Chapter X - First of Many, Mistakes

I’ve gone over those 12 hours a hundred million times in my head, trying to see if I had missed my chance. But it probably surfaced as I watched someone else smiling that weird smile I’ve learned to enjoy.

Sorry.

It was nothing personal.

I just am who I am.

Because as Yuna seemed pleased with herself and walked towards me to the dining table, I ignored everything around us. Just like every single moment we've had together. And I mean, how could I not with a declaration like that?

It was awkward.

It was cool.

It was… her.

It was very much her.

I've only just met this girl and I can confidently make that claim with the utmost certainty. Or at the very least, within a decent margin of error.

And thus…

“Say ‘Ah~!’.”

...we found ourselves in this compromising position.

“Ah~!”

I would say that I’m not one for public displays of affection. But let’s face it. We all know by this point that would be a lie.

Yuna had spent some of the morning asking SinB all sorts of questions about me.

Interests.

Dislikes.

Favorite foods.

Ways to incapacitate me if I get too touchy.

Okay, that last one was SinB being a bit passive aggressive but I was surprised she wasn’t wrong. Or maybe I shouldn’t be?

One day.

One day, SinB will be the death of me and I’d like to think I would shake her hand then. It makes me so proud.

“Is it good?” Yuna asked me, withdrawing the utensil she was using to feed me from my mouth. “More?”

“Mmmhmmm~!” I hummed, the sound dripping with aegyo.

I had forgotten that back in high school, I used to make SinB feed me food every once in a while.  It was partly due to the fact that I needed to eat something while I played games. However, that meant I had to stop using my hands so I had SinB feed me as she watched. The other reason, which eventually made SinB stop doing it when she found out, was because I just wanted to see if she’d actually do it.

All in all, it lasted for a good month or so. She even did it during lunch times at school. A very successful experiment if I do say so myself.

During their conversation, SinB let it slip that she used to do it and… Well, the results speak for themselves.

“Oh god, you’re going to be one of those couples, aren’t you?” lamented SinB. “All affectionate and crap.”

“What? I think it’s cute!” responded Umji.

“Do- Do you?”

“Sure~! It seems nice.”

“Oh…”

I eyed the young couple, watching the gears in SinB’s head turn and turn as it filled up with thoughts. That brought a smile to my face.

How cute.

“Here~!” Yuna called, regaining my attention.

A perfectly cut square of a pancake, dripping with syrup.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked worriedly.

“...?”

In the process of feeding me, I had just realized that she had completely foregone eating herself. All of the food on her plate was for my consumption and mine alone.

“Here, silly~!”  I lightly grabbed her hand, pushing the fork to my mouth as I kissed the spongy pancake. I then turned it around to face . As I did, I rubbed the back of her hand. Slowly making circles in her soft skin.“Now eat~! Say ‘Ah~!’.”

Yuna looked at me, quite surprised by the turn around. And with a quick and playful snatch, the gooey breakfast item found itself in .

“You’ve always have a way to surprise me, unnie.”

“There's a lot more where that came from.”

“Lucky for you, I enjoy it. Not to mention I find that it tastes sweeter from your kiss.”

Trading blows like this infront of the others... Yeah. We are awful. And that's what made it fun. 

“Good.” I winked at her. “It means your getting addicted to the taste of me.”

“Unnie!” Yuna and SinB exclaimed at the same time.

One out of embarrassment, the other out of disgust. You can imagine which came from which.

“Hehe~!” I decided to return the favor and started cutting up pieces of bacon on her plate, selecting to feed it to her. “No worries, my dear. It’s a two way street. Just sing for me like you did this morning and all will be fair.”

Klang-kli-klang!

Funnily enough, or sadly depending on your point of view, I had completely forgotten that Sowon was still here. Since sitting down, she had been quietly eating and… observing? She wasn't very subtle about it. Especially as she bumped into the edge of the dining table and dropped her fork.

“Oh, you okay?” I asked her. “Let me grab you another one.”

“N-no! It's fine.”

“Meh, you cooked. I'll get this at least.” I got up, patting Yuna on the shoulder as I did. “Be right back~!”

Round her I went, my fingers tracing her clavicle and neck. Skin smooth and soft to the touch. I enjoyed how squishy it was.

That may have been why I kissed her then.

Or simply because I get to.

Just a small peck on the cheek.

To feel that wonderful skin against my lips.

A devious smile grew in her face and as I was just about to be out of reach, she pulled me in.

Right into her arms.

She returned the favor that made my chest erupt.

“Oh!?”

A small voice squeaked behind us. Surprised, Yuna and I turned around finding Eunbi standing at the foot of the stairs, a bit groggy though seemingly awake now.

“Oh! He-!”

“Good morning, sleepy head!” I was cut off as Sowon suddenly got up and walked over to the smaller girl, caressing the back of her head. “I guess you finally decided to wake up.”

Hmm. I guess despite her sleeping down stairs, Sowon was still pursuing Eunbi? Well, I guess all my effort wasn't in vain.

“Hey~!” Yuna waved to the smaller girl. “You should come and eat, the food is really good. Right, unnie?”

Taking the moment of distraction to get myself out of Yuna's grip, I got up to grab another fork for Sowon as well as tableware for Eunbi.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said, placing Eunbi’s plate and utensils in the seat between Sowon and Yuna. “Here you go.”

“Oh… Thanks,” Eunbi nodded her head and took her seat.

Yuna nodded another smile at the girl before turning her attention my direction as I retook my seat.

“So, did you want to do anything today?” Yuna asked me as she cut up more of the food on her plate. I took it without a second thought. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out later?”

“Mmm,” I hummed as I chewed. “Yeah~! Sounds like a plan!”

I fished my phone out of my pocket and searched up for places we could go to nearby.

“Oh wait… I have a car now.” I said to myself, realizing that my search could expand further out. “Ah, but you’d probably want to head home first and change?”

Yuna looked down at the clothes she was wearing, my nightgown that I had lent her. Behind her, I saw Eunbi doing the same, looking up and down at her best friend.

“Ah, I should probably return this… But yeah, you're right. If it's our first date, I should probably wear something nice. It will be like in the movies or something!”

“I'm good, but I'm not that good.”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something.”

“Date…?” a small voice said slowly.

Eunbi looked at us confused.

“Oh right!” Yuna grabbed Eunbi's hands and spoke excitedly. “You missed it!”

“Missed what?”

“Yerin unnie and I started dating~! Or wait!” Yuna turned back to me. “You didn’t actually say ‘yes’ did you?”

“My dear. After last night, do you honestly think I’d say ‘No’?” I smiled and wrapped my arms around Yuna’s shoulders, my body pressed against her back before addressing the small girl in the room. “I hope we could get along, Eunbi. I… care… about Yuna a lot. So, I’d like us, you and me, to be friends as well. Is that okay?”

As soon a words left my lips, I realized it was over.

Before I could stop myself…

Before I could change direction…

It was already too late for me to go back.

.

. . . .

The look on her face punched me the gut and I regretted it entirely.

It was the first time I looked at her today. And I mean really look at her.

Oh ...

Yuna...

I didn’t know.

I never saw it coming.

“Oh my gosh, yes!” Eunbi smiled animatedly and, in a moment of exuberance, gave us both a hug. “I- I’m happy for you two.”

As she leaned away, I did the same and quickly shot Sowon a look.

Her eyes were furrowed, though not out of anger.

She was worried.

Of me.

Of Yuna.

And, especially of Eunbi.

That meant she knew.

So I mouthed to her a single word as our eyes met.

“Garbage?” Sowon said out loud.

Facepalm. Not literally but if only. Sigh. Nevermind. I can fix this.

“Oh, want me to show you where we put our trash and recycling?” I answered, giving her a knowing smile.

“Ah! Yeah!” The true meaning finally clicked in Sowon’s head. “I wanted to throw out all the trash after cooking but didn't know where to look.”

“Sure! Be back later, yeah?”

Yuna beamed at me while Eunbi nodded as they continued to talk amongst themselves.

I got up and started to lead Sowon outside to the front yard. She followed behind, grabbing the trash bag from the kitchen on her way out.

But as we got out there, I didn't know how to start. Sowon didn't either.

“Unnie, I…” I stopped myself unsure how to approach this.

Sowon tossed the trash bag into the bin and stood beside me, her arms crossed.

“I know… but you're smart. So, I knew you’d figure it out eventually.”

“Y-yeah…”

I leaned against my car, starting to process all that had happened in that moment. But as I did, the only thought that came to me was that I needed to figure a way out of this.

A way to fix this.

But…

I mean, can you honestly say that you’ve lived your life completely free of regret?

Are you so perfect that nothing you do is a mistake?

Have you really never failed?

No. Of course not! Such things only exist in video games or made up fantasies.

In other words…

It's impossible.

When you get right down to it, human beings are too faulty to even come close achieving perfection.

We all make mistakes. No one is perfect.

So let me ask…

Have you ever made a mistake so paramount, so gut wrenching, that you would do anything to take it all back? To reverse time and alter the course of history so that you ended up victor? Or better yet, unscathed?

What if it was for someone you cared about?

To hold them in your arms again…

To say things left unsaid…

To never leave them behind…

It shouldn't take much for your mind to come up with examples so I'm sure you can relate.

I, for one, am pretty sure I'd be one of those types who would go for it no questions asked.

Life is a straight path with no way to turn around. Sure there are off roads and intersections, but you could never go back to the place you came from.

That's why so many people can’t imagine a world where life is like a video game.

There is no reset button to press when you make a mistake.

When you fail.

When your character dies.

You just respawn with the result of your choices erased and the knowledge of what can happen moving forward.

I don't like making waves if I could help it. It only brings problems and it can get super annoying. I don't mind if it screws me over.

But only me.

No one else needs to deal with my idiocy.

Maybe that's what friendship is.

And thus I add another one to the list…

A list of mistakes I now have to live with...

“How long have you known…?” I asked slowly. I couldn't bring myself to complete the question fully, hoping that it would be good enough.

The words hung in the air and then evaporated as Sowon didn't responded.

All she did was continue to look aimlessly at the bushes and flowers that surrounded my house. She was pretending not to hear me, even though it was obvious she knew what I was getting at.

“How long have you known?”

I repeated it again, this time my voice more forceful. I could hear a short inhale of breath and it tore me up to witness it.

“Sorry, Sowon…”

“No…” Her face was sullen but brave. A tear dropped as she tried to give me a smile. “Don't be.”

But I have to ask this if I'm going to fix this...

“How long have you known... that Eunbi was in love with Yuna?”

Author's Note: Man, that was another rough one to write. I dreaded writing this chapter but it had to happen... *he says mournfully as he wears a smile on his face* I'm truly evil. I know. 

This is a huge departure from the original story so I'm excited to see where this goes. The next couple of posts will be 2 DLC chapters centered around the other girls (UmB and WonHa) but before I got to them, I had to show... well... this reveal.  I've had a bunch of random requests for it so I hope I can deliever. 

And I used it. I finally used THAT word... and for a different pairing. Lol. Of course, this now begs the question... I wonder how Eunbi would feel if she found out Yuna sang THAT song song to Yerin? 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed yourselves. And have good memories and nightmares.