Chapter 26

Hurt

Eunbi drove Sakura to the park that they always went, the Han River park. They just had a pleasant dinner at one of Sakura’s favourite restaurant, and then Eunbi suggested that they went for a walk.

Sakura held tight to Eunbi's hand as they walk through the park. There were not many people at the park that night. The younger waited for the thing that Eunbi wanted to talk about earlier, but she hasn’t said anything for now. She wished they won’t have that talk after all. She has a bad feeling about it.

They walked until they reached the riverbank. Suddenly, Eunbi loosened her grip on Sakura's hand and let her go. But, Sakura quickly grabbed her hand again. Eunbi turned to look at her girlfriend, surprised.

Sakura smiled, "No. I don't want to let you go."

"I feel like you will leave me if I let go of your hand,” she added.

Eunbi smiled weakly and looked away. The younger girl kept staring at her girlfriend, knowing that there must be something that bothering her. She is not her usual self. The older girl let out a deep sigh before she looked up and meet her gaze again. She looked into her eyes for a while without saying anything. Her gaze filled with sadness and she tried to mask it with her stern expression.

"Kkura-ya, you have to let go of my hand," Eunbi said, soft.

Sakura held her breath. She knew that the latter was not just taking about the hand that she was holding.

"No. I won't let go," she said.

Eunbi sighed, "You have to."

Sakura shook her head vigorously, “N-No.”

"We both know where this relationship is going," Eunbi said.

"Eun, you promised."

"You promised me forever," Sakura added.

She continued to look at her, as her eyes begin to fill with tears.

"I-I'm sorry, there’s nothing I can do," Eunbi replied, slow.

Eunbi bit her lip to hold back her tears, "You must understand. I don't want to make you choose."

Sakura shook her head, "I made my choice. I choose you."

"Baby, you can't do this to your family. You can’t just abandon them for me."

Sakura scoffed, "Then you can't just do this to me!"

Eunbi could not hold back her emotions anymore. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Eun, you love me. We love each other," Sakura said.

"I'm not going to let you go," Sakura added.

Eunbi was sobbing but she tried to stay strong, "L-Let's just go back to before we met. Things were simpler back then. You had life all planned out and… I ruined everything.

The younger girl scoffed, "What?”

"Eun, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. You can't just come into my life and then walk away!"

Eunbi looked away, "I'm sorry."

"I'm really sorry, baby."

Sakura breath hitches and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Y-You really want to break up with me?! You’ve made up your mind?! There’s no other way?! You’re just giving up like this?! You-

She paused when Eunbi suddenly reached for her face and gently caressed her cheek. They both looked into each other’s eyes, communicating without words. They were both broken inside.

Eunbi leaned closer towards Sakura’s face, and so does the latter. They met halfway, pressing their lips together, giving it all for that one kiss.

It felt like it was their last kiss. Maybe it was.

Eunbi pulled away from the kiss and put their foreheads together.

"I-I really love you, Eun," Sakura said, sobbing.

“Kkura, I love you and-

She paused.

"I'm sorry."


**

 

Sakura could not focus at work. She cannot help but shed tears at times, especially when Eunbi was there in the same office as hers, but she no longer treats her the same way anymore. It was heartbreaking and she couldn’t bare it; she felt that it was so unfair for her to be dumped by the older girl. Eunbi should have talked it with her instead of making the choice for her.

While she understands that, she did it for her sake; but still, this isn’t the way she wanted it to be.

"Saku-chan, are you okay?" Hyewon asked, concerned.

She came to her friend’s desk and put an arm around her shoulder. She came to comfort her, but her question only made Sakura cries harder. Hyewon panicked, she kneeled down and put both her hands on her friend’s knees, leaning closer to look at her face.

“Saku-chan, what happened? Did you fought with Eunbi? Or is it Kenta again?” she asked, worried.

Yena was about to go to Sakura when she saw someone entered the office.

“Minju? Hey, what brings you here?” she asked.

Hyewon raised an eyebrow, “The pretty kid?”

Sakura looked up and saw her cousin, “M-Minju? What are you doing here?”

The tall girl ignored them and walked straight towards Eunbi’s office. She pushed the door open and entered the office without even knocking. Eunbi was sitting at her desk when Minju came barging in. She was startled with her appearance and she stood up. She wiped the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hands. Minju noticed that her eyes were red. She had been crying too.

"Eunbi unnie, what did you do to my cousin?" she asked.

"Minju-ya."

"What did you do to her? She was crying nonstop since last night, and when I asked her, she didn’t want to tell me. It must be something to do with you.”

"Now we're back to the way we were,” Eunbi replied.

"What does that mean?"

"I broke up with her."

Minju looked at Eunbi, gasping.

"Y-You what?!"

Eunbi sighed, "What else do you expect me to do? I can't let her leave her family just to be with me!!"

The college girl scoffed, "So? You're going to let her marry that bastard, Kenta?!"

Eunbi bit her lip, “No.”

"So you're letting her go? Just like that?"

"I thought you really love her," Minju said, gritting her teeth.

Eunbi gasped, "I really do love her!"

"So fight for it!" Minju retorted.

"You want me to steal her away? Elope with her? You really want me to kill your uncle?" Eunbi asked back.

Minju gulped, “T-There must be another way.”

"I just don't want to hurt Sakura anymore…" Eunbi said with tears rolling down her face.

Minju looked at the older girl, she no longer the classy upper class woman, just a girl with a broken heart. She was sobbing hard, burying her face in her hands. She realized that Eunbi was hurting just as much as Sakura. Her heart was wrenching in pain seeing the two people in love suffering because they could not be with each other.

She knows how it feels.

“There must be another way,” she muttered to herself.

**
 

Kwon Yujin stood outside the bedroom door of her sister, and even though the door was closed shut, she could still hear her crying inside. She leaned her back against the door, thinking. Even though she called her sister stupid on daily basis, she truly cares about her. Seeing her in pain was a torture to her too. Her sister had given up; she had broken up with the girl she loves with all her heart, just so that the latter did not have to choose.

But for Yujin,