“YURI!!”

That was the last thing the tanned girl heard before she felt a giant weight slamming into her, flinging her body to the side of the road like a rag doll and her head collided the pavement. Her last thoughts ran through her head as her world went dark.

—————

Flashback

—————

“Yuri-ah, what are you hiding there?”

The tall tanned girl grinned cheekily as she walked towards Jessica with her hands behind her back. The blonde girl cautiously backed up when she saw Yuri’s expression and gulped as her back hit the wall.

“Kwon Yuri, I swear if there’s a cucumber behind you, I’m going to kill-“

Her words were cut off by her infamous scream when Yuri moved her hands in front she saw that horrible vegetable from hell appear. Jessica squeezed her eyes shut and continued to wail in terror as she felt Yuri moved closer and closer towards her. Her wails subsided into whimpers when she felt Yuri do nothing and that worried her more.

“Sica, do you trust me?”

“Not while you have that THING in your hands!”

“Come on, Sica. Open your eyes and face your fears. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“No way! Get it away from me!”

“Please? For me?”

Jessica’s fear melted a little at Yuri’s awfully cute pleading voice. She slowly squinted her eyes open and almost shut them immediately when she saw the disgusting cucumber. She whimpered pitifully when Yuri brought the vegetable closer to her and she immediately cowered in fear.

“Sica, look closely.”

Jessica opened her eyes a little more and saw something was a little off. There was a small ribbon tied around it with something sparkly hanging from it. She took a deep breath and brave herself to open her eyes and gasped when she saw a ring.

“Jessica Jung Sooyeon, will you be mine?”

Yuri watched the girl’s jaw drop and grinned when Jessica sputtered, “B-but how.. I-I don’t u-understand. W-why me?”

“Because you’re stubborn, hot headed, and borderline rude.”

“YAH! How was I rude? I thought you hated me all this while.”

Jessica felt warm arms wrap around her and heard Yuri’s words in her ear which made her breath catch in , “Silly girl, that was all to get your attention because the truth is, I’m desperately in love with you.” There was a moment of long silence before Yuri felt slim hands circle her as well and Jessica uttered the sweetest thing she had ever heard.

“The truth is, I’m desperately in love with you too.”

—————

Her head hurt. 

There was an annoying beeping sound that was adding on to the sharp pain in her skull. It must be Sunny with one of those video games. There was also this noise that sounded like heavy breathing. Maybe it’s Sooyoung snoring her off again.

Bright lights pricked her eyes as she tried to open her heavy lids. The brightness was crazy. Is it morning already? she thought dully and groaned as she felt another wave of pain from her head. When she lifted her hand up to rub her temples, she felt some sort of cloth covering her head. 

Ignoring the stinging bright light, her eyes snapped open and she quickly sat up as her heart raced when she looked around and saw unfamiliar surroundings of a hospital room. What the hell am I doing here? Her eyes darted around quickly and she groaned loudly as the task caused another flash of pain to burst in her skull.

“Hey now, careful there Kwon. You need to rest. That was quite a hit you took to your head.”

Yuri looked up to the comforting voice of the kid leader. Taeyeon smiled and inclined the bed so that Yuri could sit up without straining herself. The taller girl looked around and saw Tiffany and Sooyoung sitting on the couch in the room, looking at her with concern. “Taeng, what’s going on? Why are we here? What happened? Where’s Sica and Sunny? Why-“

“For someone who hit their head pretty hard, you seem to be in a lot of wonder.”

“Seriously, what happened? Didn’t I get hit by a car? How am I still alive?”

Taeyeon sighed and looked at her friend who was frowning in confusion. “I’m sorry Yuri. An accident happened, but you didn’t get hit. Someone else did.” Yuri’s eyes widened and she panicked when realisation hit her. 

“Where’s Sunny? Where’s Sica? Are they alright? I need to go find them, NOW!”

“Yuri-“ Taeyeon tried to stop her taller friend who had jumped out of bed and started looking to pull out the tube that was currently attached to a vein in her arm. She had almost failed to stop Yuri when the door clicked open and the two girls turned to look at the newcomers. Yuri’s jaw dropped when she saw both Sunny and Jessica walk in. They’re alive. Relief spread through the taller girl but was quickly drenched in concern when they both wore expressions like they were attending a funeral.

“Sunny, Sica, you’re both alright! What happened? Is everything okay? Who saved me?”

Jessica tearfully looked up at Yuri and stammered weakly, “Tyler.”

“T-tyler? How.. Where is h-he?” Fear gripped Yuri’s heart as she watched Jessica’s lips quiver and tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to speak but choked and burst into tears. The blonde girl’s knees gave way and Sunny quickly reached out to hold Jessica up firmly but gently. Yuri asked again in a shaky voice, “S-sica, where is my cousin?” Sunny eyes met her friend’s and Yuri’s stomach sank as Sunny uttered words she never wanted to hear.

“Tyler is dead.”

Jessica’s cries grew louder and Sunny gently patted the girl’s back as Tiffany stood up to join the two and took over hugging a shaking Jessica. Yuri’s knees felt weak and she slowly sunk back down on her bed. 

It can’t be, thought Yuri, my cousin. He couldn’t have-

The tanned girl snapped her head towards Sunny, “H-how?” Sunny looked at her friend sadly and sighed as she recounted what happened.

—————

Flashback

—————

The rain was started to pour a little bit more and Tyler picked up his pace. Jessica had called him earlier to ask him to hurry home because she had something important to tell him. He had promised her he would but he had been so caught up with the transfer documents at work that he had left the office two hours later than he had promised.

As he neared home, he noticed Jessica standing in the rain with Yuri and another girl that he had remembered as Hyomin’s girlfriend. It looked like they were fighting and he quickly sped up to reach them before anything got out of hand. He raised his hand to block the glare of a pair of headlights approaching in the opposite direction as he neared the girls.

“You can’t tell me because it was all a lie.” The next thing he knew, Yuri took off into the middle of the road, putting herself right in the middle of the speeding lorry’s tracks.

Tyler’s body reacted on it’s own instinct when he heard Jessica’s scream and rushed to shove his precious cousin out of harm’s way and felt the weight of the five ton lorry smash into his body. 

The impact was greater than he imagined. It felt like he had disconnected from his body and could not feel any part of it. He coughed out a mouthful of blood as Jessica rushed to his side and gently slid her hands to caress his head, sobbing hard. Sunny had followed Jessica to check on Tyler and kept looking at Yuri, who lay unmoving against the pavement. 

“P-please, c-check on Y-yul..” choked Tyler to Sunny, who nodded nervously and went to check on her friend. Jessica continued sobbing as she saw Tyler struggling to breathe.

“S-sica, y-you’re pretty even w-when you c-cry..”

“Tyler, please hang in there.” Jessica turned her head to Sunny who had moved Yuri safely onto the pavement, and saw that the shorter girl was already on the phone with the paramedics. She turned her head back to Tyler and placed one hand on his cheek that was losing it’s warmth, causing her to let out a choked sob. Tyler noticed this and struggled to speak.

“D-don’t cry. It a-always h-hurts seeing y-you cry.”

“Please don’t leave me. Don’t leave us. Don’t leave your baby.”

“B-baby?” Jessica nodded quickly and saw a light in the dying man’s eyes.

“You’re going to be a father, Tyler Kwon. So for both me and your unborn baby’s sake, hang in there.”

“I’m s-sorry Sica. T-that’s a promise I-I can’t m-make. P-please take c-care of our b-baby. You’re g-going t-to be a great m-mother-”

“NO! Don’t say that! You can’t leave us, Tyler! Please! I love you!” Jessica continued sobbing in confusion as a gentle smile graced Tyler’s lips.

“Jessica J-jung, I love y-you too. B-but I k-know you s-still love my c-cousin and I’m h-happy to know s-she still l-loves you v-very much. T-thank you for l-loving me even when y-your heart was still w-with her. P-please promise me, y-you’ll finally be h-happy with her a-after this. I’ve t-transferred a-all my company holdings i-into Yuri’s name. T-this is for h-her, y-you and your s-sister so that y-you can be f-free from your p-past.”

Jessica had no words as she continued sobbing at Tyler’s selfless act. Using all the remaining strength from his dying body, Tyler reached to touch Jessica’s hand on his cheek. 

“Promise m-me, Sica. P-promise me, y-you’ll follow your h-heart and b-be happy.”

“I-I promise.” With that, Tyler smiled his last smile and breathed no more. Jessica continued sobbing hard until Sunny slowly placed her hands around her old friend’s shoulders. She had heard everything and had tears in her eyes even though she barely knew the man.

“I’m sorry, Sica. He was a good man.” Jessica nodded through her sobs and they both remained in their positions until they heard sirens from the paramedics who had just arrived.

—————

“..It was too late for him. He passed away before the medics were even able to reach us. But you had taken quite a bad hit to the head and we rushed both of you here as soon as we could.”

Yuri sat speechless as Sunny finished her sentence. Her cousin, whom she had hated all these years for taking the girl of her dreams, had sacrificed everything for her. 

Tiffany who had guided Jessica to sit on the couch, also had tears streaming down her face while Sooyoung and Taeyeon wore somber expressions. “What did Tyler mean by freeing you from your past?” Sooyoung asked curiously. They all turned to Jessica at that question. The blonde girl took a deep breath before she began.

“I-I didn’t leave Yuri because I wanted to. It was never about Tyler. My parents found out about me and Yuri and they said it was shaming the family name. They were going to hurt Krystal if I didn’t stop-“

“Krystal?” Sooyoung interjected.

“My sister.”

Yuri’s eyes widened, “You mean Soojung?” Jessica nodded and took another deep breath before continuing.

“Yes, I told my parents I refused to leave you and I wouldn’t have cared if they abandoned me. But they threatened to send Soojung to a correctional school because they thought it would influence her if I continued to stay with you. T-those places are i-inhumane. I couldn’t let Soojung get hurt because of me. My parents spoke to Mr. Lee and he thought the same as my parents, especially since I was close to Sunny. The day before our graduation, my parents invited him to our house and he gave me two choices. Leave to Los Angeles with Soojung and receive full support from him for our education. Or stay, and watch him tear everyone’s life apart. Initially, I had rejected him but the morning of our graduation, I got a letter dedicated for Yuri, stating that her request to enter Sungkyunkwan had been rejected. Along with it was a note, this is just the beginning.”

The room was silent except for Sunny’s heavy breathing. How could her uncle have done this to her friends! Before she could think further, Yuri asked Jessica shakily.

“Is that why you left?” Another nod from the blonde.

“Yes. And I couldn’t bear to tell you girls because I know you would have stopped me. But I needed to save Soojung, no matter what the cost. It was the most painful choice I’ve ever had to make and-“ Jessica choked and her eyes met Yuri’s.

“And I loved you too much to see you suffer waiting for me. So I chose to break your heart for you to forget me b-but I haven’t stopped loving you all these years.”

Yuri’s breath caught in . She gulped, “Then why did you date Tyler?”

“Because he reminded me of you. I didn’t think of it at that time when we were together, he told me he already liked me from way before but he never tried anything because he respected you. When I left to Los Angeles, he followed me. At first he told me he only wanted to look after me in place of you, but I fell for his kindness. His heart reminded me of yours. B-but he knew I never really loved him, b-because I had never gotten over y-you.”

At that point, Yuri made her way to the couch and cupped the crying girl’s face to pull her into a deep kiss. Tiffany let out a large sob and covered as the scene touched the pink princess’s heart and Taeyeon smiled before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. After a few moments, Yuri gently pulled away from Jessica’s face and stared deep into her eyes.

“I’m sorry. For all the years that I hated you while you suffered in silence. Forgive me.” Jessica shook her head.

“Aniyo, I’ve never held something against you. You didn’t know about what happened, so how could you have known how to feel?”

“Sica, let me make up for all this time by letting me take care of you and the baby.”

Jessica had a worried look on her face. She knew that Yuri had forgiven her but what about the other girls? Taeyeon seemed to have read her old friend’s mind and quickly moved to say, “Jessica, we didn’t know about this either and I think it’s safe to speak on behalf of the other girls that we would accept you with open arms if you were to date Yul again.”

The tanned girl broke into a smile when Jessica finally nodded her head, “I love you, always have, always will.” It was Jessica’s turn to smile when she heard Yuri’s confession and whispered back, “I love you too. Thank you for loving me after all this time.” The two remained in their embrace and everyone was smiling at the couple’s reunion, except one person. 

The gears in Sunny’s head was turning madly. Jessica said that her uncle had sent her away with her sister but why was she back here? Did it have something to do with Hyomin? 

Sooyoung noticed the look on her friend’s face, “Sunny, is something wrong?” The girls turned away from the YulSic pair to look at Sunny. With a slight frown on her face, Sunny asked Jessica, “You said that my uncle offered you the chance to leave. Why did you return then?” The taller blonde girl released Yuri from her arms and they held hands instead as Jessica straightened her back.

“It was also an order from your uncle. He got news about you dating Hyomin from a private investigator he hired who has been keeping tabs on you since high school. He was told you got together the night you were out at the Banpo bridge and immediately called me. Your uncle told me to return and plant ideas into Hyomin’s head about how difficult it would be to date you. Initially, he thought it would work out without needing me, especially when the news of the cruise ship appeared.”

“What do you mean?” Sunny frowned at that memory.

“Mr. Lee had initially told Hyomin that without funding from her parents, she would have to quit studying and offered a scholarship in return for leaving you. But she didn’t take it. To top it off, he found out her parents were safe so that plan was not going to work.”

Jessica took a deep breath before continuing, “You see, your uncle is a smart man, like you. He used Krystal to threaten me into leaving. With Hyomin, he threatened her with her friends.”

“Y-you mean Jiyeon and the other girls?” asked Sooyoung and growled slightly when Jessica nodded.

“Mr. Lee had given two options to Hyomin as well. Accept a scholarship and leave to New York for good, or watch every one of her friends expelled from Sungkyunkwan-”

“WHAT?!” 

“Soo, it’s not Jessica’s fault, so stop shouting and sit down.” Taeyeon warned the taller girl who had stood up with balled fists. Yuri instantly wrapped her arms around Jessica who cowered slightly under Sooyoung’s angry gaze. The tall girl took a deep breath to collect herself and sat back down, “Mianhe Sica. I didn’t mean it towards you. It’s just that it kills me to know that Jiyeon was in trouble.”

Jessica nodded and looked more relieved and continued speaking as Sunny gestured for her to continue, “So Hyomin confided in me then. She knew Sunny was still guilty over making all of you girls lose your spot in Sungkyunkwan after she came out to her uncle and she couldn’t bear to do the same for fear that you would never ever forgive her selfishness. So she did the same as me which was to hurt herself by leaving the one she loved most, in order to save her sisters.”

Sunny’s tears rolled down her face like rainwater. All those painful words Hyomin threw at her, it was all a lie. How much pain did her brunette angel have to endure to lie to her face? If Sunny’s heart broke into two hearing them, she guessed that Hyomin’s must have shattered into tinier pieces as she screamed lies about not loving Sunny. 

“You pabo..” Sunny whispered as she thought of how Hyomin must have kept everything in her heart and cried herself to sleep every night, alone and in pain.

Tiffany suddenly remembered something and turned to Taeyeon, “Tae-tae, I remembered Soyeon telling us something about Hyomin leaving soon. Is that today?” Taeyeon’s eyes widened and she let go of Tiffany’s hand to pull out her phone. Her jaw dropped as she reread the message and looked at Sunny.

“She leaves today. Her flight is in an hour.”

Without a word, Sunny ran out the door at light speed. She had to stop Hyomin from leaving. She had to get her angel back. She needed to apologize for how stupid she had been to assume Hyomin would hurt her. Above all, she wanted to tell Hyomin that she loved her and would do anything to be with her.

Unfortunately, she reached the gates of the hospital and realized she did not have a plan to get to airport. Sunny tried to flag down a cab but it was already half past eight in the morning and most of the taxis were occupied with the usual working crowd. She was about to lose her mind when she heard tires screech next to her and saw Sooyoung in the driver’s seat of Taeyeon’s car.

“Need a lift?” grinned Sooyoung at her friend’s annoyed but relieved expression.

Sunny quickly jumped into the car and Sooyoung sped off, navigating through traffic like a psycho with a full bladder who was hunting for a toilet. All the while, Sunny sat nervously in the passenger seat, praying and hoping they would arrive on time by some miracle. It was already nine o’clock when they took a turning off to the airport highway and Sooyoung floored the pedal.

As they pulled up to the departure hall entrance a few minutes later, Sunny and Sooyoung noticed a group of familiar faces exiting the doors. Sunny nearly fell out of the car as she opened the car door and jumped out before Sooyoung came to a complete stop. The girls turned to look at the car and gasped as they saw a panting Sunny run up to them.

“W-where’s H-hyomin?” Sunny managed to pant out as her eyes flicked in panic to each of their faces. Her heart dropped as she noticed Jiyeon had teary red eyes, indicating she had been sobbing for awhile. She turned her begging eyes to Eunjung who sighed, “She’s already gone-“

“NOOO!!” 

Sunny burst past them and ran towards to flight board. Sunny looked up at the board and saw the status of the flight to New York.The girls followed in behind her and they watched as Sunny dropped to her knees and cried her lungs out. 

Departed. Taking the love of her life with it.

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

Author’s Note:

I’M BACK!

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I just got back from Seoul a couple of hours ago and I’m so rushed with happiness because..

I MET HYOMIN IN PERSON.

I MET MY BIAS.

I HIGH FIVED HER AT TIAMO’S SHOWCASE.

I SHOWED HER MY TATTOOS DEDICATED TO HER.

SHE TOLD ME THEY WERE ‘DAEBAK’.

I AM SO HAPPY, I MIGHT DIE.

Sorry about that, I’m just so happy although I didn’t manage to get a selfie with her because security was so tight.

Do look forward to my next chapters, this story might be reaching it’s end soon.

Thank you to all those who subscribed to Crossroads.