Cherry Lollipop

7. A Cherry Blossom and a Rose

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(A/N: Yes...the word count is scary. This is a loooooong chapter so I suggest y'all have some free time handy or read it in bits. I rewrote this chapter 5 times btw.....5 times. It was nearly complete in late December(check the date) but after re-reading it several times, I had to change lots of things here and there which is why it took so long, that alongside my carpal tunnel syndrome problem. I'm still not 100% satisfied with the chapter but I hope I wrote it well enough for ya'll to enjoy. Oh yeah, BLOOM*IZ is freakin' amazing.)

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"Kang Hyewon.....I Love You."

Silence filled the room as Hyewon's face from Sakura's rather sudden confession. She placed her hand on her chest and tighten them into a fist as her gaze solidified into steel. "From the bottom of my heart…..I truly feel that way."

Hyewon wanted to speak but all the thoughts that she had before were overthrown by those 3 words like a siege that currently took ahold of her mind.

She saw slight movement from Hyewon but she raised her palm towards Hyewon to tell her that she wasn't finished yet.

".....I know…..I know. Why would I say this when we are about to start talking about the last 4 years apart? I mean wouldn’t it be better to leave this at the end?”

Sakura’s eyes grew sad but never wavered from Hyewon’s as she lowered her head slightly. As she drew closer to Hyewon, she stopped in front of her and gently cupped her face with both hands, eyes beaming with adoration for the lovely woman.

“It’s simple: I just can’t hide the fact that I am an idiot who tried to disguise something so beautiful right in front of me…..that is, the love that the two of us share. I’ve let you kiss me since the start of the date because why should I deny an action that obviously shows that you care about me?” Her tone was soft which almost melted the young woman as she swiped a few strands of loose bangs away from her face. Hyewon felt happy for that moment but saw Sakura’s brows curved upward as a sad expression clouded the latter’s face as she removed her hands.

Turning around again, she slinked towards a small table toward the left of the TV stand in front, picking up a framed picture that sat there besides a few magazines. Unbeknownst to Hyewon, it was a picture of them together from one of their dates long ago. As Sakura stared at it, turned downward into a slight frown as she began to talk again.

“But...are we really meant to be Hyewon?”

Just one sentence and uneasiness already started to set in as Hyewon continued watching Sakura’s back, unable to see her face. As it was nighttime, the room was only lit by the lamp that Sakura was in front of, casting a large shadow against the room and making it hard for Hyewon to see her clearly.

“I always wondered about that when we were together…..many times.” she continued.

A wrinkle crowned Hyewon’s forehead as she started to get worried where this was going. She straightened her back like a new pencil, keeping a laser like focus on the back of the woman’s actions in front of her.

“I just never said anything because you brought me happiness and I honestly love you for that……….but..."

She placed the picture frame down and turned around to face Hyewon again as a worried expression marred her face, hidden in the shadows that echoed in the room.

"…...did I change your future for the worse?” she whispered, barely audible to even a bat’s ear from how quiet it was.

“......what do you mean Sakura?” Hyewon grew more worried as she continued holding Sakura in her hawk-like gaze.

“I mean that you could've been something entirely different if it weren't for me.”

"......what makes you say that? I’m fine where I’m a-"

“Are you really?” Sakura cut abruptly.

Yep, this was serious. Whenever they had small disputes in the past, Sakura had a habit of cutting in to make sure the other person was true to their word. Hyewon could feel the tension rise in the air as it simmered in the room like the desert air.

“.........yes….of course.”

The silence afterwards felt a bit unbearable as they stared at each other from where they were, questioning themselves in their minds on how to go about this.

“I….......I....I just want you to be happy Hyewon.” she stuttered out quietly.

The younger woman wretched her gaze down for a moment, breaking their eye contact.

“But I am happy…”.

She slowly pushed herself off of the couch she sat and slowly inched towards Sakura, stopping a meter from her before reaching out to grab both of her hands.

“....but I’d be happier if I was with you…..”

Sakura looked at their hands together and the edges of curved slightly at the sight. Hyewon’s larger hands always filled hers with warmth and they would always find their way into Sakura’s one way or another. And while Sakura felt happy holding them at the moment, she also felt a tinge of sadness.

"Hyewon…..”

“....yes?”

She looked back up at the woman in front of her with an indifferent expression on her face. 

“You-.....you..….your father…." her voice struggled a bit saying the last word. Hyewon instantly felt her heart drop at the mention, not wanting to hear about him in any way.

"He came to my office the day before you did…….unexpectedly."

Memories from that day instantly came up in Hyewon's mind as her face instantly grew worried since she didn’t know he made contact with Sakura at all. Her father called her that day about meeting up to talk about family business but she didn’t want anything to do with him. To know that he actually visited Sakura took her mind to dark depths considering their past interactions with each other.

She swallowed her fear, letting words slip through her lips on wanting to know what happened. ".......how did he know you worked there?"

Sakura let go of their hands, she turned to where the desk was and rummaged through the magazine pile and found what she was looking for. She picked it up and showed it to Hyewon to see, causing her eyes to instantly light up.

"He saw me on the cover of this business magazine and most likely read the article about me and where I worked."

Hyewon traced the outline of Sakura’s picture with her finger and smiled as Sakura watched her actions.

"I know of it….and bought 2 copies and framed 1 of them. I wanted to say this when we met for the first time a few days ago but things happened of course but I’m really proud of you…..you know?" Hyewon admitted, trying to bring a bit of positivity in their conversation.

The statement caused Sakura to give a flicker of a smile that appeared briefly but she kept her composure. But even still, she felt really happy that Hyewon bought the magazine and nodded to acknowledge her as thanks.

She began biting her lower lip as she remembered Hyewon’s father's visit and let out a small sigh to release her growing anxiety. "Well, since it’s your father, I’m sure you probably know what probably went down in my office then….huh? It’s probably exactly what you thought happened.”

Of course Hyewon knew…..their meetings always left a hole in her heart whenever the two got together. Flashbacks in Hyewon’s brain soon overtook her thoughts as she remembered how her father never liked Sakura as her friend whenever he came to Japan. They weren’t together yet at the time but her father questioned their friendship since he viewed Sakura as lower class because of how she barely made it into the private high school. Even when Sakura tried her best to get on her father’s good side, it always ended in insults that resulted in Hyewon consoling Sakura in her arms after he left. There wasn’t a single moment where Sakura actually had a positive moment with the man...not even once.

Hyewon was broken out of her thoughts when she heard Sakura speak again.

“He became angry because of my success and started to insult me as usual...saying how I became so successful…..I, being a lowly dog, was able to be on the cover of a business magazine. I just took his insult as usual of course and it hurt like always…...but when he talked about you, I actually argued back for the first time.” she informed reflectively.

“.......I surprised myself since I actually yelled at him…..can you believe it?” She looked up to Hyewon again. “.....but I only did so since I finally knew the reason why you disappeared….."

Hyewon's blood chilled slightly as the hair on the back of her neck stood up, not expecting Sakura to find out the reason since she was gonna tell her in this conversation later.

“You were dragged back to Korea because he found out about our secret ‘forbidden’ relationship right? Of course ....considering that both our countries still look down upon that kind of relationship….and you being a daughter of a rich businessman.” Sakura put the magazine down, turning away from Hyewon as she already knew in her heart that it was the reason. Her eyes drifted back to the picture frame of them together, feeling teary eyed that society still had a hard time accepting couples such as them. As she tried to grab the picture, she felt a hand interlocked her own as Hyewon pulled her in from behind and hugged her tightly, planting her head on Sakura’s bare shoulder.

“I’m sorry Sakura…...” Hyewon stated, surprising herself a bit by how much she missed this position and the warmth of it. She finally saw the picture herself and despite her sadness, she smiled briefly as she studied it and remembered when it was taken: At Fuji Q Highlands.

Being so close to her, she can smell the scent of vanilla and jasmine filling her nose and relaxing her slightly nervous state but a sudden movement later, she felt Sakura’s body moving so she let go. Unexpectedly, Sakura turned around, opened her arms and returned the hug forcefully, melting herself with Hyewon as they stayed in that position for the next dozen of seconds. They both felt nervousness in their bodies but the nostalgic sensation of their hug help calmed them for the upcoming discussion.

Hyewon nuzzled into Sakura’s hair and whispered closely to her ear. “......so please, let’s sit down so I can tell you what happened these past 4 years….okay?”

She could feel Sakura nodding so she let go of her but not before planting a small kiss on the latter’s cheek, surprising her for a mere moment. Though it was small, Sakura smiled at the gesture as it left a fluttering feeling on her cheek.

She patted the younger woman’s cheek. “I’ll get a chair….go ahead and sit on the couch.”

Hyewon obeyed and headed back towards the couch, seeing something on there that she didn’t notice before: Sakura’s favorite pink stuff cat pillow she nicknamed ‘NyanNyan’ that Sakura always used to hug back in the day. She quickly grabbed it and hugged it as she sat down.

‘She still has NyanNyan huh? How adorable...’

Sakura brought a chair from a nearby desk as she placed it directly in front of Hyewon. As she sat down and made herself comfortable, she crossed her legs and clasped her hands in front of her, now ready to talk as she sat straight up in the chair. Her eyes landed on NyanNyan as Hyewon was holding and it felt nostalgic seeing them together after so long.  She closed her eyes for a bit and finally looked up to see Hyewon gazing at her with a wan smile.

Sakura began. “Okay Hyewon…...so what exactly happened 4 years ago?”

The younger woman began hugging NyanNyan as she began to reminisce about the past. “Do you remember our trip to the top of Mount Takao?”

A faint smile appeared on Sakura’s face yet a hint of sadness was shown in her eyes.

“Of course……..it was the last day I saw you before you disappeared.”

Knowing that, Hyewon felt a pang hit her heart with sadness. As cozy memories filled her mind, she always wondered what could’ve been their future if they were never separated and how far their relationship would they've gone by this time. That time has passed and nothing could ever change it so this was her only chance to do that. 

“Well…..”

A frown grew on her face as her mind became clouded with memories that held her sadness.

“My father…..you know how he is….”

Both of them lowered their gazes on each other as a certain man filled their mind.

“Yeah ...even in the handful of times that I met him, besides the insults, he always seemed strict.” Sakura whispered.

“He was never like that before, at least not before my mother…...passed.” Hyewon stretched the last word as it strained against . She told Sakura before but it was just that and no other details. She then let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding as her shoulders slumped a little.

“But because of that, something about him changed that made him lose his mind in a way…….it was his happiness of course..”

A pained smile crept her lips as she continued.

“Both my parents were successful in their own careers and while my father was the go-getter ambitious type, my mother was the type who planned everything articulately till everything was perfect. Together as a team, they would tell me all the rights and wrongs of what I should do in the future….but still, a hatchling needs to learn how to fly on their own when the time comes right?” she looked up to Sakura who was still looking down but she saw her nod to agree.

“I think my mother was just adamant on me doing the best I could for myself. She’ll say stuff like ‘I’ll lead you for right now so you can lead yourself in the future. Just know that leading also means that you’re advancing yourself without knowing what lies ahead, be it bumps or holes. That’s life.’

She leaned back on the sofa a bit, hugging NyanNyan in a bear-like grip as she continued her story.

“I’d listen to her attentively at times while blanking out others. You know how it was being a teenager…...being full of wonder and just doing what we wanted because we wanted to be free...and the never ending angst.” She clicked her tongue in annoyance to get rid of the bitterness she tasted just now. “I only wished I had listened to her a bit more before she left…..”

She leaned all the way back to stare at the ceiling itself, shaking her head her and there as memories keep popping up in her mind. Sakura finally lifted her head and glanced at Hyewon, who’s eyes darted back and forth at various places on the ceiling.

“Unfortunately, when my mother became ill, everything just seemed to fall apart. My father did everything he could to try and keep her healthy but nothing seemed to work...and that’s when my mother accepted her fate. It’s the first time I saw my father feel defeated…..even with all the money my family had, what’s money going to do if nothing works?” she shrugged in a solemn huff.

“The days towards her fate fell like leaves from Autumn ...slowly but surely….we all stayed until the end of course. But before she passed, she left me with words that made me continue on.” Hyewon tilted her head and leaned forward as she stared back at the woman watching her, a smile warming her lips.

‘There’s always someone in the world who’ll need you one day ...someone special that’ll do the same for you in due time. If you’ll ever find them, make that one day into a hundred. A thousand. A lifetime. You’ll become their world and they’ll be yours…....’

Silence.

It felt like eternity in their heads but their eyes never parted with each other nor blinked as time passed in the room. Hyewon could see a faint expression of regret in Sakura’s eyes as she finally looked down away from her. She wiped the corners of it and kept her gaze lowered as Hyewon continued her story while still keeping her eyes on Sakura.

“At first, I thought she just meant how well she and my father worked...how perfect a team they were. My dumb teenage brain didn’t get the deeper meaning of it until later on but I’ve always had that sentence in my mind. She passed away shortly in the Winter time....”

It was her turn to lower her head as the memories came back like they were fresh again. She felt a pinch in her chest since she never spoke about her mother’s death before to anyone...not even her brother. She felt her breath start to stutter in her lungs from trying to keep from crying but stopped when a hand reached out to her own. Another hand wiped off both of her eyes where tears were about to form as she finally looked up and was greeted with a warm smile.

“Thank you.” she sniffled out gently, nodding to her as a small thanks.

“You can take a break if you want to…...” Sakura suggested.

“No it’s okay...I need to tell you everything.”

Sakura patted her hand softly to comfort her. “Are you sure? We can relax for a moment....”

Hyewon firmly shook her head from side to side, wiping the remaining tears away as she gathered her thoughts again.

“I want to get this over with so we can move on from this stress and sadness of 4 years.” she insisted as her voice went back to what it once was.

Sakura understood…..she understood fully.

She slapped both her cheeks before she continued. “It was during this time that my father became a slave for business...for success. He wanted me to be the heir to his business but I never wanted or cared about it. If anything, I wanted my brother to have it since he took more interest in it than I did anyway...” she shrugged with a small raise of her shoulders.

“That was why I came here to Japan all those years ago ...to get away from his pride that blinded him as time went on. I mean he was so obsessed with money afterwards that he wanted me to marry into a business partnership with this man. This was after we were already together ....”

Sakura took a worried interest in the topic as she questioned it. “He wanted an arranged business marriage? You never told me that.”

“That was because I was never interested in it in the first place. Either way, I kept saying no because I didn’t want to marry anyone for money but he kept pressing me on why I didn’t.”

“Until it finally happened…...”

The words loudly rang through her head like cymbals clashing against each other as Sakura’s eyes widened from the sentence. She didn’t know she jumped out of the chair until she noticed she was looking down at the woman in front of her with wide eyes of her own.

“...did......did you get married?!”

There was silence at first but Hyewon’s widened eyes grew into smiles as a smug grin took over Hyewon’s lips, knowing that she managed to scare Sakura a bit.

“God no! Not that I would’ve accepted anyway….”

Sakura fell back to her chair and face palmed so hard that her hand almost went through her head.

“Jesus Hyewon, phrasing is important you know?! Don’t ing scare me like that!!” she groaned loudly.

A snicker came out of Hyewon after hearing that, now knowing Sakura had interest in the subject….not that this was the time anyway…..not yet at least.

“I’m sorry…...I worded it wrong.” a smirk stretched her lips as Sakura’s face was filled with a bit of annoyance and relief….mostly relief.

“As for what happened, I said something about our date at Mt.Takao right? Well, he sent someone to spy on me that day…..” she paused for a moment.

“.....and that’s when he found out about us ...our true relationship. It was a date so naturally we’d kiss each other here and there…..”

Sakura’s face flushed a bit as she listened.

“He had huge suspicions before from another date when we went to Fuji-Q Highland a week earlier…..you know…..when we were on the ferris wheel…...when we were…..ummm….”

“.......…..aggressively making out? I remember your hands were quite naughty that night, so much that I almost asked you to stay with me at my place.” Sakura informed her with a bit of past desire in her voice.

Scarlet heat caressed Hyewon’s cheeks, getting a clear hint from Sakura’s words on that memory. “.........r-really?”

Sakura smuggly shrugged her shoulders to , not answering the question.

While Sakura’s face grew a bit red from the memory, she couldn't help but feel the guilt coming from the younger woman who desperately tried to hide their relationship from her father.

*ahem*

“Well .... after we got back and I took you home, I went back to my apartment and found that his personal body guards went in and boxed up everything I had there.”

“.........seriously?” she asked and Hyewon nodded.

“I tried to ask what was happening but by the time I knew it, they were already dragging me back towards the airport by nightfall.” She stared at her hands currently clutching NyanNyan and saw her knuckles growing white with how tight she was clenching the pillow.

“They dragged you?”

“Yeah. It felt like I wasn’t even his daughter by then…...hell, I desperately kicked and screamed until my voice gave out but they were too much and got me on a private jet back to Korea in no time flat.”

Concern grew on Sakura’s face as she listened so she quickly slipped from the seat she was on and sat beside Hyewon to comfort her better as she put an arm around her.

“I was so powerless to do anything ...they wouldn't even let me sit next to the window of the plane to see it leaving Japan.”

The solemn in her voice was deep as she began playing with her fingers while she was still hugging NyanNyan.

“They took my phone and laptop away and blocked me from getting on all my SNS accounts ...everything..”

“I figured…...since I messaged you daily afterwards.”

“I didn’t find that out till after I graduated…...but over 3500 messages Sakura? You didn’t even stop until 3 years later ....” She moved back slightly as she lifted one eyebrow and cocked her head a bit. That action annoyed Sakura a bit as she started poking Hyewon’s arm.

“........what would you do if your girlfriend suddenly disappeared out of nowhere then? You basically vanished and nobody knew where you were so of course I panic texted your social media accounts to all hell. You know I got severly depressed because of that right?”

“I…...I’m sorry……..I can see your point...” she stopped as she saw Sakura’s face grow a bit angry at her complaint. She leaned in closer to show how mad she was even though it just looked adorable to the other woman.

“And you wonder why I was mad earlier in the week when we finally met?” she said in a scolding tone.

“Okay okay I apologize oka-…..y-your face is kind of close you know?”

“I know babe…..Continue. Your. Story.”

‘.........babe?’

Hyewon began playing with NyanNyan again as she looked down at it. “….well…..once I got home, my father didn’t even greet me outside ...in fact he was so mad at me that I didn’t even see him until after I graduated High School next year. For all that time, he lived in another house which was 5 miles away.”

Sakura clicked