Yongsun pulls Byulyi away from the door and towards the bed, not letting the younger woman go. She looks at the glaring eyes of Byulyi and feels herself get angrier. She was supposed to be confessing her love for the younger woman. She expected reactions that scream how doubtful and suspicious Byulyi is of her feelings but not an outright rejection. “Why are you blocking me out? I’m telling you my feelings! You told me to make up my mind and now that I do, you’re suddenly saying you don’t want to hear it?”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Byul shouts at the older woman. “Do you honestly think you could have figured everything out within a single night? You’ve been adamant on staying away from me for months and then suddenly, when I get angry with you, you love me? I’m not a fool! What do you take me for?”

Yongsun grits her teeth and tightens her hold on Byulyi’s shoulder. “And what do you take me for? You confess to me suddenly without warning, expected me to be the same when it was impossible. I was tortured by the idea of hurting you by staying away but even more so when I want to but couldn’t reciprocate your love. I was suffering and at the same time hoping that you would still love me while I figure out my feelings. Yet there you were, saying sweet nothings at every pretty girl you meet. You touch them as if I never existed, as if your feelings for me never existed.”

“And what? Suddenly you love me? Discovered how you would not let anyone else have me?” Byulyi scoffs and tries to wiggle from Yongsun’s grasp.

“Yes!” Yongsun shouts that made the younger woman flinch. “Is there any other reason? If I accepted your confession at that time, we would have been together. You would have been mine! When I decided to confess to you, you acted as if you have set your eyes on another woman already! Am I that easily and quickly replaced?”

“But you knew that the moment you told me you didn’t feel the same way, you lost your chance,” Byul argues as she finally frees herself from Yongsun’s hold.

“Yes, I knew! But you said you still feel the same way when just minutes ago, you were letting Hyejin claim you right in front of me. You let her touch you, and look at you like you do when you look at me. Not only that, you reciprocate it!” Yongsun takes her hands off Byulyi to hold the bridge of her nose and the other, resting on her hip.

Byul groans, too tired to argue back. They just went back to their previous arguments and Yongsun’s jealousy. There will be no end to this. Yongsun is stubborn. The older woman wouldn’t leave the room until she makes Byulyi agree to what she was thinking. The only way Byul can escape this emotional hellhole is to leave and so she strides towards the door while Yongsun is busy, easing her headache. “I’m leaving,” she says as her hand goes for the doorknob. She was able to touch it, about to unlock the door when Yongsun snatched her hand away. She glares at the older woman. “What are you doing? You can’t keep me in here, unni-!”

Yongsun slams Byulyi against the door. She hears a groan from the younger woman but ignores it. She presses her body towards Byulyi’s and presses her lips against the latter’s. For a few seconds, she did nothing as shivers run up her spine. Then, Yongsun captures Byul’s lower lip, it gently. She feels Byul move her lips against hers, making Yongsun’s heart beat faster and her mind work slower. Instincts took over and Yongsun Byul’s lip before pushing her tongue inside the younger woman’s mouth. The next thing Yongsun feels is the stinging pain on her left cheek.

Byul, on the other hand, was supposed to just escape the repeating discussion of Yongsun’s jealousy but she gets whirled around and slammed against the door, groaning at how her back hit the hard wood. She feels Yongsun’s body press against hers, warming her own, and the older woman’s lips on hers. Byulyi felt all the air in her lungs out of her body. For a few seconds, all she can think about is how soft Yongsun’s lips were and how they smell of cherry, the older woman’s favorite chap stick. When her lower lip was captured and by Yongsun, Byulyi felt a pleasurable tingle on her lower abdomen. Instincts took over and the pursuit for something more swirled in her head. She kisses the older woman back and it felt good, too good that Byulyi lost herself for a moment. However, when Yongsun slipped her tongue inside , Byulyi was startled, woken from her reverie.

Suddenly, all the intense feelings came back, those that sprung forth from anger. She couldn’t stop herself when she raised her hand and slapped the older woman’s cheek. Byulyi realizes what happened and what she did. Her eyes go wide, a deep discomfort in her gut and an incessant beating in her head. The corners of her eyes brim with tears. Byulyi raises her arm over her lips and tries to rub off the feelings and traces of Yongsun’s chap stick that remained.

Yongsun’s heart ached with guilt. She didn’t intend to have Byul so distressed, upset, with what happened. She did force her feelings on the younger woman physically but there’s this certain patch of happiness blooming in her heart. Despite everything, the fight, the misunderstandings and the jealousy, Byul kissed her back. To Yongsun, it wasn’t a lapse of judgment on either of their parts. It felt so right that she couldn’t see Byul or her doing it with anyone else. “Byul,” she whispers as she pulls the younger woman’s arm off her lips. “I’m sorry.” She hugs Byul, wrapping her arms around the latter’s shoulders. Yongsun kisses the side of Byulyi’s head and rubs her back gently, trying to comfort the younger woman. “I’m so sorry.”

Byul whimpers and sobs silently, snugging her face against the crook of Yongsun’s neck. The older woman’s hand rubbing her back and the kisses at the side of her head calms her down after a few minutes. She pushes herself off and away from Yongsun’s tight hug. “I-It’s okay, unnie. I was just surprised. All my emotions just got mixed up.” She looks at Yongsun’s eyes and cups the mochi cheek she slapped. “Did it hurt?”

Yongsun smiles gently at Byulyi. She leans her cheek against the younger woman’s palm and places a hand on top of the latter’s. “It’s fine. It didn’t hurt at all. Besides, I did just kiss you without your permission. I deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t.” Byul looks away as she pulls her hand from Yongsun’s face. She lets it fall down at her side but Yongsun is still holding on to it, lacing their fingers together. “I kissed you back anyway.”

Yongsun giggles a little. “Yeah, you did. You tasted like mint and breakfast. Ah!” Yongsun laughs a little at Byulyi punching her shoulder. She used to be the one that does it and having Byulyi do it to her feels very familiar and heartwarming. She looks up shyly at Byul’s twinkling eyes and bites her lips before asking, “You kissed me back, Byul-ah. Is it safe to assume you still feel the same way?”

Byul chuckles. “You always doubt it, unnie. I love you – only you. I always have and I always will. Never forget it.”

“Then why-“

“I didn’t really confess to have you say you feel the same way. It was because the feelings were overbearing that I had to let it out. I admit it was selfish of me to say it so suddenly and when you rejected me, I couldn’t help but feel the disappointment knowing you didn’t feel the same way. It was painful to think that I could never be with the person I love. I’d think you could understand. But I had hope in our friendship and I was very happy when you said we could still be friends. However, you avoided me and ignored me, furthering the fear of losing you. For some months, I honestly thought I did and I could never put myself through it all again.” Byul explained herself for not listening to Yongsun’s confession. “I can’t keep my hopes up again.”

“I understand, Byul. I didn’t intend to make you feel those things. I hope you understand that too but it has been done. We can never do anything but to learn from it and move on. Please, move on with me, Byul-ah.” Yongsun rubs the pad of her thumb against Byulyi’s knuckles. “I can always promise that I’ll never hurt you but I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t want us to be trusting each other because of a promise but rather because we just do. What I do know is that I really do love you. Try being with me, Byul-ah.”

Byul snorts lightly. “You know I can’t say no to you.” She sees Yongsun’s expressions light up. “However, I have a condition.”

“What is it?” Yongsun raises a brow.

“You’ve been really mean to Hyejinie,” Byul starts and Yongsun already knows what the younger woman’s condition is.

“I’m not doing it,” Yongsun says her answer quickly. She knows Hyejin is just protecting Byulyi all this time but the youngest is doing such a good job that she can’t even stay within five meters of Byulyi.

“You just have to be nice to her like before! You guys were glaring at each other the whole time,” Byul chuckles.

“But Byul, Hyejin is a lioness! She will protect her-“

Yongsun was cut off once again with loud knocks on the door. It was getting louder each knock and Yongsun was starting to feel the patience slip away. Byul was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

“Unnie! Open up! It’s Wheeinie!” Wheein slams her fist, knuckles and palm alternately against the door at the rate of three knocks per second.

“If no one opens the door in ten seconds, I’m breaking it down!” Hyejin shouts from the other side of the room. “I’m serious!”

They all knew Hyejin is definitely serious. The youngest need not say it. So, Byul looks at Yongsun waiting for the latter to agree, as there really is no other choice. “Fine,” she hears the older woman say and Byulyi grins. “Great,” she exclaims and proceeds to peck Yongsun’s cheek before unlocking and opening the door. She looks at the worried pup and the angry lion and smiles at them. “We’re fine, you two. Stop looking like that.” Byulyi gives Wheein a peck on the cheek as well and proceeds to press a kiss on Hyejin’s forehead. “Let’s go back to the dining hall? It’s bad that we just left the food there. Come on. You too, Yongsun-unnie!”

Byul drags the two youngest members, playing and teasing the two, trying to lighten up the mood while Yongsun trudges behind, trying to contain the blush and the happiness that’s threatening to overflow out of her body. Byul agrees to be with Yongsun and the older woman is going to make sure this chance does not go to waste. Unfortunately, Yongsun would have to still go through the protective Hyejinie, who is currently vying for Byul’s attention just as she is – and this is just breakfast. There’s still the rest of the day to go.

Although Mamamoo’s event in Brazil is over, they all stayed for a few days more. With careful selection of time and places to see, along with the right inconspicuous outfits, the members were able to go out and sightsee. One would think that since they are artists, public figures, that they would try their best to be almost invisible but no. Yongsun and Hyejin keep on trying to compete for Byul’s attention. They would point to the simplest things and try to strike a conversation about the weirdest topics with the main rapper.

Wheein was getting frustrated