It was early in the morning, about 7 or 8 – Yujin was not sure, and she was already in her car driving to her parents’ house. This is too early for Yujin especially since her class won’t start about noon, but she knows she needs to see them sooner or later. With the minor scene she caused during that dinner, she is bound to see her parents soon.

Yujin can actually consider herself lucky for having her parents, because compared to Minju’s, her parents are much more laid back. They never pressure Yujin and always considers her in every decision, but of course, there are still things needed to be followed – and walking out of a big dinner is not one of them. She just hopes this breakfast won’t turn into some minor fight between them, Yujin hates when she fights with her parents.

Pulling over her car, she looks at the front of the house, the sprinklers are already open and Yujin suddenly has this urge to go and play. Shaking her head, she looks at herself on the rearview mirror, checking if she’s presentable enough. Grabbing her phone, she walks out of her car and towards their house.

Entering the house, she first saw their housekeeper and bowed her head, “Unnie, are they…” Yujin trailed off and when she sees the nod, she just sighed and bowed again.

“Have a good breakfast Yujin-ssi.”

Yujin nods her head and walks towards their dining, hoping that she will have a decent breakfast. She’s not expecting it to be good, because she’ll only have a good one when she’s with her friends or Wonyoung. If she’s with her parents, it will be good but not to the extent that she will be happy – maybe fine, she’ll be fine with it.

“Good morning, sorry I’m late.” Yujin greeted softly before pulling out her chair, she sees her parents nodding their heads. Yujin just ate whatever is in front of her, no one is still talking and she is getting aware of everything. Like how the expensive ceiling fan seems to need some oiling, how the pendulum on the clock goes left and right and it seems like making a bit of a pause.

Yujin just nibbled on her breakfast, she doesn’t know what cuisine it was but it was delicious – though for her to appreciate it, she needs proper companions that she is really comfortable with. The silence is just killing her. But then she saw her father putting his phone down, while her mother takes a sip from her water and wipes using a napkin.

Yujin straightens on her seat and looks up at her parents, waiting for either of them to break the silence.

“I think you know why you’re here.” It was her mother who broke the silence, and maybe Yujin was bored which is why she decided to joke.

“Because you miss me?” She smiles cutely, and she sees her parents holding out a smile but stopped themselves. This is what she said when her parents are laidback, but still needs to uphold some sort of authority over her.

“Yes, we miss you, but you also did something. Remember?” Her father said softly and Yujin looks at her plate, playing with some beans that she won’t even eat.

“Why did you do that?” Her father continued, and Yujin sighs.

She’s thankful that her parents always ask her reasons first every time she does something, but this topic is just hard for her since it is a sensitive topic. They know how the Kangs – specifically Sora and Hyewon, are special to Yujin.

“You know why.” Yujin said quietly, before getting some small piece of meat to eat. She looks up and she could see her mother smiling softly at her.

“We know their daughter is – “

“Daughters.” Yujin cuts her off, “Hyewonnie is also their daughter.”

Her mother nods her head solemnly, sometimes forgetting that the Kangs also have another daughter. “Yes, I’m sorry. We know they are special to you, but walking out of that dinner is not how we taught you.”

Yujin takes a sip on her water, she suddenly wants to have juice – who wouldn’t give a juice when it’s a breakfast? But enough of that, she needs to take this matter head on.

“You also didn’t teach me to neglect my friends, mom.” Yujin points out, “I can’t just sit there and let them do that.”

Both of her parents sighed, knowing that Yujin is right. What happened during that dinner is not something they expected, though they sometimes forget that Sora is not the only child – but for the Kangs to blatantly ignore the existence of the other, they don’t know what to think of that. Mr. Ahn looked at her daughter and he knows with one look that Yujin would do anything to protect Hyewon.

Changing the subject, he cleared his throat. “I didn’t know that Minju and Hyewon are roommates.” He looks at how the tension on her daughter’s shoulder suddenly went away.

Yujin smiles slightly at the mention of the two, “Yeah, I just forced them to live with each other.”

“It’s good that they agreed with you.” Her mother chimed in, just going with the flow. They know they couldn’t change what happened, though they are slightly disappointed by how their daughter handled the situation – they couldn’t help but to be proud of how she fought for her friend.

“Mom, I forced them. They just went along with it because they know how annoying I can be.” Yujin shrugs and is proud of herself for doing that. Because she could see how Hyewon is changing for the good, and she wonders how she didn’t think of it much earlier. It’s funny how Minju would be the cause of the change.

“How is Hyewon, by the way?” Her father asked, “It was her birthday yesterday, isn’t it?”

Yujin nods her head, suddenly the conversation ad breakfast is getting good because of how her parents are handling it. “Yeah, but we planned to celebrate it on the weekend.”

“You kids are going there, again?” Her mother asked softly and Yujin nods. “Well, take care okay?”

Yujin snickers, “I think I’ll be taken care of just with the people I’m with. Don’t worry, mom.”

“Sora died too young; she has a whole bright future in front of her.” Her mother says quietly, suddenly thinking about the possible heights that Sora could reach with her talent.

“They have a bright future, mom.” Yujin reminds her mother softly, “But you’re right, she did go to heaven too early.”

“How is Hyewon?” Her father asks the same question earlier, but Yujin knows that this time it was different. This time, he was asking Hyewon’s well-being not in general, but with how she’s holding on and getting through with her life. She remembers how she just suddenly broke down in front of her parents that one night when she saw Hyewon’s lifeless body in the bathtub.

She just went straight to their house, surprising her parents but she didn’t care and just cried. Yujin cried like a baby but she needs to let it all go because somehow, she knows – it was all her fault. She was the reason why Sora met Jaehyun, she didn’t expect for them to get along but Sora just has the charm – and she thinks that Jaehyun wouldn’t hurt her.

But she thought wrong, because that douchebag of a cousin left Sora the moment he knew he will become a father. That was the first mistake she made, letting Sora meet her cousin and thinking that Jaehyun will take care of her friend. The second mistake was keeping it a secret from Hyewon.

It was hard but she couldn’t just spill it to Hyewon, not when Sora begged her. Yujin knows that she should not take that right away from Sora so, she just lets her take her time. But then, happened and Hyewon discovered about it – and everything went downhill from there.

That’s the guilt that Yujin is keeping all inside her, which is why she broke down in front of her parents that fateful night. Releasing all her emotions and regrets in one cry, and how her parents just let her – listening to her cries.

Yujin smiles at her father, “She’s good, she’s getting there.” She says quietly and she sees them nodding their heads understandingly.

She then sees her mother looking uneasy and she stares at her, waiting for to talk. But seeing that she won’t talk, Yujin decided to ask her about it. “What is it?”

Her mother looked at her husband, they both look uneasy and Yujin is suddenly feeling nervous about what they would say.

“I don’t know if you know about this already,” Her mother starts and glances at Mr. Ahn, signaling him to continue. Yujin hears her father taking a deep breath before looking at her intently.

“The Kangs still haven’t left the country. They’re still here.”

Yujin froze and suddenly she knows why her parents are uneasy, because why would they be staying there? Yujin suddenly feels like a storm is brewing over their head, she hopes it will stop soon. Especially when Hyewon is starting to live.

/

Unlike yesterday, Hyewon woke up first and she could see Minju still sleeping on her side. They slept together again but this time, they’re inside Hyewon’s room. Hyewon sat up carefully and stands up from her bed, she sees Minju shivering a little and she chuckles. She covered the younger girl in a blanket before walking out of her room.

Hyewon could see the weather outside, she smiles because it seems it would be a good day – it was cloudy enough that it wouldn’t be a sign of rain, but enough to give proper shade for the sun. She then walks over to the kitchen, opting for a toast and some jams. It’s been a while since she has a light breakfast, and Hyewon is craving some sugar in the morning.

She then prepared the coffee first before pulling out some breads and putting it inside the toaster, she wonders what time Minju would wake up – the younger girl seems beat last night, that the moment they laid on her bed she could feel Minju’s steady breathing. Hyewon stares at the breads heating up on her toaster and thinks about how much she’s been sleeping peacefully.

Hyewon has been sleeping a couple of nights in a row with Minju beside her and if this was with her other friends, she knows that will feel an immense emotion of being a burden. That’s why Hyewon always pulls away herself from people even though they reassure her that it would be fine. But Hyewon has this defense mechanism to just – pull away before it gets too deep.

But with Minju, even if she wants to pull away there will always be this nagging feeling inside her that makes her want to stay. As much as she fights that feeling, it always ends up winning – and Hyewon just lets it win. To the point that Hyewon started looking for it because it just helps her – and surprisingly, she never felt herself as a burden. It was like a normal thing, like how she was with Sora.

Hyewon has never felt like this in years, the only person that could make her feel that she was home and everything is alright was Sora. It was always Sora, though her friends also make her feel like that when they hangout but they all know how different Sora’s effect on her. But to feel it with someone like Minju is not something she expected.

But she’s not complaining, because she never knew she missed the feeling until Minju made her feel it again.

She sees the toast already finished and pulled out the first batch before putting the second, she walks over to the table and to the fridge to grab some jams. She then looks up to see Minju frowning and scratching her head, the girl still looks very sleepy and Hyewon smiles at the adorable look.

“Morning.” She greeted the younger girl.

Minju yawns and waves her hand, “Morning,” She then looks at the table and scratched her eyes slightly, “Toasts?” She asked while she drags her feet towards the kitchen.

Hyewon smiles and nodded, turning around to get some mug for Minju’s coffee. “Yeah, unless you want me to cook?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not that hungry anyways.”

Minju yawns as she brushes her hair up and tied it in a loose bun, too tired to think about how she looks. She then remembers the plan that Hyewon has, which the latter still haven’t told her about – all she knows is that they are going to a hill.

“Hey, what time are we going?”

Hyewon hums sliding a mug of coffee at Minju, the girl smiling gratefully before taking a careful sip. “Want to eat lunch there?”

Minju frowns and paused when she heard the other set of toasts finished up, she waits for Hyewon to come back and sits in front of her. “Where exactly?”

“A hill, I always go there when it’s my day.”

Minju hums, chewing her toast first before answering. “Sure, what would be there?”

Hyewon pauses and smiles, “You’re going to meet Sora, silly.”

“Let’s have a picnic.” She continues.

Minju stopped chewing and looks at Hyewon surprised, she did not expect that the girl would be saying that. Minju thought it would just some hill that would overlook some view, but hearing what the older girl just said – this is something that holds a special place in Hyewon’s heart.

Minju smiles at the older girl, “Can’t wait to meet her.”

Hyewon chuckles and shaking her head, “I always go there with Kura-unnie and the others…”

“What changed?” Minju questions looking at the girl curiously.

Hyewon shrugs, slabbing some jam on her toast. “It just feels right, you two meeting each other. Sora needs to know the new person keeping up with my annoying .”

Minju smiles at the older girl, the tingles from before are coming back again. The events from last night are replaying inside her and making her heart double its pace. “Annoying is an understatement.”

Hyewon laughs and scrunched her nose, “That’s what Sora said but…” She shakes her head remembering the fond memories of her sister.

“But what? But she kicked your ?” Minju jokes, raising her eyebrows.

Hyewon chuckles, “But she still loves me.” She shrugs looking at Minju, and frowns when the younger girl is suddenly deep red. She suddenly became worried that Minju might be sick.

“Hey, are you okay?” Hyewon asked worriedly, putting down her toast and is about to walk over to Minju when the latter raised her hand.

“Yeah, yeah. Just feeling hot, I guess.” Minju stutters and fakes a cough, trying to hide her face with her hand. Why does Hyewon have to blurt things like that out of nowhere?

“If you’re not feeling well, we can always –  “

“No! I’m good!” Minju cuts her off, her voice was louder than she intended to surprising Hyewon. “I mean, can’t keep your sister waiting, right