Chapter 25 – Dream Or Not?

YoonSicTae’s house – Yoona’s room

Yoona threw herself onto her comfy bed and looking up at the ceiling. Tiffany’s words kept replaying in her head.

‘Please stay away from her.’

She let out a bitter scoff, “She acted like I’m some kind of an infectious sickness to Yuri. Isn’t that funny?” Yoona talked as if there was someone else in her room beside her.

She knew that Tiffany didn’t like her, that she wanted to have nothing to do with her. Of course, who would have liked a person cheating on your best friend on the weeding day? The fact that Tiffany was the first to start a conversation with her, asking a favor from her was something Yoona just simply couldn’t imagine.

At first, she couldn’t help but feeling surprised at Tiffany’s sudden act. However, the moment she got to hear of what the eye-smiled girl wanted from her, no more the feeling of being surprised but her heart ached. The pain was like there was someone squeezing it inside of her chest hard, really hard. Then she thought of the reason why Tiffany had to ask her doing this.

‘Yuri just couldn’t forget what you did to her.’

That statement had clearly declared the reason why Tiffany did this. All for Yuri’s happiness. What she did three years ago must have left an incurable scar on Yuri’s heart. Her presence, her existence in Yuri’s own little world only brought back old memories, those painful memories that Yoona once created by herself for Yuri. And as Yuri’s best friend, Tiffany asked her to stay away from the girl so that Yuri wouldn’t remember their painful past then she wouldn’t be hurt, wouldn’t cry and Yuri would be happy.

Tiffany asked and Yoona agreed. She couldn’t say no. She wasn’t allowed to say no. She had no right to object. What did she say to object? That they were now nothing to each other so she didn’t have to care about Yuri’s feelings and she just stick around her all she wanted? That she only stayed away from the girl when Yuri herself asking her to do so?

Or that she was still in love with the girl so she couldn’t promise to stay away from her?

As if Tiffany would believe her when she said that. Still in love with the girl she cheated on? That must be the biggest joke she had ever told anyone. Tiffany would die laughing if she heard Yoona’s reason for refusing to stay away.

So, Yoona had to agree. She had to.

The sound of someone knocking on the door interrupted Yoona’s thought. She sat up in her bed and shouted out loud for that person to come in.

“Come in…”

“Hey…” Jessica opened the door and stepped in. She made her way to Yoona’s bed and naturally sat down next to her.

“So?” Yoona began when Jessica just sat there without saying anything. She had to come to Yoona’s room for some certain reasons, right?

“I’m confused…” Jessica said as she gathered her legs close to her body and rested her chin on the knee.

“About what?”

“Don’t you think that Yuri is acting really odd ever since we came back from LA?”

This was just great! Now even Jessica mentioned her. Yuri really did a good job in making her name appeared in every moment of Yoona’s life. No matter if she wanted to think about her or not.

“You mean the way she takes care of you?” Yoona asked, referring to what had happened lately, especially on the airplane.

“Exactly, she keeps… like… bothering me.” Jessica found it was hard to look for the right words for Yuri’s concern for her. “She even told me she’s gonna make me a lunch box from now on.”

Yoona laughed out loud as if Jessica was telling her a joke, “Really? A lunch box? That must be delicious. I kept asking Taeyeon to prepare us one since w-” She stopped herself when she saw Jessica squinted at her, totally not in the mood of exciting over something like this.

“Uhm… I guess… it’s a… burden to you, right?” Yoona quickly steered the conversation in another direction.

“Glad to know that you know.” Jessica said, there was somewhat sarcastic about her tone. “I just don’t know why she acts like that all of a sudden. Even her dad also treats me this way just not this much to Yuri’s extent but still… And she is seriously getting on my nerve.”

Now that Jessica mentioned Hyesung made Yoona remembered her talk with Yuri about the old man had a thing for Jessica. She didn’t have a chance to talk to Yuri about this afterward. Maybe this was the sole reason why Yuri acted the way she did.

“Why don’t you ask Yuri herself? I’m sure that her answer will be much more helpful than my baseless guess, right?”

Jessica pouted as she turned away from Yoona and rested her chin on her knee again, “That’s where the problem lies. I just don’t want to talk to her so… personally.”

Yoona raised an eyebrow at her friend. Maybe she had some certain ideas about why the blonde refused to talk to Yuri. Let’s just hope that Yoona herself wasn’t involved in affecting Jessica’s decision about this.

“I just wish that there’s someone or something could change her way of treating me because I’m afraid that one day… I might lose it.”

Yoona bit back a laugh at Jessica’s choice of word. “Come on… it’s not that bad. Don’t you feel kind of flattered that there’s someone else care for you this much other than me and Taeyeon?”

Jessica stayed silent. She had never had a lunch box before in her life. How could an orphan have a lunch box when they went to school? Jessica still remembered how she wished there was someone prepared for her a lunch box as she looked at Yoona’s big and luxury one. Yes, it was true that Yoona shared it with her but still it was Yoona’s not hers. Yet Jessica still thought that Yuri’s concern for her was annoying, the real question here was whether the girl’s concern made her feel that way or her name did?

“No, I feel very annoyed.”

Obviously, it was the name that made her feel this way.

“Alright… if you say so.” Yoona decided to shrug it off. There was no point in pushing Jessica to admit that she somewhat liked the feeling of being taken care like this.

“Ah, there’s something else I want to ask you, Yoong. I saw you following Tiffany into the storage. What happened?” Jessica asked as she turned to Yoona.

“Uh… uhm… Nothing serious, just... she asked me to do something for her.”

“Do what?”

“Uhm… some of her personal stuff so… she asked me to keep it as a secret to everyone.” For now, Yoona just didn’t want Jessica to know about her conversation with Tiffany. Taeyeon was dating her, the last thing Yoona wanted at this moment was Jessica had any kind of unpleasant impression of their best friend’s girlfriend.

Jessica raised her eyebrow at Yoona. Apparently, the blonde was not buying what her friend just said. “I thought that Tiffany didn’t like you.”

“Yeah, well… she didn’t want to ask me but… I’m only one who could do it so…” Yoona awkwardly explained.

“Okay… since you said that it was nothing serious, I’m gonna act like I believe you. Just this one time.” Jessica said bluntly. She had to make it clear that it wasn’t that she believed in Yoona’s obvious lie, it was just that she decided to let it pass this time.

Yoona stayed silent. She didn’t expect Jessica to believe in her, she just simply wanted to avoid being questioned about this matter and hoped that Jessica would understand that. Thankfully, the blonde did. Sometimes between them, there was no need to say out loud what the other needed, they already knew.

“Icy-ah… I think... if you don’t feel comfortable working here at STS. You can just quit, you know?” Yoona suggested in a small voice as she stared blankly at the wall in front of her.

Jessica immediately whipped her head to Yoona’s direction the moment the word ‘quit’ reached her ear. She wouldn’t deny the fact that she didn’t feel comfortable working at STS, facing Yuri everyday especially now the tanned girl annoyed the hell out of her right now but the thought of quitting her job never crossed once her mind.

“Wh-why all of a sudden you want me to quit this job?” She couldn’t hide the confusion was visible in her tone.

Yoona let out a non-humorous chuckle before saying, “I just give out a simple suggestion so that you can take it into consideration.”

“If I do quit, what will you do?” Jessica asked. The whole purpose of her taking this position was that she could be side by side with Yoona. What was the point of quitting and working alone somewhere without Yoona?

“What are friends for? In that case, I’ll quit too so that we are both unemployed and will look for a new job together. It was me who made you accepted this job anyway so I have to be responsible for this.” Yoona put on a grin on her face. She acted like she would be totally happy if there were two people having no job in the house. “Besides, I miss those days when we went from places to places on the cruise. All relaxed and carefree.” It wasn’t the job at STS was stressful or anything, it was just that there was a certain someone here made Yoona’s head always filled with those forbidden thoughts.

“Uhm… Me too.” How could Jessica not miss those days on the cruise ship? Just be with Yoona alone an entire day. How could it be any better than that?

“So… you’re serious?” After thinking for a while, Jessica asked once again. The idea of quitting the job just couldn’t get through her head at all.

“What…? Do I look like I’m joking?” Yoona asked in an amused tone.

“Somehow I still think that you are.”

“I can reassure you that I’m dead serious right now.”

“Then… I’ll think about it.”

Yoona slowly nodded. Inside, she was feeling kind of bad for using her best friend in some ways. The sole reason why she suggested Jessica quitting the job was her promise with Tiffany. If she wanted to quit the job without being interrogated by her friends later then she had no choice but to drag Jessica along with her. Taeyeon and her would think that she quitted the job because of Jessica not Tiffany... or Yuri.

&&&&&&

YoonSicTae’s house – Kitchen

“Where is Yoona?” Taeyeon asked as she slid the fried egg off the pan onto the plate in front of Jessica.

“Left for work already.” Jessica said simply.

Taeyeon tilted her head to glance at the clock hanging on the wall behind Jessica before saying, “Again?”

Jessica nodded, “Uhm… I woke up to see her text saying that she left for work early and you don’t have to make her breakfast.” It had been three days since Yoona suggested her quitting the job at STS. And ever since Jessica decided to follow Yoona’s suggestion, she received a text from the latter every morning saying that she was already left for work.

“Is there lots of work? She skipped my breakfast for three straight days. That isn’t like her at all.” As a shikshin like Taeyeon knew she was, the fact that Yoona skipped Taeyeon’s tasty breakfast for days, which she always used to be the first sitting at the table waiting for Taeyeon to serve, was kind of hard to believe.

“Maybe… she needs to finish that project Siwon gave her before quitting this job.” Jessica said before taking a gulp of milk.

“Quit? Are you sure? She didn’t tell me anything.”

“Actually… we both are going to quit.”

“Both of you? Why? All of a sudden?”

“Because I told her that I’m not comfortable working STS so she suggests me to quit. She also said that it was her responsibility that I ended up in this situation so she’ll quit if I quit.” Jessica explained slowly.

“So it was you who decided to quit?”

Jessica nodded, “Apparently so.”

“Why?” Taeyeon had lost count of how many questions she asked this morning. It seemed like in this household, if there was something happening, she would always be the last one to know.

“You should know why, Taeyeon-ah.” Jessica said.

Again, this triangle love. Taeyeon let out a heavy sigh as she wondered when this would end. In fact, Taeyeon never had a chance to talk to Yoona properly about her feelings for Yuri. Out of the three, Jessica was the only one told her everything. Yet she didn’t do anything after listening to her advices time after time. Seriously, this lovesick friend of her was getting on her nerve sometimes.

“I guess... your confessing process is still a big zero, right?”

“It’s not the right time yet…” Jessica tried to make up some lame excuse for her cowardice.

“When will it be?” Taeyeon raised her voice louder than she expected. Maybe it was Jessica’s calm attitude got to her, “One more day? One month? Or another ten years? Tell me, Sica, when will it be your right time?”

Jessica stayed silent as Taeyeon was looking really mad right now. She hung her head low, trying to avoid eye contact with Taeyeon as she didn’t know how to reply to her questions. Jessica didn’t want to give Taeyeon the kind of answer like ‘the right time is when I know for sure that she’ll accept my feelings’. Probably if she said that, she wouldn’t be able to go to work today as she stayed here, listening to Taeyeon talking about chances, trying and timing instead.

Upon Jessica’s silence, Taeyeon heaved yet another sigh. “Anyway… you only have four days left. If you still plan to make a romantic confession to Yoona then you’d better do it quick. I’m serious this time.”

“Uhm…” Was the only thing Jessica could say at this moment.

&&&&&&

Incheon Airport

“I’ll miss you, Nic.” Yuri said to Nicole as she pulled back from their hug. “Why don’t you stay here for a couple more days? We still have lots of thing to talk about.”

“As much as I want to, I can’t, Yul. There’s something came up with my business in London and I have to go back as soon as possible.” Nicole said sadly. Originally, she was going to spend a whole week here in Korea but now she had to go back only after three days.

“I know that but still…”

“Don’t worry, if I have some free time I’ll come back right away or… you can just fly to London, you know? Just in case, you miss me that much.” Nicole joked, trying to lighten up the mood. “Besides, I haven’t had a chance to give that girl a proper beating for doing what she did to you. So… yeah, I’ll come back for sure.”

Yuri smiled, feeling happy that she still remained good friends with Nicole even though they had broken up. She wondered why she couldn’t be like this with Yoona. Was it because of how they broke up, her feelings for Yoona or Yoona herself? No matter how much time had passed, Yuri just couldn’t see Yoona as her friend anymore. In her mind, they couldn’t be just friends.

“I guess I’ll go in now…”

“Have a safe trip, I’ll wait for your email.”

Nicole nodded to Yuri before turning to walk to the gate. About five steps away, Nicole suddenly stopped in her track and went back to Yuri again.

“What’s wrong?” Yuri asked, confused.

“I almost forgot… there’s something I want to give you.” Nicole reached behind for her backpack. After a while rummaging through her bag, Nicole finally found the small thing she needed and hid it in her palm.

“Before I go…” Nicole took Yuri’s hand in hers, gently placed that thing in her palm and enclosed her fingers into a fist. “… this was one of many reasons why I had to go back to Korea. Just to give you this. It’s something I need to leave behind. Do whatever you want with it ‘cause I really don’t want what to do.”

Yuri was about to open her palm to see what Nicole just placed in just to find that the latter still had a strong grip on her hand. Maybe Nicole just didn’t want Yuri to see what it was right now.

Then Nicole started in a small voice, “If only I knew what happened after I left three years ago… I would never give you up that easily, Yuri-yah.”

Without waiting for Yuri’s response, Nicole quickly her heels and ran to the gate. When Nicole’s figure was completely disappeared behind the gate, Yuri opened her palm to reveal the white gold ring which had the words “Y love Y” carved into it. It was Nicoles’s.

Was God playing some game with her? Yuri thought that she would never be able to see this ring again the moment she threw it into the sea when she was in pain and sorrow three years ago. Once again, this ring just magically found its way back into her hand. Even though she knew that it wasn’t the same ring, it didn’t matter. Those memories, sweet moments just automatically played back in her mind the moment she saw those carved words.

Looking at the ring in her palm, Yuri was thinking of what she should do with it. She could throw it away again, anytime, anywhere. And this time, she was sure that the ring would be officially gone, she would never be able to see it again if she did. If she did… would it make any difference?

Apparently not. Those memories would always be there at the back of her mind. Her feelings for Yoona would always stay here in her heart. Whether this ring was out of her sight or not, it wouldn’t make any difference.

The sound of her phone ringing in her pocket pulled Yuri back to reality. She quickly pulled it out to pick up the call.

“Hello?”

“Yah, where are you?” Came Tiffany’s loud voice on the other side.

“At the airport, just bid my farewell to Nicole.”

“Go back to STS as soon as possible, it was just announced that Siwon had an important announcement to the staff.”

“Didn’t I already ask for today off?”

“Well… he wants you here. I think it will be most likely about your project with Yoona.”

“When is he going to make that announcement?”

“Not sure… why?”

“I still have something to take care of. But I think I’ll be able to get there at three.”

“Alright, I’ll tell him that. Be sure to make it on time, okay?”

“Uhm…” Yuri shut her phone and without thinking much she threw the ring in her bag along with her phone.

&&&&&&

Elderly Care – Yong Appa’s Room

“Yong appa!!” Yuri called out loud to get the old man’s attention as she poked her head through the small crack of his door.

“Yuri!” The old man brightened up at the sight of the tanned girl entered his room. It had been so long since he heard her voice, telling him when to take his medicine, to take good care of his health.

Yuri slid herself in and closed the door behind her back. “Yong appa, guess what I bought for you from LA?” Yuri asked as she hid the ‘thing from LA’ behind her back.

Yong appa let out a soft chuckle, “Isn’t it the same thing all the times when you came from a business trip? My favorite cigar.” The old man ‘guessed’ without any difficulties.

Yuri pouted, he got it correct just on his first try. Could he try to make this conversation more interesting by pretending he didn’t know what her gift was? “You’re no fun…” Yuri complained as she revealed the metal box of cigars in her hands to Yong appa.

“What…? Didn’t you tell to take a guess?” Yong appa laughed softly at Yuri’s sudden change of attitude from being excited to completely dispirited.

“You’re just no fun…” Yuri repeated once again and earned another laugh from the old man in return.

“When did you come back from LA anyway?” Yong appa asked.

“Uhm… about four days ago… I think. Didn’t Yoo...” Yuri stopped herself as she remembered what happened during their last encounter. Maybe Yoona was still mad about Yong appa denying her as his daughter. But wasn’t this too much of her? After all, Yong appa was her father, at least she should come and inform him that she was back.

“If you were about to mention that rascal in front of me, you can save your breath ‘cause I don’t want hear anything about her.” At the mention of his daughter’s name, Yong appa’s relaxed expression switched in a flash as he scrunched his eyebrow in displeased. He was mad, yes. But not because of what happened during their last encounter. He was mad because his own daughter didn’t come to visit him after his successful surgery. He was mad because Yoona didn’t tell him that she would go on a business trip with Yuri, he would never know if Yuri didn’t tell him one day before their trip. And now, there was only Yuri came to him saying that they were back to Korea. Without Yuri, probably he still had no idea what his daughter was doing. That rascal of his.

“Yong appa… please don’t be too harsh on Yoona. You should know that she really loves you.” Yuri softly said. “Actually… back in LA, I was about to buy you this box of cigars just to find that Yoona was already one step ahead of me. She had bought it the moment she set her foot in LA and then asked me to give this to you. She made me promise that I will tell you that this box was bought by me so that you won’t throw it away the moment you see it. I can tell that she cares about you a lot, Yong appa.”

“See? That rascal always thinks of me as a bad guy. Who says that I will throw this away if she is the one buying it?” Yong appa said. Fairly saying, this man was like a ten years old kid who was in a fifty years old body. Easy to get mad, easy to coax. No matter how much he loved the idea of Yoona remembering his hobby, he would say the otherwise. No matter how much he longed to meet his daughter, he would shoo her away the moment he saw her face. No matter how much he yearned to know something about her, he would act like he could care less about her. Yong appa wanted Yoona to come to him even though he told her not to, to care for him even when he acted like he didn’t need her concern. He treated Yoona as if she was a mind reader.

“Maybe you might do something without knowing making her feel that way about your relationship.” Yuri smiled, knowing that Yong appa somehow understood Yoona’s feelings now. “Maybe… you didn’t notice but you have unintentionally pushed her away when she tried to get close to you.”

Yong appa stayed silent. Yuri was right, it was him who yelled at her every time she showed her face to him. He even threw the ashtray at her. Yong appa couldn’t blame Yoona for thinking of him this way.

“I… tell me… what you did in LA…” Yong appa hesitated.

“You mean… Yoona?” Yuri tried to push while having that knowing smile on her face.

As hard as it was to notice but Yuri did see Yong appa nodding his head ever so briefly. For now, this was enough.

Yuri walked behind the old man, placed her hand on his shoulder and started her massage, “Well… in LA she…”

&&&&&&

STS – Yoona’s office

Yoona tiredly closed the folder of the files she just signed. She closed her eyes and rested her head on the headrest. Lately, Yoona had been keeping herself busy to keep that tanned girl out of her mind, to stay true to her promise with Tiffany. But still, most of her times at work, she spent them with Yuri. They literally stuck with each other because of that project. Thankfully, they just finished presented their idea to the board two days ago. And now all Yoona had to do was finish up some minor details in their project and then she would be done with it which also meant it was the end of her collaboration with Yuri. The end of her job as a Sales Manager at STS.

Yoona was never the type to regret of a decision she made. But the more she thought about her promise with Tiffany, the more she started to doubt whether it was right or not. Yuri… did she want her to stay away? Would Yuri ask her to stay if she told her she would quit this job? What she was doing, was it really the best for both of them?

At the sound of the door opening, Yoona opened her eyes to see Jessica was standing in the doorway.

“Yah! Siwon just told the staff to meet up at the conference room. There’s going to be an announcement. Let’s go.”

“Alright…” Yoona lazily pushed herself up into a standing position and followed Jessica into the conference room.

The moment Yoona stepped into the conference room, her eyes set on a figure standing right next to Siwon, chatting happily with him. Why was she here? Didn’t she take today off? Yoona shook her head. This was getting nowhere. Just one brief look at her and now her mind was filled with the name Yuri again.

Siwon clapped his hands together loudly, trying to get his employee’s attention. Once they all had their eyes on him, Siwon put on ear to ear grin on his face as he started, “The reason I asked you guys here is because I’ve got some good news to share. Well… as all of you might know, Yoona-sshi and Yuri-sshi have presented their idea to the board two days ago. And as I expected, they absolutely love it. But it doesn’t stop there. As the news about our new project broke to the public yesterday morning, we’ve received lots of positive response from the media which also means we’re going to be very busy for the rest of the year. So, as an incentive for you guys who will be working hard in the future for this project, we decide to give all the staff in this department a raise by ten percent of your salary.”

The crowd cheered loudly when the word ‘raise’ left Siwon’s mouth although they didn’t pay full attention to what he said before.

“As for Yoona-sshi, Yuri-sshi and Jessica-sshi who are mainly devoted themselves for this project. Your salary will be raised by fifty percent. Just like promise. Tonight, our company will have an official launching ceremony for this new theme of our cruise at W Hotel and all the staff are invited to come.” Siwon finished with a clap of his hands while his assistants started giving out invitation cards to the staff. 

Two good news in a row. Just when they were informed to have a raise the next thing they knew was that they were invited to one of the biggest and expensive hotel in town for the celebration. There was no words that would express how happy and excited they were right now.

“Oh, and I decide to let everyone get off work early today so that you guys will have some spare time to prepare.” Siwon added.

The cheers just got louder and louder after every announcement Siwon made. For over a month together, they realized that this new boss of them wasn’t so bad after all.

“Well, if you don’t have any questions then… that’s it for today.”

All the staff started to zoom out of the room after one last round of applause. As soon as Yuri was out of the conference room along with all the staff, she noticed Gyuri was holding a bouquet of roses, standing at their office’s entrance.

“Gyuri-sshi?” Yuri called out softly.

The moment Gyuri caught a glimpse of the person who she had been waiting for, a wide smile spread across her face as she approached closer to the tanned girl.

“Here… I prepare this for you.” Gyuri said as she held out the flowers in her hands to Yuri.

As surprised as she was, Yuri politely took them from her hands, “Ah, thanks.”

“Ohhhhhh….” Luna, Minho and Onew who had been watching the whole scene at the very beginning chanted together. This was the first time in over two years, Yuri had someone giving her flowers in such a public place like this.

“I heard from the receptionist that you’ll get off work early today so would you like t-”

Before Gyuri could finish what she was saying, Yuri cut her off, “Uhm… actually our company is going to have a… very important celebration tonight and I… ” Yuri quickly pulled Tiffany, who happened to pass by them, by her arm close to her, “… promised Fany that I will be her partner tonight, right Fany?” Yuri turned to Tiffany.

Tiffany scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, “You did?” She asked in a puzzled tone and earned a nudge on her arm from Yuri in return, silently telling her to act along, “Ah, yeah. You did.”

“Oh, is that so? It’s fine but… I hope there will be a next time then.” Gyuri tried to force a smile on her face, completely disappointed because of Yuri’s indirect rejection.

“Ah, yeah… sure.” Yuri awkwardly said.

“I guess I’ll get going now. See you soon, Yuri-yah.”

“Uhm… yeah.” Another awkward expression from Yuri.

Once Gyuri’s figure was out of sight, Luna, Minho and Onew ran to Yuri’s side at speed of light. Needless to say, they were all curious about this Gyuri girl.

“Who is she?”

“Aww… she’s so romantic.”

“Where did you meet her, Yuri?”

“How long have you seen each other?”

Tons of questions were thrown at Yuri and she just smiled, nodded or answered very briefly throughout the whole investigation. The whole office filled with this exciting and happy atmosphere.

Only in one corner of the room, there was a person stood frozen in place as she watched the two main character interacting.

“Yoong…” Jessica softly called out to the girl who still had her eyes on the flustered tanned girl.

“Let’s go, Sica-yah. We still have lots of things to do.” Yoona said without looking back at Jessica and started walking away. She needed to get away from this place soon before a wave of emotions hit her and the tears she was trying very hard to hold back right now would fall down regardless of her permission.

&&&&&&

YulTi’s House – Yuri’s room

“So… when are you gonna tell me about this Gyuri girl?” Tiffany said as she plopped down on Yuri’s bed.

“She’s just a normal friend I met recently.” Yuri simply replied while searching through her closet, trying to find a suitable dress for tonight.

“Normal friend? Does a normal friend give you flowers? Does a normal friend take you for lunch almost every day? Come on, Yuri-yah, you know it doesn’t sound right at all.”

“To me, she’s just a normal friend. Maybe a good friend but nothing more.” Yuri stated.

“Why do you seem to avoid her earlier? Did something happen?” Tiffany asked out of curiosity.

Yuri gave a quiet sigh, “Gyuri asked me to be her girlfriend when we went out for lunch the other day.”

A happy smile appeared on Tiffany’s face in a flash, already getting excited about the fact that there was someone went after her best friend. “Really? What did you say?”

“I reject…”

“Why…?” Tiffany nearly screamed out of disappointment, “You’d better tell me some good reasons, Kwon Yuri.”

“Well, first we don’t get to know each other that much. And second, I’m not ready for a relationship right now.”

Tiffany slightly shook her head at her friend. When would she ever be ready if she still thought of Yoona like every minute of her life? The question here wasn’t whether she was ready for a relationship or not but whether she could forget Im Yoona or not.

“Promise me that you’ll think about giving her a chance, Yuri-yah. For both of you.” Tiffany said as she placed a hand on Yuri’s shoulder, squeezing it tight.

Yuri stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her friend. Looking at those sincere eyes of Tiffany, Yuri heaved another sigh before went back to looking for her outfit. “I’ll think about it.”

Tiffany knew Yuri was taking baby step so she didn’t say anything else to push her. Instead, she steered their conversation into another direction, “What are you going to wear tonight?”

Yuri shook her head, “Not sure… that’s why I’m making a mess of my closet. What about you?”

“Well… uhm… I have a date with Taeyeon tonight so…”

“So you ditch me.” Yuri finished for her friend.

“Err… not like that… I…” Tiffany paused, thinking of a better word instead of ‘ditch’. That word was too harsh in some way.

Yuri let out a hearty laugh, “It’s okay, I kind of know that this would happen if you date your dream boat. Have fun on your date, Fany-ah. I’m totally fine.”

“I’ll help you choose your dress then.” Tiffany suddenly became so anxious in helping her friend and Yuri couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s enthusiasm.

&&&&&&

W Hotel – Reception Hall

“Yoona-sshi!!” Siwon called out and waved as he saw Yoona walking through the entrance.

Yoona walked toward Siwon’s spot and greeted him, “Siwon-sshi…” She said while tilting her head slightly as her greeting.

“Come with me, there’re some people I want you to meet.” Siwon said, signaling Yoona to follow him.

“Uhm… I…” Yoona hesitated, looking at the blonde standing next to her, feeling bad for leaving her friend alone when they just joined in the party less than a minute.

“I’ll find someone to talk to, don’t worry, go…” Jessica encouraged.

Yoona smiled and went with Siwon. Not long after their leave, a familiar voice from behind caught Jessica by surprise.

“As expected, you look beautiful tonight.”

Jessica whipped her head in that voice’s direction to make sure that this wasn’t her illusion. That girl just couldn’t be here in Korea.

“Hi…” Sooyoung grinned as she waved her hand to the girl who was staring at her as if she had grown another head. “Why…? So happy to see me that you’re speechless now?”

“Why are you here?” Was the first thing Jessica threw into Sooyoung’s face after a good five minutes staring at her.

Ouch. That definitely hurt. Was this what she got for working her off in LA just so she could end her business trip which was supposed to last for another week? Couldn’t Jessica welcome her in a warmer way? The latter’s ice was just too hard to melt sometimes.

“Why can’t I be here?” Sooyoung asked back.

“Well, yeah… you can… be here but what I meant is why are you… here, in Korea?”

“Uhm… my house is here… my family is here… my company is here so why is it so strange to you that I’m here?” Sooyoung replied, totally ignored the meaning of Jessica’s question.

Jessica gave up. She knew that even if she asked any other questions, Sooyoung would answer them in a roundabout way like this.

“I’m disappointed. Shouldn’t you give me a hug, a kiss or something to welcome me back?” Sooyoung held out her hands, waiting for a proper welcome from Jessica.

Jessica stayed still for a moment. Kissing was definitely not on the list but a friendly hug wouldn’t hurt anyone, right?

“Alright…” Jessica slowly went in for a hug and Sooyoung happily wrapped her arms around the petite blonde and held her tight. Once Jessica felt that their hug was long enough for a friendly welcome, she started to pull back. Too bad for her, Sooyoung didn’t feel the same. The tall girl tightened her grip around Jessica when she felt that the girl was thinking of pulling away. They hadn’t seen each other for almost a week, exactly 152 hours and 42 minutes which meant that this simple hug was obviously not enough for Sooyoung. She wanted to kiss the latter so bad to show how much she missed her, how she counted every second in LA just to be with her. But Sooyoung also knew that this hug was all that Jessica could offer at this moment that was why she gladly took it. Therefore, she would take her time to enjoy this hug to make it up for the intimate level she wanted.

“Yah…” Jessica used both of her hands to push the girl who was taking advantage of her friendliness away. However, all of her efforts were to no avail, the tall girl didn’t even budge one bit. Instead, the more she pushed Jessica found that she was being pulled even closer to her than before. Giving a sigh as she gave up again, Sooyoung was just too stubborn for her own good. She dropped both hands to her side and groaned quietly. There was absolutely nothing she could do right now except waiting for this stubborn fella to let go.

“Can you let go of me now?” Jessica said after they had been hugging, staying in that position for the past fifteen minutes.

Only now, Sooyoung finally decided to let go. “Sorry… I guess I just got carried away.”

Rolling her eyes, Jessica was pretty sure that Sooyoung did what she did on purpose.

“You know… I’m asking myself why do we have to stay in this crowed place.” Sooyoung her chin, thinking seriously.

Jessica widened her eyes. Not again… “Don’t tell me…”

“How about I’ll take you to somewhere have… more privacy?” Sooyoung grinned.

“No, that won’t do. I’m not going anywhere with you this time.” Jessica stated firmly.

“Really?” Sooyoung still had that smug on her face.

Jessica nodded, “Yes!”

“You know, in this party… most of family members are here. My father, my brother, some of my relatives and even my mother who rarely attends these kinds of occasion is also here.” Sooyoung said as she pointed her finger to the direction of each person she mentioned.

“So? What does that have to do with me?” Jessica scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. What was Sooyoung trying to say? This was an important event of STS, of course they would attend. There was nothing wrong about it, was it?

Sooyoung shook her head, “You don’t get it. See that stage over there?” She pointed at the stage where Yuri was giving her speech about STS’s new project.

Jessica nodded, still having no clue of what Sooyoung was doing.

“My family doesn’t know that I’m back in LA yet. And for the past two years, they have been endlessly telling me to start dating someone. Just imagine… what happen if I run over there, snatch the micro right from Yuri’s hand and then announce to everyone present here that I’m head over heels in love with a certain someone.”

Jessica was speechless. With someone? Of course Choi Sooyoung wouldn’t say something confusing like that but she would state out loud the name Jessica instead. And that announcement would be on the first page of all the newspaper in Korea considering the number of cameras in this room and the Choi reputation in Korea. “Don’t you dare…”

Sooyoung shrugged, “Well… since I have nothing to do here and you don’t want to go with me so…”

Jessica closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, “Where…?”

“Huh?”

“Where do you want to go this time?” Jessica’s forever sign of giving up.

A smile broke out across her face as Sooyoung pumped her fist up in the air. “Yes! Let’s go then…” She quickly grabbed Jessica’s wrist and dragged her away.

Jessica didn’t know what she was thinking. She knew she should’ve gotten mad at Sooyoung’s unusual way of ‘threatening’ her to go with her. But somehow, the way this girl expressed her excitement over a one small nod of Jessica was just too cute to get angry at. Probably it was a habit of her to reject Sooyoung at first. She always rejected even though she knew she would end up going with the latter later. Actually, that habit was like an excuse for her to stop her heart from screaming at her that the one she had a crush on, the one she was in love with was Im Yoona not Choi Sooyoung.

Suddenly, Sooyoung stopped in her track caught Jessica by surprise.

“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked.

Sooyoung raised the hand which was holding on to Jessica’s wrist up, “Ever since we met, I’m always the one dragging you away. Hopefully, one day… you’ll be the one doing that.” She said with a warm smile on her smile. Not waiting for Jessica’s response, Sooyoung quickly pulled her away again.

“Hopefully…” Jessica mumbled to herself before a very small smile crept up across her face. Right now, maybe a very small part of her also wanted that to happen.



…



Yuri cracked her neck from left to right as she was standing in one corner of the event. After giving her speech, there was really nothing left for her to do. Just when the thought of leaving early barely crossed her mind, someone’s hasty voice nearby caught her attention.

“Jessica-sshi? Has anyone seen Jessica-sshi?” A man in a suit asked those people standing nearby. Yuri could recognize him, he was one of Siwon’s assistants.

At the name of her sister was mentioned, Yuri quickly approached him and asked in a worried tone, “What’s wrong? Did something happen to her?”

“Ah, no… Mr. Choi asked me to find her because Yoona-sshi might need some help from her.”

“Yoona??”

&&&&&&

Reception Hall – VIP Section

Thanks to Siwon’s assistant, Yuri knew that Yoona was dead drunk and was lying in a couch in the VIP section. Without thinking much, Yuri quickly told the man that she could help and follow him here.

As soon as Yuri stepped into the room, she saw a figure lying on the couch with her cheeks flushed red and smelled like someone who hadn’t showered for days.

“Yuri-sshi…”

“What happened to her?” Yuri asked as she approached the couch.

“It was sort of my fault. Those managers I introduced to her kept offering her some wine even when everyone can easily see that she was quiet drunk already. Tsk, I didn’t know she was such a stubborn fella. Even though I’ve already told her that she can excuse herself from drinking but she just kept emptying one glass after another. It seems to me that she purposely got herself wasted like this.”

Yuri threw a worry look at Yoona who was pretty much in an unconscious condition right now. “So… what are we gonna do now?”

“I was going to look for Jessica-sshi whom I heard to be housemate so that she could drive her home. But now…”

The sound of the door flung opened made everyone in the room to look in that direction.

“Mr. Choi, we just heard that Ms. Choi is back in Korea.” An assistant of Siwon came in and broke the news.

“Sooyoung? Why didn’t she tell me?” Siwon questioned to no one in particular.

“Uhm… and we also heard that Jessica-sshi had left the event early with Ms. Choi.”

Siwon scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. When did his sister know Jessica? When did that shikshin gain interest in someone else rather than her family and her food? On the other hand, Yuri had a knowing smile on her face. The moment she heard the information which Sooyoung was back in Korea, she could easily figure out the reason why she couldn’t find Jessica anywhere in this event.

“Aishh… what do we do with her now?” Siwon asked aloud as he looked at the unconscious girl on the couch.

“Mr. Choi, you need to get out there soon. There are some guests who want to see you.” The assistant reminded him.

“I know but…” Siwon scratched his head. He just couldn’t leave Yoona alone here in this room. All of a sudden, he snapped his fingers as if he just thought of a brilliant idea. Siwon turned to Yuri, “Yuri-sshi… there’s only you who can help me now.”

“Me?” Yuri pointed at herself, surprised.

&&&&&&

W Hotel – Room 808

Yuri struggled to push the heavy body she had been carrying all the way from the ground floor to the eighth floor onto the mattress. She let out a long relieved breath the moment she could finally detach herseld from Yoona. Yuri couldn’t believe how heavy this girl was when she was drunk, her shoulder started to hurt because of supporting her weight for too long.

After removing Yoona’s shoes and making sure that Yoona was now enjoying her peaceful sleep, Yuri slowly pulled the blanket over the drunken girl. Till this point, she had successfully completed what Siwon asked her to do. Yuri could leave this room and go home now.

But she didn’t.

Instead, Yuri found herself running to the bathroom to get a towel and a basin of hot water. Running back to Yoona’s side, she quietly placed the basin on the nightstand nearby and then carefully dipped the towel into the water. Turning to Yoona, Yuri gently stuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and started to pat her face with the towel very lightly.

Yoona suddenly stirred awake caught Yuri off guard. The tanned girl stopped what she was doing, holding her breath as she saw Yoona briefly opened her eyes. The drunken girl lazily moved her head from left to right, trying to make out of her surroundings.

“Yu-yuri?” Yoona whispered.

“Uh… I…”

Not waiting for Yuri’s reply, Yoona placed a hand to cover her eyes as she whispered in a slurred voice, “This must be one of those dreams again.”

“Dr-dream?” Yuri repeated.

Yoona tiredly pushed herself up. She whipped her head to the right while her eyes were barely opened to look at Yuri and then suddenly placing a hand behind the latter’s neck. Yoona was about to do what she always did in those steamy dreams with Yuri. In her dream, she was sure that her Yuri wouldn’t reject her, her Yuri wouldn’t push her away.

“Yah… what are trying to do? Ya-”

Yoona silenced Yuri by crashing her lips against her. The hand behind Yuri’s neck slowly did its job, pulling the tanned girl closer to its owner. The other hand found its way around Yuri’s waist, both of Yoona’s hands were trying their best to lessen the gap between the two girls.

Yuri widened her eyes the moment she realized Yoona’s lips were pressed hard against hers. What exactly was Yoona doing? Did she just kiss Yuri whenever she wanted now? Don’t Yoona ever think that she could do whatever she wanted to Yuri just because she was drunk. “Mhmm…” That was all Yuri could make out as she tried to say something when Yoona’s lips never left her.

There was no way Yuri let Yoona kiss her this freely if the latter didn’t talk this through. Yuri used all of her strength to push Yoona away from her but she only managed to merely break the kiss between them and their faces were only a few centimeters away from each other.

Yoona chuckled softly when she found herself being pushed away, “You push me away? Now that’s new.” For the first time in her dream, her Yuri avoided her kiss. Honestly, Yoona didn’t mind some new details to her dreams. The only thing she cared about was Yuri would stay in her arms at the end. Her dream would be more interesting this way, anyway.

“What are you talking about?” Yuri really had no clue of what Yoona was saying. Was this what people always said about people being drunk? Talking nonsense?

Once again, without replying, Yoona pushed Yuri with force so that the girl would fell on the bed. Once she did, Yoona quickly got on top of her and pinned both of her arms over her head, slowly leaning in to kiss her again. Judging how fast Yoona was acting right now, it was kind of hard to believe that the girl was drunk almost like a dead body just a moment ago.

Right now, what Yuri was expecting was a hard, possessive and bruising kiss just like Yoona had done earlier and was preparing herself to push the latter away again. But no, their second kiss was nothing like that. Yoona slightly brushed her lips against Yuri’s before slowly applying pressure, tempting Yuri to join their heated kiss. Yoona’s hands was no longer pinned Yuri’s on the bed anymore. Instead, her right hand slowly caressed Yuri’s cheek while the other one was tracing down Yuri’s body line, waking up every sensible spot of her body. Yoona had always been like this. Her touch was so tender, so loving that Yuri would easily found herself enjoy it rather than finding a way to get away.

Who was Yuri trying to kid? Why did she try to get away from something she had always wanted? She knew she wanted this more than anything in this world. Yuri wanted feel her touch, her kisses so much to the point that she didn’t have to hear Yoona saying she loved her. What she needed from Yoona, what she really wanted would be this gentleness, tenderness, lovingness not those empty words would fade away in a snap of fingers.

Just when Yuri found herself completely lost in the kiss, Yoona pulled back. Both of them panting heavily as they looked in each other eyes. Yoona brought up a finger to trace along the bridge of Yuri’s nose down her lips and finally stopped at the tip of her chin.

“Yul…”

“Y-yes?”

“Stop me right now… if you don’t want this to happen because… I’m afraid that I won’t be able to stop anymore if you still let me kiss you this way.” Yoona said slowly. The drunkenness made her words came out very unclear.

Yoona just couldn’t be crueler than she was right now. She couldn’t stop herself and now she was asking Yuri to do that for her? Who did she think Yuri was to be able to stop what she couldn’t?

Yoona took Yuri’s silence as her way of agreeing to go with the flow of their feelings, as expected. But before Yoona could proceed what they were doing, she needed to hear something from the Yuri appeared only in her dream. The Kwon Yuri loved Im Yoona without any conditions.

“Yul… do you want me to stay away from you?” Yoona said. Her eyes were already welled up with tears as she finished the question. People always said that a person who was drunk was much more emotional when she was sober.

“St-stay away?” Yuri whispered in a surprised tone.

“Yes… stay away… I won’t ever see you again. Do you want that to happen?” One of Yoona’s hot tears landed on Yuri’s cheek. So hard to hold back the tears from falling when she had to look at Yuri face to face like this.

Smiling gently at Yoona, Yuri used her thump to wipe the tear on Yoona’s left cheek. Yuri didn’t want to think anymore. She didn’t even care if Yoona remembered what she said when they woke up in the morning or not. The only thing she cared about right now was comforting the one she loved, stopping her tears from falling.

“No…” Yuri whispered softly, “I don’t want you to stay away from me, Yoong. Kwon Yuri wants Im Yoona to stay in her life forever.”

“Yul… tell me… do you love me?” Only in her dream, Yoona wanted to be greedy. She wanted to hear her Yuri say everything she wanted. Everything she yearned to hear when she was awake.

“I… I…”

Maybe Yoona was asking too much even though this was just a dream.

“It’s okay… you don’t have to say it. Show me instead. Show me that you love me.” Yoona said.

Wait no more, Yuri wrapped her arms around Yoona’s neck and hastily pulled the girl in. Then, they did what only happened in Yoona’s dream. Only now, her dreams had become reality without her knowing.

TBC