Yoona POV

I let Yuri’s words ring in my ears as I drove out of the parking lot.

How should I talk to her?

As I drove towards home, I struggled to remember how Hyoyeon-unnie broke the news to me when my own parents passed away

*Flashback*

No One’s POV

The seven-year-old Yoona is in the garden. She is playing underneath the tree of a tall oak tree. Her favorite bunny plushy is within her embrace as she happily draws pictures with her crayons. She hums a little tune as her long locks of black hair dance in the wind.

Several feet away, near the gates of the garden, another figure can be seen. The thirteen-year-old Hyoyeon watches her younger sister play as tears run down her face. She clutches the metal fence of the garden gates tightly, so tightly that her knuckles turn bright red. Behind her, a detective and a policeman watch the young girls, waiting to take them both away…

Hyoyeon had just received the awful news of her parents’ deaths. They had been brutally murdered during a hostage situation at a nearby bank. The detective had informed Hyoyeon that their parents had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Hyoyeon exhaled deeply as she pondered over how she was going to tell Yoona. Suddenly the little doe-eyed girl caught sight of her sister and she grinned widely.

“Hyoyeon-unnie!” yelled Yoona as she ran towards Hyoyeon with her arms wide open. Hyoyeon quickly wiped away her tears and knelt down so she could hug her sister.

“Unnie, look what I drew for umma!” exclaimed Yoona in delight.

“That’s great Yoongie,” said Hyoyeon in a fake cheery tone.

“When is umma coming home, Hyo-unnie?”

Hyoyeon suddenly released the tears she had holding back as Yoona asked her question. Yoona was shocked by her older sister’s sudden tears and hurriedly wiped them away with her small hands.

“Unnie?! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Hyoyeon hugged her sister tighter and started to sob. Yoona, surprised, stood still as she let her elder sister hug her.

“Yoona-ah, umma won’t be coming home.”

Yoona’s doe eyes widened in surprise and she asked, “Why not unnie?”

“Yoona, umma and appa… they won’t be coming home anymore… They went to heaven.”

The little girl was puzzled.

“Heaven? You mean they won’t on a trip?”

Hyoyeon laughed dryly at her sister’s innocence, “Kind of like that yes, they went on a long trip sweetie.”

“When are they coming back Hyo-unnie?”

“Yoona-ah, they aren’t coming back. They have to stay there.”

Yoona’s eyes quickly filled with tears.

“Why unnie?!”

“They aren’t allowed to come back. Those are the rules.”

Yoona digested the information given to her and started to cry in Hyoyeon’s arms. The older of the two girls gently rubbed the younger’s back as sobs engulfed both girls.

“Can we visit them unnie?” whispered Yoona quietly.

“No sweetie, we aren’t allowed to… They can’t come back and we aren’t allowed to visit them.”

“Will I never see them again unnie?”

“Of course not Yoongie, we’ll see them again. It’ll just be a long time until we see them.”

Hyoyeon wiped away Yoona’s tears.

“Until we see them again, I’m going to take care of you okay Yoongie? You can trust me. I won’t leave you.”

“Promise unnie? Will you promise that we’ll always be together?”

Hyoyeon held out her locket, “Sisters forever Yoong, that’ll never change and I will always take care of you.”

Yoona smiled brightly despite the tears and held out her pinky, “Pinky promise unnie!”

Hyoyeon chuckled at her sister’s childishness, carefully shook her pinky, and then stood up with Yoona in her arms. The little girl snuggled close into the crook of Hyoyeon’s neck.

“We have to go with the men all right Yoona?”

Yoona nodded as they two girls walked towards the detective and policeman.

“Hello Yoona,” said the policeman in a comforting tone, “my name is Officer Kim. I’m here to take you and your sister to your new home.”

Yoona hid in her sister’s hair and clutched onto Hyoyeon tighter.

The officer chuckled at the two girls and led them to his squad car.

As the two girls rode in the car to their destination, Yoona fell asleep while leaning onto Hyoyeon’s shoulder. Although their hearts were still heavy from grief, their tears had finally subsided. Hyoyeon stared at the small girl who slept peacefully in her embrace, the only family she had now with her parents gone.

“Yoona-ah I’ll always take care of you. Nothing will ever tear us apart. I’ll always be here for you my Yoong. I love you.”

Little Yoona unconsciously smiled in her sleep.

*End of Flashback

Yoona’s POV

Instead of driving home, I decided to take Minna somewhere else, somewhere special. I turned to exit the highway and made my way to a familiar and comforting place.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I smiled seeing that the place had not changed from when I was young. By this time, Minna had woken up. Although she was little groggy from her nap, I carried her out into the warm afternoon sunshine. After making sure I had my sunglasses and cap on, we made our way towards our destination. The last thing I wanted was my fans to find us.

“Umma, where are we going?”

I smiled at Minna, “Somewhere that’s very special to me.”

Minna looked at me with a puzzled expression as I continued to hold her and kept walking. I walked down the familiar path as Minna stared at the sight of the park.

“It’s so pretty umma!”

“Wait until we get to the best part Minna-ah.”

We finally reached the stream that had seemed so large so long ago. As I got near it, I began to realize how small it actually was. The cold water rushed down the small stream and it bubbled along.

Minna giggled delightedly as I quickly jumped over the stream. We were almost there. I began to slow down as the sweet aroma of white lilies began to fill my nostrils.

“Omo~ umma what’s that smell? It smells so good!”

I smiled at Minna and let her down on her feet. I then held out my hand as she eagerly grabbed it.

“Come on Minna, I’ll show you.”

We reached the large field of white lilies. The lilies danced gently in the breeze as our noses filled with the sweet aroma once again. The field had not changed from the last time I was here with Hyoyeon-unnie. The calming atmosphere was still present and it was still beautiful.

“Umma~ this is wonderful!” Minna picked one of the lilies and sniffed it eagerly. “White lilies are my favorite!”

I smiled at my niece, “They’re my favorite too.”

Minna busily but gently picked the flowers. I sat on the ground, watching her as she continued to enjoy herself. But I inhaled a deep breath and decided to finally do what I had come here to do.

“Minna-ah,” I called. Minna looked up at me smiling. I gestured her over and she skipped happily over to me. Minna quickly sat on my lap.

“Minna-ah, Yuri-seonsaengnim told me you cried today.”

For the first time, since I had met her yesterday, Minna was completely silent. Her smile disappeared and she stiffened in my arms. She hid her face in her hair and she began to shake. It took me a moment to realize that Minna had begun to cry. I gently tucked strands of her hair behind her ears, to reveal her tear-stained face.

“Minna-ah, you don’t need to hide your tears,” I said gently.

With my words, Minna exploded into giant sobs. As I watched the little girl in my arms break down, I almost began to cry as well. I also felt foolish.

Yoona, you really are dumb, here you thought she was coping with her parents’ death so well for a little kid. Yet that was never the case… She’s been holding her pain in for so long. Aish! You really fail as a parent Yoona!

“Minna-ah can you tell me why you are crying? I want to help you.”

Minna sniffled, “I-I-I’m a-a-a-a-afraid…”

“Of what?”

“T-t-t-that y-y-y-you’re going t-t-to leave me like u-u-u-umma and appa-a-a-a… I-I-I-I don’t w-w-w-want t-t-to be a-a-a-alone anymore.”

“W-w-w-why d-d-d-did they have t-t-t-to l-l-leave? D-d-d-did I do s-s-s-something wrong? W-w-w-was I b-b-b-bad? W-w-why can’t they c-c-c-come back? W-w-w-why c-c-can’t I see them a-a-anymore? I-I-I m-m-m-miss u-u-umma!”

Minna completely lost it after that. She sobbed uncontrollably and her tears seemed endless.

I couldn’t stop the tears. So I just held her, softly rocking her in my arms. Soon I found that tears were rolling down my own face.

"No Minna, you didn't do anything wrong. Don't blame yourself."

"T-t-then why did they l-l-l-leave???"

"Sometimes people have to leave on a really long trip to Heaven... We can't visit them and they can't come back. Those are the rules. The rules are unfair but there's nothing we can do."

Minna cried even harder.

"I miss Hyoyeon-unnie too Minna," I said softly.

I don’t know how long we sat there, both of us crying. Minna snuggled deeply into my chests and our sobs vibrated against each other as we both shook from the pain of loss. All the while, we were surrounded in a comforting aroma of white lilies. The lilies that Hyoyeon-unnie had shown me so long ago…

“Minna-ah,” I said after I had calmed down a little. Minna faced me, our identical doe-eyes staring intently into each other.

“Minna, I’m going to make you a promise so I want you to listen very carefully.”

My niece nodded her head vigorously.

I took a deep breath, “I can’t promise that I will never leave you, because one day we all have to go to where Hyo-unnie and Hyuk-oppa are now. But I can promise you this; I will always come home to you, no matter what. You will never be alone Minna.”

I looked down at my niece and found her still staring at me intently.

“Hyo-unnie may be gone now but I know she’ll never leave us. She’s waiting for both of us and we just have to wait until the day we’ll meet her again. I know it’s going to be hard, but we’ll have each other. I’m not going to let you go Minna. I promise that I will do whatever I can do to protect you.”

Minna suddenly hugged me tight, “Do you really meant that umma? We’ll be together?”

I nodded and she hugged me even tighter, “I may not be the best person to be your mother, but I’m going to try my best. I’m just asking you to trust me.”

Minna nodded into my chest, “I love you umma.”

Sooyoung POV

It was unusual for Yoona to call me out of the blue but she had asked if I had wanted to have dinner with her and Minna. She wanted to formally introduce me to Minna, so of course I said yes. I couldn’t wait to meet her.

I drove to the address of the restaurant that she had texted me.

As I got out of the car, I made sure to have my sunglasses and scarf on.

The restaurant was small but nice. It had a very comforting family feel. I spotted Yoona right away at a table towards the very back of the restaurant, very private. She seemed to be cutting up some food for the cute little girl next to her.

Honestly, they looked so alike! I mean Minna really is like the exact copy of Yoona when she was younger. From the straight black hair, the large doe-eyes, the soft milky skin, and the wide alligator smile, she looked like a doll.

“Hey Soo over here!” yelled Yoona as she waved me over to the table.

“Yoong, long time no see buddy!” I jested. I hugged Yoona and sat across from her

She rolled her eyes at me and I noticed another pair of doe eyes staring at me curiously.

“Minna-ah this is my friend, Sooyoung, you met her yesterday.”

Minna looked at me and smiled at me, “Hello~ my name is Minna!”

“Omo! So cute!” I exclaimed. “As Yoona said, my name is Sooyoung and I’m actually her best friend! You can call me Sooyoung-unnie or Soo-unnie or just unnie okay?”

Minna nodded cutely and started to eat her dinner.

Omo~ she’s a baby shikshin! So cute~

“Eat slowly Minna,” I heard Yoona say. Minna nodded with her little cheeks filled with food. I chuckled at her.

“Soo you ready to order?”

I took a look at the menu and nodded as Yoona flagged a waitress down.

“May I take your order miss?”

I pried my eyes of the menu to come face to face with a gorgeous lady.

She was tall and elegant. Her eyes were framed with the cutest pair of eye lashes.

OH. MY. GOD… Have I died and gone to heaven? She’s beautiful!!

“Umm miss? Your order please?”

“Oh right, umm… can I have the House Special and a side order Caesar salad?”

The pretty waitress frowned a little, “Miss, if you would please excuse my rudeness, but isn’t that little too much food for one person?”

I blushed as Yoona chortled.

“Hahaha, miss please don’t worry about that,” said Yoona, “she’ll manage to finish it all.”

The waitress’s eyes widened but nodded and she quickly left. Yoona was sit caught in a fit of giggles.

“Enough of your laughing Im.”

“Hahaha~ I’m sorry Soo, but the look on the waitress’s face was priceless and the way you blushed. Hahaha~ what happened to the confident shikshin queen huh?”

I blushed again. I couldn’t help myself; she was so pretty…

The waitress came back with my drink.

“Ummm, I’m sorry if I was being rude earlier, I didn’t mean it.”

I flashed a smile at the waitress, “It’s fine, really. Haha I know I eat a lot.”

She blushed a little at my smile and walked away.

Huh, her name tag read Seohyun… cute name…

“Earth to Soo~” cooed an annoying voice.

“Yes Yoong?”

“Oh thank god you answered, I thought we lost you there for a sec Soo,” teased Yoona. “Is someone in loveeee???”

I blushed harder.

“Umma,” said a cute voice, it was Minna. “Why are Soo-unnie and the waitress-unnie so red?”

Yoona laughed so hard that her signature alligator laugh could be seen.

She finally managed to control her laughter.

“You’ll understand when you’re older Minna,” said Yoona as I pouted, sulking at Yoona’s teasing.

“So,” I said clearing my throat, “what’s Jessica’s plan for Minna and the press?”

Yoona stabbed at her piece of meat, “We’re meeting her tomorrow. But the company wants to hold a press conference with Minna and my fans.”

I whistled in amazement, “A press conference with ALL your crazy fans? That’s one outrageous idea!”

“Yeah,” said Yoona gloomily, “I know. But what can I do? It’s what the company wants…”

We sat in awkward silence for bit.

“Maybe it’s a good idea though,” I said as Yoona looked at me as if I was crazy, “I mean this way if you don’t keep it a secret, the press won’t make a huge headline about you and Minna. That’ll protect Minna for a while.”

Yoona sighed and continued to eat as my food finally came. Sadly it was a different waitress this time.

“Excuse me but what happened to other waitress?” I asked.

“Oh she finished her shift 5 minutes ago. She left.”

I frowned as Yoona giggled. But with that we spent most of the meal in silence as we both devoured a ridiculous amount of food as Minna looked at us in curiousity.

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Okay so fail ending... I really wanted to introduce Seohyun, but I guess I rushed it a bit... *sigh* I tried though. Tell me what you guys think? I could use some suggestions, like is this story making sense? Anyway thank you all for reading/subscribing! ^^

Oh and I start school tomorrow so... the updates probably won't come very often, sorry bout that. But I'll make sure to post a short chapter or side story so you guys won't get too bored ;)