Chapter 18 – The Hard Way

“Yoong… I don’t think I can continue this plan more.”

There, Gyuri said it, loud and clear to Yoona’s ear yet the doe-eye girl didn’t have any reaction for that statement. She sat still on her armchair as if there was someone was hypnotizing her. Because more than astonishment, Yoona felt like she had been able to lift the weight of the world off her shoulder. If Gyuri weren’t here, she would probably jump up and down right now. Delighted, Yoona felt truly delighted.

“Why all of a sudden? You’re so sure that you can carry on this plan before.” Despite how thrilled she was at this moment, Yoona couldn’t help but ask this question.

“I said that because I didn’t get to meet Yuri in person. From what you told me, I expected her to be a two-faced evil that didn’t care about anyone but herself. But you know, even when I haven’t gotten to know her that much but after a few encounters with her, I realize that she isn’t that bad of a person. Maybe it was true that she did used you in the past but I think that she only did what she did because the situation forced her to do so. She never meant to do it at the first place.” Gyuri went on talking about Yuri dreamily.

How funny was that? Now Gyuri even defended Yuri in front of Yoona, saying good things about the tanned girl to her. When Yoona accepted to do this plan, the worst scenario she could picture was Yuri found out about this and they could never be friends again. However at this moment, Yoona believed that what Gyuri was about to say to her would scare her even more than the so-called worst scenario she thought of before.

“Yoong, I want to stop this plan because I want to pursue her without carrying any burden which I have to lie to her all the time. I want to stop before it’s too late to do that.” Gyuri stopped for a second as she began to feel nervous, “I think I start to like her, Yoong.”

The world came crashing down on Yoona again. Gyuri would pursue Yuri, for real this time. Did that mean they would go on real dates, would say real sweet lines to each other’s ear, maybe feel each other’s kiss or even… she didn’t even want to think anymore. Every was real between them. Why didn’t she think of these before? Yoona couldn’t think straight at this moment, all that she knew was she didn’t want Gyuri to do any of that with Yuri. Or more precisely, she didn’t want anyone to be with Yuri. Now she realized how selfish she could be. She couldn’t be with Yuri yet she didn’t want anyone to be with her either.

“Yoong… are you listening to me?” Gyuri waved her hand in front of Yoona, trying to gain her attention.

“Yeah… I do…I do.” Yoona said blankly. If she didn’t listen to what Gyuri was saying she wouldn’t act like a lifeless person right now.

“Are you feeling alright? You look really tired, Yoong.” Gyuri asked her friend, worried.

Yoona nodded her head, “I’m fine.” She was supposed to chuckle here, expressing an opposite emotion to what she felt inside like she always did but right now Yoona just couldn’t do it at all. Deep down inside, she silently hoped that Gyuri was sensitive enough to notice something was different about her attitude. She knew that if she showed any happy expressions now Gyuri would take it as her approval and go for Yuri without hesitation. But did Yoona’s approval really matter now that Yuri technically wasn’t hers anymore?

“Anyway, I think that I have to tell you about this first just in case later she finds out about this. I really don’t want her to misunderstand me that I only go for her in order to help you, I need her to know that I do feel something toward her.” Gyuri said with a smile on her face, “Oh, and don’t worry, I promise that I’ll keep my mouth sealed about this plan. I don’t want things get uglier between you and your father once he knows about this.” Gyuri patted on Yoona’s shoulder. She thought that the only reason Yoona acted like this because she was worried that her father would know. So as a good friend as she always was, she promised to keep this as a secret for her friend’s sake.

“Uhm.” Another absent-minded nod. Yoona’s mind was anywhere but here.

“Ah… there’s one more thing.” Gyuri dropped her head to look at her laced fingers. She didn’t know how to put what she was wondering in words, “Earlier… from what I see, it seems like Yuri’s parents don’t know about your divorce yet, do they?”

“Yeah… most likely.”

“I presume Yuri doesn’t want her parents to know yet because of her mother’s condition, right?”
Yoona nodded like a robot that was programmed to answer these questions. No facial expressions, no feelings and no emotions.

“Then I guess the reason she pulled you away earlier is ask you to keep this secret from her parents.”

Nod.

“Do you agree?”

Nod.

“Well, figures. After seeing her mother like that, if I were you I would also agree. I wonder when she will ready to tell her mom though.”

Here was a surprise, Yoona didn’t nod her head just like the way she had been answering Gyuri’s questions minutes ago but shrugged her shoulder instead.

Gyuri furrowed her eyebrows at Yoona. What had gotten into her? “You don’t look okay to me at all, Yoong. Probably you are seasick. I guess I shouldn’t disturb you anymore, I’m gonna go back to my room now.” Gyuri said as she stood up from the couch. “Rest, okay?” She squeezed Yoona’s shoulder and left the room.

Yoona wasn’t in her right mind at this moment because if she did she would’ve laughed at Gyuri’s joke. Seasick? Her? A former Cruise Director? She didn’t know that Gyuri had such a good sense of humor.

Yoona rubbed her forehead tiredly. She didn’t know why she had such a serious headache out of nowhere. She was lost, absolutely lost her way this time. She couldn’t separate right from wrong anymore. Whichever way she chose, at the end she would always get hurt. She wished there was something could help her forget everything. She was too tired from doing the things which she thought were right, tired from hiding her feelings and tired from trying to run away from Kwon Yuri.

“Yah… are you feeling okay?” A gentle voice pulled Yoona back to reality.

Yoona looked up at the owner of the voice. Her heart leaped with joy as she saw a hint of worries in her eyes. At least she still cared.

“Now… I think I’m fine.” Yoona softly said as she looked at the tanned girl in front of her, “How is 
your mom?”

Yuri let out a sigh as she sat down on the couch, “She’s fine, she’s taking a nap now.”

“That’s great. I was kind of worried since your father said he needed your help and all.”

A low laugh escaped Yuri’s mouth, “My dad always acts like that when things involve my mom. She just needs a message before she can sleep peacefully and undisturbed. And my father’s skill isn’t that great so…”

Yoona nodded understanding. She leaned back in her armchair, unsure of what to say next, wondering why she couldn’t act comfortably around Yuri while with Seohyun she was just fine being friends. She tried her best to avoid eye contact with Yuri, for some reason her mind couldn’t function well when she looked at Yuri in the eyes.

“Uh… I guess I should go back to my room and pack my stuff, you know? Since my parents know this room is… our room.” Yuri said awkwardly.

“Yeah…” Yoona nodded, “Do you need some help? Because I’m more than willing to lend you a hand.”

“Thanks, it’s okay. I think I can handle it myself.”

“Really, I don’t mind since I also need to see Jessica there.”

Yuri shrugged, “Well, if you insist.” 

&&&&&&

Room A102

Yuri opened the door to her room just to find that Jessica was still sleeping soundly on the couch. As little space as it was, it was pretty impressive to Yuri how Jessica could sleep peacefully on that uncomfortable couch in exactly the same position which she last saw her hours ago.

Yoona quickly got in the room and approached the sleepyhead on the couch. Over the years, no matter what happened between them, Jessica’s sleeping face never failed to amuse her. A goofy grin reappeared on Yoona’s face. Only when her best friend fell asleep, she could use her special method in waking up the blonde.

Just like what she had done for a thousand times before, Yoona tilted her head to look at her friend’s face. Using her two fingers, Yoona pressed hard against Jessica’s nose until her head fell off the armrest which she used as her pillow. And Yoona always finished her prank on her best friend 
with the scene where she was cracking up and getting ready for a marathon.

Jessica didn’t have to open her eyes in order to address the person who dared to interrupt her peaceful slumber because there was only one person who had the guts to wake her up in this ‘special’ way, “IM YOONA!” She yelled at the top of her lung.

Probably Yoona had gotten used to this kind of reaction from Jessica and her supersonic yell so she still managed to have that goofy grin on her face while Yuri who was standing in the bedroom’s doorway much further away from the source had to cover her ears because of the effect.

Before the culprit could get away, Jessica shot a quick glare at her before standing up from the couch so that she could reach Yoona’s ear. Once she could have a firm hold of it, Jessica sat back down while pulling Yoona’s ear downward along with her.

“Im Yoona, how many times do I have to remind you not to wake me up this way again?”

Yoona had to bend her back due to Jessica’s pull, “Ah, ah, ah, easy Sica-yah, my ear is gonna be ripped up if you keep doing so. Will you just let go already?”

“It’s not that easy, my friend. When you have the nerves to disturb my sleep you should’ve known that this will happen. How about telling me a better reason why I have to do that instead?” Jessica still kept her bossy tone.

“Because I have to break some big news to you?”

“How big?”

“Very, very, very important news that you’re gonna regret if you don’t listen to it.”

Watching the two best friends interacting, Yuri found herself being the odd one in the room. They were so comfortable around each other unlike her. Either it was Jessica or Yoona, she couldn’t help but sense this awkward feeling between them. She retreated back to the bedroom, started packing the stuff she just unpacked few hours ago.

Jessica contemplated her choices for a moment before she decided to let go of Yoona’s ear. As soon as her ear was released from Jessica’s grip, Yoona stood back straight while rubbing her red ear.

“Now, shoot.” Jessica said while crossing her arms.

Yoona turned around to check if Yuri was still there. When the coast was clear, she sat down on the couch next to Jessica.

“First thing on the list, the plan is canceled.” Yoona lowered her voice enough for only Jessica and her to hear.

“Huh? Why?” Jessica was surprised, who wouldn’t?

“Because Gyuri told me she couldn’t lie to Yuri anymore. She…” Yoona trailed off. Even when Gyuri said it herself, Yoona couldn’t allow herself to admit it, to believe that was true, “She starts to have a thing for Yuri so she wanted to stop before things get any further.”

Jessica was supposed to be happy when she heard the news because that meant Gyuri would pursue Yuri with all her heart, no more acting, no more scripts. However, sensing the distressed Yoona next to her, she knew that she wouldn’t feel happy, at least not now.

“Uhm…” Jessica nodded slightly, “What about the other ones? I believe ‘some’ means plural right?”

“Well, what I’m about to tell you will explain why Yuri’s packing up her clothes.”

“She’s packing up?” Jessica tilted her head to the side so that she could look in the bedroom to find Yuri was putting her clothes back in her suitcase, “Ah, I know. They can find us another room now, can’t they?”

“Actually, they didn’t.”

“Then what does she have to pack her stuff for?” Jessica scrunched her eyebrow in confusion.

“Earlier when you were sleeping, we met Yuri’s parents at the hallway.”

“Her parents are also on this cruise? What a coincidence. But what does that have to do with her packing her stuff?”

“A lot. Her parents don’t know about our divorce. Later she asked me to hide it from them. And I kind of agree to the duel.”

Jessica felt like she had been sleeping for days not for hours. Out of nowhere, Yoona told her the plan was canceled and the next thing she knew Yuri and Yoona were back being the married couple again. That explained Yuri’s packing, the married couple were supposed to stay in the same suite. There was only one question left in her mind for this kind of situation.

“Why do you have to accept? It’s not like we can hide this from them forever.” Jessica raised her voice a little louder than expected.

“You didn’t see how bad her mother’s condition was, Sica-yah. She looked like she was about to faint in any minute. Besides, Yuri doesn’t have any relatives in LA. It’s not that easy for the secret to be exposed.”

“But they’ll know it sooner or later, it’s not a good idea to trick her parents like this. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Yoona-yah.”

Yoona took a deep breath in before she turned her head to look at her friend, “I do know exactly what I’m doing, Sica-yah. If… if I hadn’t done what I did to her in the last few days, I would have had a second thought about helping her. But in fact, I did do something really bad to her that I can’t ignore this guilt is getting bigger and bigger every time I look at her. I have to help her, Sica-yah, can’t you understand that?”

Jessica heaved a loud sigh. She started to doubt whether it was a right decision which she persuaded Yoona to agree to this plan. Unknowingly, she had put Yoona at bigger risk of falling for Yuri’s trap again. “Then you have to stay in the same room with her for the rest of this trip, don’t you?” Jessica asked the obvious.

Yoona grinned satisfied; she knew that her best friend would understand her, “I guess so.”

The sight of Yuri standing at the bedroom’s doorway with her suitcase cut short Yoona and Jessica’s conversation.

“Uhm, it’s getting late now. I should hurry and bring this to your room so we can start filming right after that.”

Yoona nodded as she stood up from the couch, “Right.”

&&&&&&

Room A115

Yoona plopped herself on the couch as she threw her camera to the armchair nearby. She couldn’t feel her knees, it seemed like they didn’t belong to her body anymore. After ten straight hours walking around the huge cruise ship, looking for the ‘love’ like Siwon wanted, Yoona was exhausted. So were Yuri and Jessica.

All of them tried their best to complete this task as soon as possible. They wanted to go back to Korea, go back to the ways things used to be.

Yoona rested her head against the couch and closed her eyes. It had been a long time since she worn herself out like this. The noise of someone sneezing caused Yoona lazily peek one eye open from her position on the couch. In front of her was an image of Yuri rubbed her red and probably in pain nose harshly.

“Yah… don’t rub your nose like that. It will do you no good.” Yoona slowly rose up from her current position so that she could talk to Yuri probably.

“Aish, what else can I do? My nose is so itchy.” Yuri complained, still rubbing her poor nose.

“Uh… you sleep here tonight?” Yoona asked as she noticed the blanket on Yuri’s lap.

Yuri shyly nodded, “Yeah… this is your room after all. This couch is more than enough for a guest like me.”

“But… you have a cold. It will get worse if you sleep out here.”

“I’m fine. I’m sure that I will get better tomorrow, just wait and see.” Yuri said confidently. Maybe Yoona would fall for it if she didn’t sneeze right after claiming that she was fine.

Yoona gave a loud sigh, “Look, your cold won’t go away anytime soon if you continue take care of yourself this way. Just have the bed, I can sleep here tonight.” She said in a serious tone.

“Seriously, I feel better than I look. It’s late now, you should go to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll have lots of things to do.” Yuri concluded her conversation with Yoona by herself by lying down on the couch and covered herself with the blanket.

Yoona clicked her tongue in annoyance as Yuri was being her stubborn self. Would it kill her to accept Yoona’s offer without protesting at least once? “Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

Yuri refused to answer by pulling the blanket over her head and rolled over so that she was facing the backrest.

“Have it your way then.” Feeling frustrated at Yuri, Yoona angrily walked away from her hardheaded co-worker and got in her room.



Tossing and turning in her warm bed for almost an hour, Yoona still had her eyes wide opened despite the fact that her eyes refused to open due to exhaustion earlier. Even when she tried to force herself to sleep, she couldn’t since every thirty second; she would hear a loud sneeze outside.

Had had enough, Yoona kicked her blanket off and quickly sat up, swinging her legs over the edge and pushed herself up into a standing position. Yoona clenched her hand into a fist as she headed toward the door. She muttered on the way to her destination, “Kwon Yuri, you always want me to do the hard way, don’t you?”

Approaching the blanket-covered lump on the couch, Yoona was still able to hear the sound of her sniffing non-stop. Had her mind set, Yoona took a deep breath in as she bent down to lift the sick girl on the couch in her arms.

Yuri started to panic when she felt someone lifted her up. However, the cold had up all of her strength; Yuri weakly pushed against the tall girl as an attempt telling the girl to drop her, “Y-yah, what… are you doing? Drop me down…” She said out of breath as she felt like her head was spinning round and round. Yuri really had no idea that her cold could get this bad. 

Now, it was Yoona’s turn to ignore Yuri’s question as she carried the tanned girl to her room and placed her on the bed gently.

Lying on the bed in an almost unconscious condition, Yuri still tried to push herself up in a sitting position so that she could get out of the bed and went back to her couch. But before Yuri could do something crazy, Yoona had stopped her by pushing the dark haired girl back down on the mattress as she had a firm hold on her shoulder and pulled the blanket over her, kept her from getting away or getting up.

“Ya-yah…” Yuri breathed the words out in a shaky voice while trying to get out of Yoona’s grip.

The more Yuri struggled to get out, the more Yoona tightened her grip on Yuri’s shoulder, “I will go to Jessica’s suite to sleep for the night if you insist on sleeping on that couch tonight. If you don’t want your parents to know about us then you better stay here, in this bed.” She said in a determined tone.

Noticed the seriousness in Yoona’s tone, Yuri relaxed her muscles and settled back on the bed right away. To be honest, she was just too tired to fight against Yoona.

When Yuri was finally relaxed in her bed, Yoona neatly pulled the blanket over her again, make sure that the cold wind wouldn’t slip in when she slept. Walking toward the heater, Yoona quietly moved it closer to Yuri’s bed, hoping this would somehow warm the latter up as fast as possible. Then she left the room and gently closed the door behind her back.

The sound of the door closing told Yuri that Yoona had already left. Yuri curled up in the bed, feeling its warmth, she loved this feeling so much. She couldn’t deny the fact that this comfy bed and the blanket did warm her up a lot since she was freezing while trying to sleep on the couch out there. But more than that, someone had been lying here for almost an hour and this bed was much warmer because of that someone’s warmth. Before Yuri knew it, she had drifted off to her dreamland in her warm bed.

There was one thing Yuri didn’t know of that night, the person who she thought had left earlier returned to the room as she stayed awake all night long, watching her sleep and keeping plenty of towels near her for her hot forehead. 

&&&&&&

Yuri woke up to the noise of people chattering outside. As she sat up, a towel dropped from her forehead down her lap. Yuri picked it up as she took a look at it, trying to remember when she got this towel on her forehead.

The tanned girl jumped when the door suddenly flung opened, revealing Yoona and the two elder followed closely behind.

“Oh, you’re awake?” Yoona greeted Yuri warmly as she noticed the girl had sat up in her bed. Even though Yuri knew it was just an act, she couldn’t help but smile back wholeheartedly and gave a little nod.

“Honey, we’re so worried about you. We heard from Yoona that you had a fever last night. Are you okay?” Misun rushed to her daughter’s side and felt her forehead.

Yuri gently took her mother’s hand from her forehead and used both of her hand to hold it, “Omma, I’m fine. It was just a cold, nothing serious.” She reassured the worried old woman.

“Aigoo, look at you…” Misun cupped her daughter pale face and stuck some of her damped hair behind her ear. She somewhat blamed herself for not noticing her daughter’s cold yesterday, not being able to take care of her little girl the way she wanted. “It’s such a relief that Yoona was here with you last night. Seeing that you’re much better now, she must have taken good care of you.”

“Yeah…” Came Yuri’s short answer.

“Why don’t you wash yourself up and join us for breakfast? It’s been a long time since we had breakfast together. We’ll wait for you in the living room.” Hyesung suggested as he stood at the doorway with Yoona.

Yuri nodded weakly as she tried to stand up. The moment she lifted herself off the mattress, her knees became wobbly and gave out, causing her to fall back on the bed. Misun quickly caught her daughter, supporting her with many difficulties since her condition wasn’t that good either.

Upon the scene, Hyesung nudged Yoona who was standing next to him, “Yah, what are you waiting for? Go help your wife.”

Yoona snapped out of her thought as she nodded eagerly and ran to Yuri’s side, “Omoni… let me help you.”

As she saw Yoona approached her, Yuri quickly let go of her mother as she said, “It’s okay omma, I can stand on my own.” She just wanted to avoid skin contact with Yoona as much as possible. As expected, when there was no one to support her, Yuri’s leg got no strength and she was about to fall back again. 

But Yoona wouldn’t let that happen as she quickly slid her arms around Yuri’s waist and pulled her up straight again. She leaned closer to Yuri’s ear, “Don’t try to be stubborn or I’ll carry you like last night in front of your parents, I promise.” She whispered in a low voice still it was enough for Yuri to hear.

When Yoona chose to use the ‘threaten’ method, Yuri really had no choice but to comply obediently.

“I don’t think that you can wash up on your own, Yuri-yah.” Misun said as she looked at her daughter then she turned to Yoona, “Yoona-yah, I believe that you can help her with this, right?”

Both Yuri and Yoona jerked their head back, their eyes widened, completely caught off guard by the sudden suggestion, “Wh-what do you mean by ‘help’?” Yoona stuttered, raised her voice a little louder than expected. Her cheeks were heated up for no reason.

Misun let out an amused chuckle at the scene, “Help her washing up and don’t tell me you guys are embarrassed. You’ve been married for three years already.” She said as a matter of fact.

“It’s not like that… I… I’m not…”

Yoona didn’t get to finish her stuttering as Yuri chimed in, “Omma, trust me, I can do everything on my own. Don’t treat me like some weakling because that would be very degrading.” Yuri said in one breath, insisted on making her parents understand that she didn’t need any help, especially from Yoona.

The elders exchanged glances as they noticed something weird about Yuri’s attitude. Why did their little girl get all work up about Yoona helping her shower? They acted almost like… strangers to each other.

The sudden tense silence in the room made Yoona realized that Yuri’s parents must have noticed something about their behaviors, Yoona quickly thought of an excuse to cover up their obvious slip, “Yuri just wants me to stay here to keep you company, omoni, aboji. She doesn’t mean anything else, right baby?” Yoona said a little too sweetly to Yuri.

Once again, Yoona called her ‘baby’. It seemed to Yuri that Yoona only called her ‘baby’ when she needed to convince the others that they were together, that they were a couple, a married couple. Three years ago, Yoona called her ‘baby’ for the first time in front of Victoria and Amber to fool them into believing that they were a happy couple. Ever since that day, she never heard Yoona called her like that again, it was always ‘Yuri-yah’ or maybe Yul, ‘sweetheart’ or ‘love’ anything but ‘baby’. But now in front of her parents, she had a chance to hear Yoona called her ‘baby’ again, yet the feeling wasn’t the same anymore. In the past, every time Yoona called her that she would feel shivers running through her body, now… the word ‘baby’ was just another reminder telling her what was happening between them was no more than an act. Just an act for her parents.

“Baby, are you okay?” Yoona asked again, louder this time since Yuri didn’t have any reaction for her question earlier.

Yoona’s voice pulled Yuri back to reality. Again, still ‘baby’. She tried to force a sad smile on her face as she turned to her parents, “What Yoona said was right, Omma. I just want her to stay here to keep you company. I feel bad when both of us leave you guys here alone waiting for us.” Another faked smile appeared on her face.

Yuri slowly removed Yoona’s arm around her waist as she gently pushed the latter away from her so that she could stand without anyone’s support, “See? Told you that I can stand on my own.” Yuri softened her voice. “Yoona-yah, can you take my parents to the living room while waiting for me taking a shower?” Yuri took a tiny step away from Yoona, kept their distance.

Seconds later, Yoona and her parents were out of the bedroom. When Yuri was certain that they had left, she let out a huff, “Right, what exactly am I hoping for? This is only a show for my parents, nothing more.” She mumbled sadly to herself.

&&&&&&

Hyesung plopped down on the armchair creating a loud thud. His expression was unreadable but there was one thing Yoona knew for sure, something was bothering him.

“Yoona...” Hyesung called out to his daughter-in-law.

Yoona jumped at the father’s voice. She tried to swallow, feeling how dry was, so was . For some unknown reason, Yoona was really nervous waiting for what was about to come. “Yeah… aboji?”

“Will you come and sit here? I have something to say to you.” Hyesung said while gesturing to the couch in front of him.

“U-uh… yeah.” Yoona had no choice but to comply. 

“Do you remember what you promise me three years ago when we were at our garden?” Hyesung jumped straight to the main point. He wasn’t the type going around in circle for nothing.

For a moment, Yoona had to think hard to recall what she had promised her father-in-law three years ago. “You mean… the promise which I have to take good care of Yuri, right?” If there was any promise was made, it must be this one. After all Yoona only met Hyesung once, they actually didn’t talk that much.

“Do you still keep that promise for all these years?” Hyesung asked seriously.

For the first time in her life, the quick-witted Yoona, the smooth-talking Yoona was truly lost for words. What to say? The truth? She literally broke that promise only hours after making it. Or lying to him? Telling him that she did take care of Yuri, that she did bring his daughter happiness like she promised? She was afraid that this lie was too much for her to handle. She still remembered how confident she was when she looked in Hyesung’s eyes, telling him that she could do it. Everything had changed now.

Three years ago, she was able to feel so much confident in front of Hyesung because she knew that she would never hurt Yuri, because she loved Yuri so much with all her heart. Now, her confidence was completely gone when she had done something unforgiveable to Yuri. Then she noticed how scary Hyesung look, a look of a father who was willing to do anything for his little daughter. Once again, Yoona tried to swallow the lump in her dry throat. 

Fortunately, a loud yelp came from the bathroom saved Yoona from Hyesung’s investigation on her.
“It’s Yuri.” Misun exclaimed worriedly, “Honey, can you save your talk with Yoona later? I want her to go to Yuri to check if she was okay.”

“Me?” Yoona pointed to herself surprisingly.

“Who else? Why do you have to ask? You’re her seobang, right?” Misun once again unintentionally drove Yoona into the corner.

Yoona could feel Hyesung intense stare on her behind her back, waiting for her response to his wife’s request. Without any further protest, Yoona reluctantly nodded her head, “I know, omoni.” 

Yoona hurriedly ran toward the bathroom, desperately wanting to show Yuri’s parents her concern for Yuri. She placed her hand on the door knob, taking a deep breath in. Yuri was taking a shower; there was no doubt that she didn’t wear anything. In others words, surely, without question, she was… . Yoona’s cheek started to heat up only at the thought of it and her imagination. She really had to have a little talk with Yuri later not to take a shower when she was in the same room with her parents and Yoona herself. She intentionally dropped her head down and kept her eye on the floor so that when she went in, maybe there was a chance that she didn’t see anything.

Yoona didn’t know that there was another thing which she needed to consider before she decided to do her smart act. The loud yelp came from Yuri, it meant that she had fallen or stripped on something in the bathroom and when she did it also meant that there was another big chance that she was lying on the floor because she was hurt. And the fact that she kept her eyes on the floor gave her a full view of the girl lying on the floor.

The moment Yuri saw the door knob was being twisted, her heart started to beat faster and faster every second. A part of her was silently cursed herself for not locking the door earlier, another part was jumping in nervousness, hoping the person who was opening the door was one of her parents. But life wasn’t that easy.

Yuri immediately raised both of her hands over her body at the sight of Yoona came into view, trying to cover her self as much as possible. “Wh-what are you doing here?” Yuri yelled out loud enough for Yoona to see her desperate need of shoving her outside but still kept her parents out of earshot. Yuri actually felt like a deja-vu here, ever since she asked Yoona to help her hide their secret the phrase ‘what are you doing’ came out almost every time.

“It’s not like I want to be here…” Yoona still stuck to her original plan while trying to explain, kept her eyes ‘open’ on the floor.

“Get out!”

“…it’s just that your parents want to see if you are okay so they ask me…”

“Then turn around!”

“…to see if you are. I want you to know that I don’t…”

“Close your eyes!”

“…plan on going in here but earlier your parents get suspicious…” 

“Just turn aroundddd…..”

“…about our attitude, leaving me no choice but to come in here.” Yoona finished her long explanation in one breath. Despite any protest from the tanned girl on the floor, she still kept her ground, didn’t do anything the latter ordered her to do until she was done talking.

“I know, I know that you’re not intended to do anything alright? So… just turn around and close your eyes, pleaseee….” Yuri gritted the words through her teeth.

“O-okay…” Yoona finally turned around like Yuri told her to do. She didn’t know that the bathroom was this hot, she felt like her entire body was on fire. And on the side note, reality was much hotter than imagination.

Only when Yoona faced the door, Yuri started to pull herself up, trying to reach for something that could cover her body but to her dismay, the bathrobe was too far away to reach and her swollen ankle didn’t help much.

As Yoona waited, Yuri didn’t seem like she was gonna get up anytime soon. Afraid that her parents would get suspicious, Yoona turned around to face Yuri once again, this time she wanted to help her for real without any other intentions. Repeated: there were no other intentions.

Again, Yuri’s arms were back to its previous position, trying to cover as little as they could, “Yah! What are you doing? Turn around!” See? That phrase came out very often.

“Let me help you, okay?” Yoona suggested in a soft tone.

“No need, I can handle this on my own.” Yuri said, determined.

“If you could do this on your own then you weren’t lying on the floor like this, making me wait for you like forever.” Yoona talked back.

“I said I’m fine.”

Yoona furrowed her eyebrow at Yuri as she took note of her swollen ankle and her stubborn gaze upon her, “As expected, you always want me to do the hard way.” Yoona said as she looked away for a moment.

“What do you mean?” Yuri asked in confusion.

Without replying, Yoona stood up and took a few steps over the rack which was hanging the bathrobe. She took the bathrobe and threw it toward Yuri. 

“Yah!”

“If you don’t wear it yourself, believe me it will be your loss.”

Yuri put the bathrobe on with many difficulties since she was doing two tasks at the same time. Covering herself and wearing bathrobe. She didn’t order Yoona to turn around or close her eyes because she knew that even if she did the latter wouldn’t comply.

When Yuri was done, Yoona walked toward her as she bent down to the girl’s level.

“What do you want now?”

The hard way meant less talking, more actions. Once again, Yoona lifted Yuri up in her arms, carrying her outside.

“Yah! Put me down, I can walk out on my own.” Yuri said as she struggled to get out of Yoona’s arm.

“You just can’t do anything on your own. Either this way or I’ll throw you over my shoulder. Your choice.” Yoona threatened… again. And she was a woman of her word.

Yuri let out a groan as she stayed still in her arms. No more protest.

As Yoona took a few steps toward the door, ready to open it when she stopped abruptly to say something which completely knocked Yuri over. She thought that she wasn’t gonna say this but from the way Yuri acted earlier, she changed her mind, “Oh! And don’t act like I haven’t seen any of… this, you know?”

“Yah!!”

TBC