The two weeks they had left could not have gone by faster for Sooyoung. Herself and Hyoyeon got together as much as they could, and since Hyoyeon had those last two weeks off, that was pretty much a lot. They had fun like they always had, and sometimes when they were together, just watching a movie, doing nothing at all, a few hours could go by when Sooyoung would forget that their time was coming to an end. And sometimes, she would watch Hyoyeon laugh, and she would wonder how she ever could have forgotten.

Almost every thought about the almost-kiss at the pub had vanished from her head. Nearly every idea of Hyoyeon as her girlfriend had vanished - she knew she had lost. There was nothing more to it.

When there were four days left, Sooyoung had slept over in Hyoyeon's apartment, like so many nights before. They were both amazed when they the TV and realized that the same old musical they watched on their first ever sleepover was on. They had both been hit with bittersweet nostalgia, and in an attempt to stop their tears from falling, they had watched the entire movie in silence, Sooyoung lying with her head in Hyoyeon's lap.

"Soo? Are you awake?" Hyoyeon asked quietly as the end credits rolled down the TV screen.

Sooyoung didn't know why she didn't answer. Maybe it was because with every second she looked at Hyoyeon, she was falling deeper and deeper into denial. Maybe it was because every time she remembered how beautiful Hyoyeon was, the rest of her life without Hyoyeon by her side seemed painfully blurry. It was easier to ignore it.

Her thoughts stopped as she felt Hyoyeon start to play with her hair. Light, slow that sent tingles through Sooyoung's body, and suddenly there was no need for thoughts anymore.

Her exhaustion from thinking herself dry took over, and she drifted off to sleep. She never felt how long Hyoyeon remained there as her human pillow. She didn't notice how an hour later, Hyoyeon's hand dropped down on the couch and her head fell back against the wall as she fell asleep.

The next morning, Sooyoung woke up with a blanket wrapped around her, and the mother of all neck pains.

The following evening, Tiffany and Sooyoung had agreed to take Hyoyeon out on a goodbye dinner. Tiffany had picked a very fancy restaurant right in the middle of town, and Hyoyeon had reluctantly given them permission to pay for her food.

As Sooyoung stood by Tiffany outside the restaurant, waiting for Hyoyeon, she made a mental promise to herself to not think about Australia at all that night. Good luck Sooyoung... Goddamn lucky Australians.

As she saw Hyoyeon walk up to them, wearing dark jeans and a casual black sweater, she knew there was no way to get through this night without falling apart.

As Hyoyeon caught up to them, she said her helloes and went to give Tiffany a hug. To both Hyoyeon's and Sooyoung's surprise, she was instead met with a light kick to the ankle.

"Moron" Tiffany mumbled.

"What?" Hyoyeon asked, taken aback.

"You can't leave!" Tiffany almost shouted, and both of the other girls took a step back in surprise. "What, I mean, I just get to know you, and you take off?" Hyoyeon put on a small, guilty smile.

"I'm sorry, Fany" she said softly, and Sooyoung could feel herself melt at the expression. Hey, Sooyoung, cut it out - she's not even talking to you. Tiffany put on her best, childish pout.

"Fine" she said, and let herself fall into Hyoyeon's embrace.

"I didn't know you two had such good contact" Sooyoung said, puzzled at Tiffany's sudden outburst. Hyoyeon and Tiffany both looked at her, without letting go of each other.

"Oh, we talk a lot..." Hyoyeon said with her old smirk.

"Secret conversations..." Tiffany filled in.

"Be scared."

"Believe me, I am" Sooyoung laughed uncomfortably before turning to enter the restaurant.

The restaurant had a homey, darker feel to it, and Sooyoung understood why Tiffany liked it so much. The golden lights on the walls gave the room a dreamy atmosphere. When they had found a free table, Tiffany observed Sooyoung as the taller girl kept turning and twitching in her seat.

"You okay there, Soo?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Sooyoung asked, turning back to her friends. "Yeah... Just... looking for a waitress" she finished, a little quieter than normal. Hyoyeon tried to stifle her laughter.

"I see" Tiffany scoffed. "You and your food... I seriously cannot understand how you stay that thin with all that food you force into your mouth."

"I don't eat a lot" Sooyoung answered, trying to sound as innocent as possible, and failing miserably. Tiffany sighed.

"No, of course you don't" she said as she exchanged a look with Hyoyeon across the table. As Sooyoung looked back at Tiffany and tried to not start thinking about the best way to kill someone, she saw the other girl's expression become blank in a heartbeat, her eyes fixed upon a spot behind Sooyoung. Turning around, Sooyoung saw a redheaded waitress making her way to their table. It was then Sooyoung's time to share a look with Hyoyeon, as Tiffany seemed to have trouble remembering how to speak while trying to order her food.

And as the redheaded waitress returned with their food, both Hyoyeon and Sooyoung missed the look Tiffany received.

As they had expected, the food was a delicious experience, and all three of them ate too much to handle. As they sank down in their seats and tried to regain control over their stomachs, Sooyoung couldn't help but sneak looks at Hyoyeon. The evening had so far been as fun as usual with a lot of laughing (and a lot of toasts from Tiffany's side), but the whole night felt so bittersweet. Hyoyeon's presence filled her with a peace that contradicted the desperation in her chest when she thought about the days to come, and all the emotions colliding left her with a need to laugh and cry at the same time.

She solved it by just staring at Hyoyeon. Better do it now, while I can. I'll have to try and carry with me the image of this as long as I can she thought as Hyoyeon turned her head and smiled at her.

"Look at those two" Tiffany said in a low voice, breaking the silence of their fullness. Sooyoung and Hyoyeon straightened their backs a little in their seats to try and see what Tiffany was looking at, and saw two very old men at a table next to them. They each had a glass of wine in front of them, and they had their heads thrown back, laughing, obviously intoxicated. "They've probably been here since before we were born" Tiffany continued and they all giggled silently.

"Don't make me laugh, I might vomit" Hyoyeon said, putting her hands on her stomach and sinking back down into her seat.

"They look pretty snuggly, too" Sooyoung said as one of the men put his head on the other's shoulder. "Does alcohol usually make people that intimate?" she asked, swallowing. It didn't go past her how Hyoyeon's expression changed.

"Well" Hyoyeon said, "maybe that's his boyfriend." Sooyoung's heart started beating a little faster as this was the first time they had ever even touched the subject of homouality. Silence fell for a few seconds, before Tiffany turned back to them.

"Speaking of boyfriends" she said happily to Hyoyeon, "how are things for you, boy-wise?" Sooyoung's heart froze as the conversation took a turn she had not expected, and this time she really did start thinking of how to murder Tiffany.

"Oh, well" Hyoyeon said, sinking even further down in her seat. "It's... kinda not moving at the moment."

"Really?" Tiffany said, surprised. "How can they not be standing in line for you?"

"My thoughts exactly" Sooyoung said quietly before she knew what she was saying. Hyoyeon looked at her and gave her a small smile, before slowly putting her hand on top of Sooyoung's. Sooyoung thought her entire body might melt away - Hyoyeon was holding her hand under the table. She looked up at Tiffany to see if she noticed, but she was still looking at Hyoyeon, waiting for an answer.

"Well, just, there doesn't seem to be any interesting ones out there" Hyoyeon said, shrugging. None of them interesting? What does that... Sooyoung stopped her mind before it jumped to conclusions. It doesn't mean anything, Sooyoung. Please stop tormenting me.

"I feel your pain" Tiffany nodded. "And I guess now that you're leaving..." Unable to finish the sentence, she looked down on her hands.

"Yeah..." Hyoyeon said absently. Silence fell again, none of them wanting to finish their own thoughts. Hyoyeon gave Sooyoung's hand a tiny squeeze under the table, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Who else just got a sudden need for hot chocolate?" Tiffany asked with a blank look upon her face.

"Right there with you" Hyoyeon agreed.

"This place serves the best hot chocolate with whipped cream" Tiffany said, looking excited.

"Really?" Sooyoung asked, looking around at the fancy surroundings. "Here?"

"Yeah" Tiffany nodded. "Should I go order some?"

"Yes, please."

When Tiffany had walked over to the counter, Hyoyeon turned towards Sooyoung, letting go of her hand.

"I'm sorry" she said, looking Sooyoung straight in the eyes.

"For what?"

"Everything." Sooyoung shook her head.

"Hyo, you've got to stop saying that!"

"But I am, and I..." Hyoyeon began again.

"Please" Sooyoung breathed, "don't." Their eyes met. "Let's not think about it tonight. Tonight, we have all the time in the world." Hyoyeon looked at her.

"Okay" she said finally. Sooyoung hesitated, pulled her in for a hug, and kissed her forehead. Hyoyeon smiled, and then let her head fall down onto Sooyoung's shoulder. A few short seconds passed before Sooyoung saw Tiffany return, and she awkwardly repositioned herself, and Hyoyeon sat up again.

"She'll be right here with it" Tiffany said as she sat back down opposite them. "You're gonna die, it's so good." Sooyoung and Hyoyeon looked skeptical.

"Well, I guess as far as hot chocolate goes..." Sooyoung began.

"I'm telling you!" Tiffany exclaimed loudly. "It's... better than Ben & Jerry's" she finished with an evil smile.

"Nuh-uh!"

"No, no, you went too far!"

They all laughed. When the waitress came back with their hot chocolate, Sooyoung looked at the nametag. Taeyeon. Taeyeon put down the mugs on the table, gave them all a little smile and walked away. Sooyoung looked down in her mug, and it did indeed look delicious. She looked up at Tiffany, and was puzzled to see that she was becoming quite pale. Following Tiffany's gaze, she looked down into the mug beside Tiffany, and she nodded inwardly as she saw the whipped cream shaped into a heart. Tiffany looked up from the chocolate and saw both Sooyoung and Hyoyeon looking, so she hastily put the mug to her lips, as a blush slowly crept up on her cheeks. Lifting her cup, though, the trio noticed that a tiny note had been lying under the cup. Leaning over the table, Sooyoung saw that it said "Taeyeon" with a phone number and a tiny heart scribbled at the end of it. Tiffany put down her chocolate as fast as she dared, and pressed the note down into her pocket. Silence followed as all three of them looked down on the somewhat blurred heart shaped whipped cream.

"That's... impressive" Hyoyeon said, trying to hide a snigger.

And for once, Tiffany Hwang was left without knowing what to say.

It was the first time ever Sooyoung genuinely didn't want to leave a restaurant. When the time came to say goodbye, all three of them kept trying to dodge the moment by changing the subject, and suddenly discovering a lot of new things about the room, that could make them stay there a lot longer. They stayed until there was no denying that it was time go home - especially for Hyoyeon, who had the last little bit of packing left, before the removal van was to arrive the next morning.

Sooyoung was again going to spend the night at Tiffany's, and when they arrived outside the door, they all stood there in the warm summer night for a long time. None of them seemed to have the words to start saying goodbye, so everything was silent, apart from the noises of the city. Eventually, they all looked at each other and fell into a group hug.

"Tonight was incredible" Hyoyeon said as her tears threatened to fall. "Thank you so much." Sooyoung had no way of stopping her tears, and she was happy it finally seemed natural to cry over Hyoyeon's departure.

"It can't be anything less than amazing with you" she said as the tears started to fall. Hyoyeon gave a short laugh.

"So cheesy as usual, Soo, but thank you" she answered and patted Sooyoung's head.

"She's right though" Tiffany said, whose tears had yet to fall, although Sooyoung could tell she was close as well. "You're awesome, and awesome people stay put in their awesomeness, you know? So don't go leaving your awesomeness behind" she continued, choking up. Hyoyeon laughed, and more tears streamed down her face. They broke apart from their hug and watched a guy on a bike fly by and give them a disturbed look. Sooyoung turned to Hyoyeon, and carefully put her hair behind her ears.

"We'll talk tomorrow, yes?" she asked and wiped away a tear under Hyoyeon's eye. "I'll help with the last of the packing?"

"Yes" Hyoyeon said with a nod, and smiled.

"Okay..." Sooyoung continued, and finally worked up the courage to say the one word she really didn't wanna say. "Goodnight." Hyoyeon didn't answer, and they hugged once more, while Tiffany picked up her keys from her bag. They let go, and Hyoyeon walked away. This time, Sooyoung could stand watching her leave, so she turned her back against her and dried her eyes.

She walked up the stairs with Tiffany in silence, both of them lost in thought. As she walked through the door with Tiffany behind her, she planned going to bed straight away and turning off her thoughts, but she jumped when the door swung shut with an unnaturally loud bang.

"So" Tiffany said, a touch of blame in her voice that made Sooyoung slightly nervous. "You like some guy, huh?"

"What?" Sooyoung said. "Oh, yeah..." she mumbled, sitting down on Tiffany's couch.

"How is that going?" Tiffany prodded, and Sooyoung started to feel uneasy.

"Well" she said, "I, um, haven't heard from him in a while and I don't think--"

"She likes you back, you know" Tiffany interrupted her. Sooyoung froze, her eyes wide. She didn't know what to say.

"What? No, I... Really?" she whispered.

"Yes" Tiffany said meaningly. Sooyoung felt something build up inside of her, before...

"Wait, what, how did you..?" she asked.

"How could I miss it?" Tiffany shot back.

"But you--"

"Soo, you keep forgetting" Tiffany said warmly, "I'm me. I'll always figure you out." Sooyoung smiled. Of course.

"Right..." she said, lying down.

"So?" Tiffany said, walking up to her.

"So... what?" Sooyoung asked, looking at her.

"Does she know?" Sooyoung sighed.

"Of course she doesn't" she said, looking away again.

"Why not?" Tiffany sounded confused.

"Because she'd... think I'm weird" Sooyoung answered, covering her eyes with her hand.

"Are you kidding?" Tiffany said, sitting down on the couch beside her. "Did you not notice that you guys held hands under the table and thought I didn't see?" she asked, and Sooyoung couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "That she leaned her head on your shoulder after you kissed her forehead? That she cried at the thought of leaving you?" Sooyoung didn't know what to say. Of course I noticed she thought. ...Didn't I? Not knowing how to respond, she kept quiet. "Go, right now, and tell her" Tiffany demanded.

"What?" Sooyoung asked, dumbfounded.

"Right now, while you have the time!" Tiffany half-shouted, took Sooyoung by the hand and pulled her up from the couch in a violent manner.

"But--"

"No, no, no - just go" Tiffany said, pushing her towards the door. Sooyoung stopped her.

"But she's leaving" she stated.

"Exactly" Tiffany nodded. "She deserves to know." Sooyoung, again, didn't answer. "Doesn't she?" Tiffany tried.

"Well" Sooyoung said desperately, "yeah."

"So go, now!" Tiffany started pushing her towards the door again, and this time, Sooyoung didn't try to stop her. "Here" Tiffany said and picked up her jacket for her.

"But what if she's sleeping?" Sooyoung said and reluctantly accepted the jacket.

"It doesn't matter" Tiffany said quickly. "It's all unimportant. You love her, I think that's possibly a little more important than a couple of hours sleep." Sooyoung was amazed by Tiffany's ability to tell her things she already knew, and make her really understand them. "Now go, go, go!" Tiffany continued, opened the door and pushed her out of it.

"Wait--" Sooyoung said, stopping her from closing the door.

"What?!"

"Thank you..." Sooyoung mumbled, waiting for the anxiety to hit her.

"It's fine." Tiffany said calmly. "Now go!" She closed the door on her, and Sooyoung turned around and started down the stairs.

As she ran out the front door, it finally dawned on her that Hyoyeon was going to know. She was going to tell her, and she was not going to back out this time. No way. As she sprinted around the first corner, she thought of the risk that Hyoyeon was going to reject her, and she was afraid. But she decided to trust Tiffany this time.

With that thought, she was filled with a determination she hadn't felt in a long while, and she mentally kicked herself for having waited so long. Hyoyeon was leaving, and it was her own fault. Why should she sit around and just wait for her to go?

Her ribs started to hurt, but she didn't stop running.

This is it, this time. Hyoyeon, brace yourself.