.. I need to protect my loved ones too.”

“What is going on, Sica. The Hyomin I know would never act this way.”

“Sunny.. I really can’t say.”

“Please Sica, I’m begging you. As your old friend, please.” 

Jessica felt guilty as she saw tears pooling at the corner of Sunny’s eyes. But the words of the person who held her sister and her fate in his hands came pooling back into her head, 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.

But those eyes were killing her and her resolve was about to snap but she hung on and was about to respond to Sunny when they both heard a familiar voice.

“Sica, enough of this. Just tell Sunny what’s going on.”

The two girls turned to see an angry looking Yuri walking towards them. She must have been listening into their conversation and looked visibly upset at their conversation. Jessica felt a pang of pain in her heart when she saw her old flame look at her with that much anger. 

“Yuri-“

The tanned girl held up her hand, “Don’t bother explaining to me. It’s Sunny that you owe the explanation to. So just spill it. I don’t get why you’re being like this to her even after hurting me in the past.”

Now it was Jessica’s turn to get angry, “You don’t know what’s going on, so how dare you judge me! You don’t know how much I’ve given up to protect the people I love!”

“Yeah. Like how you gave me up to protect your future success, huh?”

SLAP!

Even Sunny stood in shock as she watched Yuri turn her injured face back to Jessica who had anger burning in her eyes now. Yuri’s words had awoken a fire in icy blonde and had paid the price with a slap to the face. Small raindrops began to fall as Jessica started to scream.

“How DARE you?! Did you know that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life? Do you know how many nights I cried after I left?” Tears were starting to slip down Jessica’s pretty face, adding to the raindrops on her face, but Yuri squared her shoulders.

“So then why did you leave? Tell me, right here, right now, if you really loved me that much.”

“I-I can’t..”

The trio stood in silence as the rain grew heavier but the words that left Yuri’s mouth weighed more than the world.

“You can’t tell me because it was all a lie.”

With that, Yuri turned and fled, not caring about anything around her. Then it all happened so fast. A blare of a horn. Screeching of tires. Bright lights swaying. 

The last thing Yuri heard was Jessica’s high pitched scream before the world went dark.

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

Author’s Note:

Hey guys! This will be my final update before my trip.

There will be no updates for the next two weeks until I return from Seoul.

I sorta feel bad for leaving you guys at the cliffhanger but I don’t want to rush all the excitement before I go.

Thank you guys for reading and see you in my next update!

PS. I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of Hyomin as T-ARA is preparing for their comeback.

Any hints to their usual hangouts? ;)