A few days later, Yuri’s parents sat and waited for their visitor to arrive. This time, however, it wasn’t their daughter.

They bowed their heads in respect and apology to the man that had just sat down in front of them wearing a small smile.

Yena’s father could feel the resemblance immediately. Not just in looks, but in character as well. The way the two adults had their heads bowed with their hands clasped together, how he could feel the wave of apologies that were about to erupt. He smiled sadly thinking about how Yuri had done the same when they had first met, thinking and feeling nothing but guilt and shame. He guesses it ran in the family: the disregard for their own feelings and wellbeing, instead giving their hearts out to others.

Before they could say anything, however, he held up a hand to silence them.

“Nice to meet you--formally, at least.” He held out his hand and waited. It took a few heavy beats before Yuri’s father hesitantly grasped his hand and shook it lightly; his wife followed as well.

“How are you two? I’ve met your daughter; she’s absolutely wonderful. I’m beyond grateful that my daughter, Yena, has someone like Yuri in her life,” he said as he leaned forward with his hands clasped together on the table.

They weren’t sure what they were expecting. The one thing they were sure about was that the man before them had been through a lot of hardship because of them and their foolishness. When they received the call asking to meet, they immediately agreed despite their obvious nervousness. The guilt they had been feeling all this time was a lot to bear. Having him sit before them like this--there was so much to say.

But he didn’t allow them to even start to apologize.

After a stretch of surprised, confused silence, he continued.

“Your daughter reacted much the same as you did, you know. You’re very much alike in that manner. I’ll tell you the same sort of thing: please don’t apologize to me.”

“But-”

“Let’s be friends?” He offered with a grin.

To say Yuri’s parents were shocked would be an extreme understatement. Afterall, they had never actually spoken to the man that they had hit with their car. Although Yuri had told them all about Yena and a bit about her father, they still weren’t too sure what to expect. This was definitely not on the list of things they were prepared for. It was a little crazy, even.

“Friends?”

“Yeah,” he went on with a bright grin, “friends! I think we would make great friends, don’t you think?”

At that moment, everything started to sink in somehow. It made sense why it was Yena that Yuri spoke so highly and dearly of. It also made sense why Yena is the way that she is--her father was just as kind, just as sweet, just as forgiving. There was a reason Yuri was so drawn to that girl, and now, looking at one of the halves that made her, it seemed so clear.

“Yeah,” Yuri’s father spoke quietly, glancing at his smiling wife while taking her hand, “we’d like that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, that’s mine!” Yuri complained loudly while reaching for her ice cream.

“I want to try some!” Yuri’s brother screamed back while stretching his arm as far as it could go.

Yena rolled her eyes as she watched the two siblings bicker over ice cream. It reminded her of her own annoying brother and how she constantly wanted to beat him into the ground.

Out of love, of course.

Yuri hadn’t seen her younger brother in quite a while due to all the loan shark hassle going on. Yena had spoken to her dad about it a little bit, and before she could even say anything, he was already preparing to redirect funds to pay off their loans. He had to pull a few strings to get it all sorted out, but it worked. She knew the Jo family would flip out, but she much preferred this over anything else.

She was right: they did flip out.

Yena’s dad had told them that it was simply a favor between friends. Even so, they swore that they would treat everyone out to dinner once they were able. That, he agreed to happily.

After that, Yuri didn’t have to worry about endangering anyone anymore. In other words, she was free to see her brother again. After the teary embrace, she asked if he wanted to meet their parents.

Without letting her finish her sentence, he immediately replied yes.

And so, here they were after the reunion. They decided to celebrate with ice cream, but it was a little more chaotic than they had planned. It was a welcome surprise, though. Kind of.

Yena placed her elbow on the table, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. She watched the two fight, mumbling curses back and forth at each other. It brought an amused smile to her face.

“Hah!” Yuri exclaimed as she finally got a hold of her ice cream much to her brother’s dismay.

As she was going in for a , she noticed Yena staring at her.

“What?” She asked with a tilt of her head as she brought her tongue to the cold treat.

Yena watched Yuri get momentarily distracted by the treat, her lips as her eyes lit up.

“Wow! This is good!” She stated enthusiastically, being sure to stick out her tongue at her brother.

Yuri was happy. She was smiling and enjoying herself. She was with her family. She didn’t have to worry about loan sharks or sleazy men or money. At that moment, all she had to worry about was her ice cream and keeping it in her possession and out of her brother’s reach.

Yuri turned her attention back towards Yena, cocking her head again in question seeing as Yena hadn’t responded and instead kept staring at Yuri.

Yena met her eyes and just stared for a few moments.

Finally, she let out the softest, most loving smile.

“Nothing.”

Yuri happy, smiling, content, safe--

this was everything.

She needed nothing more.

Well, maybe one more thing, actually.