───────── ♡❤♡ ─────────

YURI

───────── ♡❤♡ ─────────

“Stay away from my daughter!” That’s what Mrs. Kim told her. And before she could even answer, Hana’s parents already walked away, leaving her heartbroken. Gone were the days when they laughed because of each other’s jokes, and it pains her that they didn’t even talk to her before jumping into conclusions.

Not that she doesn’t understand them.

She would keep Hana away from herself if she was not hopelessly in love with the girl.

Her mama pulled her in for a hug and told her, “I’m sorry. I will help you in this mess. I tried to stop them, but they are parents, honey, and I understand their concerns.”

“No, mom. I will take care of it.” Yuri responded, she decided that if she really wanted to be with Hana, she would need to make sure that she would be understood by Hana’s parents.

So she broke the embrace and ran towards the furious parents.

───────── ⬦⬧⬦ ─────────

The sun was blazing over the beach, creating a landscape of umbrellas that sat atop the glittering white sand. Colors red, orange, yellow and blue popped out of the ground; the view of an endless rainbow from the top of the street. It was almost picturesque, like a postcard waiting to be delivered, when looking down at it.

Beyond the colors, the ocean shone like a turquoise jewel that begged to be explored. Ships rode the waves back and forth across the little bay. People were kayaking, fishing, and diving off cliff sides into the deep blue water.

Yuri looks at Hana, and her face shines as if she was certain that she’d never seen an ocean quite as blue as this one before. It almost looked fake to Yuri, like it was part of a painting in a gallery rather than the tangible spread before them, sticking the salty air to their skin.

Hana was busy taking photos, as if desperate to commit the scenery to memory.

“I still can’t believe that you brought all of us here in Greece.” Hana turned with a smile, looking at Yuri standing behind her. “And you haven’t told me how you convinced my parents to let me come to this trip.”

“I told them that I just want you to be happy.” Yuri replied, all tousled hair and sharp jaw as she kissed her hand before tugging her along.

“To be fair,” Hana giggled, believing her, “I would be happy as long as I’m with you and our friends, and your friends were teasing my friends saying that we would be going somewhere with igloos.”

Yuri laughed out loud, “If we’re quick, we might still have time to catch the next flight there.”

“Stop joking about that! I don’t have clothes that I can wear there!” Hana rolled her eyes.

“I can make it come true, you know.” Yuri dared to wink.

“Well, this is way better than being in an igloo!” Hana was practically dancing with glee.

Their friends seem to also be having fun.

They keep walking so close to the ocean. Hana’s finger tugged at Yuri’s a bit as she rose on her tiptoes to better watch a few dolphins in the waves. “I had never seen such a sight before, it was like magic.”

Yuri could feel the excitement, climbed to the surface, bubbled on the tips of her fingers, and made Hana even more impatient for the start of their trip.

“Can we swim in the ocean now?” she begged as they continued to walk to the hotel.

“There’s also a pool inside.”

“We also have a pool at home! Why would we swim there when we have the whole ocean?” Hana exclaimed.

Yuri turned her head to grin cheekily at her. “Have to keep you safe from the sharks, don’t we?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” She bumped her hips against Yuri. “Just open your mouth, and they’ll be occupied with biting your head off instead.”

“You’re so mean!” Yuri pouted, the affronted tone of her voice ruined entirely by the laugh that rumbled in her chest. “I can’t believe that I fell for you.”

“You never stood a chance, Yuri.” Hana tossed her hair haughtily and hurried forward so that she could catch up to her friends. Yuri watched, mouth slightly open, as she slowed her gait to a swagger, looked over one shoulder, and winked at her.

Something warm sparked inside Yuri; a live wire she’d come to associate with Hana and everything that she made her feel. It buzzed through every nerve-ending, dousing her with an overwhelming belief that they’d never been happier, younger, in love, than they were today, in this specific moment.

Yuri let the feeling blanket over her, overflowing with joy.

“I swear these girls would be the death of us.” Charlee protested. They are now walking behind the girls.

Yuri chuckled since she couldn’t agree more. “Let’s catch up.”

They were suddenly sprinting towards Hana and her friends. They shrieked, delightedly surprised as they ran ahead holding their things.

The silly laughter that spilled from their lips shimmered in Greece’s warm air; aglow, real.

It was evident to anyone who watched that they were enthusiastically happy, especially together. Just like the ocean tides followed the movement of the moon, Yuri and her friends followed Hana and hers along the bay with their eyes not on the scenery, but on their joyous aura instead.

There could’ve been a thousand golden starfish covering the beach, Yuri would still consider Hana the most beautiful star of all.

───────── ⬦⬧⬦ ─────────

“Ta-da!” Jae sang, grinning with pride as she placed a huge dish of steaming lasagna down in the middle of the table between two ridiculously sized oven gloves. This will technically be their breakfast since Yuri dragged them all to Greece and arrived there at six in the morning.

“Smells amazing, Jae!” Mona praised, eyeing up the food eagerly, already watering. She was sitting beside Tami who was looking at her with something that Yuri was familiar with.

“You made this yourself?” Nia asked, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

“Yes…”

“You had no help at all?”

“Gee, thanks, Nia! No faith in me whatsoever,” Jae uttered, looking for Yuri for sympathy, but she just held her tongue, trying not to laugh.

“You’re telling me that you— Jae, a sporty person, have somehow managed to create a perfect lasagna, from scratch, with no assistance in the slightest?”

Charlee stifled a chuckle, “It’s a little out of character, Jae, you’ve got to admit!”

“Well,” Jae huffed, pulling off the oven gloves and dropping them on the table, “Good to know that you are all thinking that I’m a fraud.”

“Can you stop bickering? I am already hungry!” Mona protested.

Tami reached over to get one serving and gave it to Mona, “Eat. Just let them bite their heads off.”

“Didn’t even get a thank you, either. I don’t know why I bother.” Jae was still not letting it go, and sat down beside Nia with a pout.

“Jae learned how to cook since their family owned a restaurant. Actually, we all know how to cook.” Yuri managed to say, chuckling a little because Jae really looked hurt because of Nia’s reaction.

“I can attest that Yuri knows how to cook.” Hana said, getting a serving for herself, and also placing one serving for her.

She whispered a quick ‘thank you’ and happily dug in.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I was just surprised.” Nia looked like she was about to cry, and Jae immediately willed her mood to change so that Nia would not feel bad anymore.

“It’s okay, Nia.” Jae held Nia’s hand.

“I swear you all have superpowers.” Yuri leaned in to Hana who was busy eating, while she observed Jae coaxing Nia.

Hana looked at her confused, “What?”

“Nia’s at fault here, but Jae’s the one apologizing now.” Yuri chuckled.

Hana looked at the two, and just stuck her tongue out, giggling. Yuri held her hand and kissed the back of it before going back to eating.

“Are you happy?” Yuri asked.

“I am. Thank you!” Hana kissed her cheeks, smiling widely.

───────── ⬦⬧⬦ ─────────

By the time that they finished eating, Hana had already convinced her that they’d go for a swim in the ocean, the danger of hungry sharks and sudden tsunamis disregarded entirely.

In exchange, Hana pressed many little kisses all over Yuri’s face, which, all things considered, was a fair trade.

“Come on! Come on!” Hana pushed her through the hallway, smushing a hand over her face when she turned around and pouted and asked for another kiss on the cheeks. “Yuri!” she laughed, “stop. We need to get into the water! Go change!”

Yuri grabbed her hand and pulled her by the waist before kissing her on the forehead, “Okay.”

Her smug little grin was all too tempting.

And when they finally made it out to the ocean after the sun was already in the middle of the sky.

It was the type of day where the light in the air seemed to soak into skin with ease. In other words, it was the perfect time to go for a dip in the water.

Hana’s feet were actually burning against the sand, so she ran into the water where her friends are without waiting for Yuri to finish spreading lotion on her shoulders. She just laughed when she was abandoned, shrugging as she tossed aside the bottle and ran after her.

The water was heavenly cool. Yuri felt like she was wrapped inside a silk blanket; the water so soft against her heated skin. She saw Hana still partially submerged, but her eyes stayed locked on Yuri like a siren that had spotted a boat sinking.

Yuri knew that Hana always looked exceptionally fine. Every inch of her skin glistened beautifully. The water droplets feel from her wet hair into her cheekbones, down to the length of her nose and over her lips, all the while Yuri stared with open.

Hana crossed her arms over her chest, noticing how Yuri’s eyes dropped by the second, “Eyes up here, Kim.”

She sheepishly pulled her gaze back up, still looking very much as if she’s in a trance, but didn’t apologize for staring, “You look so beautiful.”

“I know.” Hana giggled.

Yuri blinked, water clinging to her lashes. “Prettiest.”

And then she pecked her lips. Soft and sweet. She knows that she would never get tired of kissing her and she wouldn’t want to stop, if only she could do it forever.

In the next second, Hana who was blushing furiously immediately went underwater, possibly to hide her blush. Yuri was able to catch up, and pulled Hana by the waist. Time had stilled, and for a handful of beats, they did nothing but look at each other, locked in an embrace in the depths of the water.

Everything was different underwater; slower; more beautiful. The water rushed around their ears, while still moving at a glacial pace to the eye. Yuri’s shorts floated at her waist, and Hana’s white swimsuit somehow— impossibly— looked even more perfect now.

Yuri watched as emotion, soft and burning, overtook the browns of Hana’s eyes. She placed a hand over her cheek, hair flowing ethereally in the water behind her, and smiled. She looked like a real-life version of the Little Mermaid, only much more beautiful. The sun pierced through the surface and lit her up like a goddess eternal.

If they weren’t already underwater, it would’ve taken her breath away.

“I love you,” Hana’s mouth formed the sentence.

She knew, not for the first time, that she was the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen in her life.

And she was just the luckiest bastard in the whole world.

The fact that she’d chosen her, loved her, just the way she loved her, felt so unbelievable that she could barely string two words together. Right now, with Hana’s hand caressing her face and skin glowing like something magical, was certainly those times. So it was only natural for Yuri to reach for her again and kick her legs until they were breaking the surface, hair sticking to necks and cheeks and foreheads.

Before Hana had even scrunched away the water from her eyes, or managed to pull in oxygen, Yuri was blurting the words.

“Say it again.”

“Say what?” She tilted her head.

“That you love me.”

“Yuri,” Hana laughed, head thrown back, body arching over the arm she still had wrapped around her waist. Her grin positively glittered when she looked at her again. “I just said yes to you! Just a couple days back!”

“So?” She shook her head, unable to properly curb the smile that flitted over her lips at the reminder. At her laughter. Unbelievable. “I still want to hear it. What if you changed your mind?”

“I think the fact that my parents were angry at me for still being with you even if they told me not to is a pretty good indicator that my mind remains firm.” Her honey brown eyes squinted into slits when she gave her the widest, most perfect smile. “I love you.”

The water swirled her hair around their arms like seaweed, fairly tangling them together, and Hana seemed to pull her magnetically like some powerful tide. Yuri knew that if she wanted, she could be a rip tide, and send her tumbling to the depths with her. But she wouldn’t care; she’d just have to learn how to breathe underwater in order to stay in her grasp.

“What are you thinking?” Her voice bounced off the water, a melodious echo.

Yuri playfully touched her nose to Hana’s. “Thinking about how lucky I am.”

“I’m the lucky one.” Hana countered, “because I get to be with my best friend in the whole world.”

“Yeah, I’m excited to be with Charlee too,” Yuri jokes, and she laughed as she added, “but I was thinking about how lucky I am to be chosen by you.”

She leaned forward, making the water swirl around their hips. “You are quite lucky.”

Yuri splashed a bit of water at her playfully. “Don’t go getting a big head, Hana.”

“You’ve got a big enough head for the both of us.” she agreed. “And I thought I’m your baby?”

“Of course, you’ll always be my baby.”

Hana smirked, and kissed her. Yuri’s fingers tightened at her waist, going absolutely crazy.

Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Jae and Tami threw Charlee near them.

The massive wave from it rocked them both off their feet and broke the mood. Hana started laughing as she splashed water in Yuri’s direction. Never one to take a challenge without a fight, Yuri promptly retaliated but with less force than Hana.

As the sun faded away into the horizon, only to be replaced by a starlit sky, Yuri and Hana lounged in the pool recliners after swimming in the ocean, skin cool from their swim and insides warm from exchanging sweet nothings.

And though neither of them felt the need to say it, this trip was the perfect beginning to their relationship.

Each day was sure to bring forth new trials and constant changes, but they’d grow old together, and