A beaming smile grazed Yoona’s lips as she put her hands on her hips and stood firmly in front of the Baru vegan restaurant. People who were coming in and out of it looked at her curiously and weirdly, asking themselves the reason why she looked so happy to be in front of that place and why she was staring at it so intently and appreciatively, but none of them were brave enough to ask her. Yoona herself was surprised by how happy it made her to be back to her workplace; the place that constantly smelled like veggies and healthy food (the kind of food she absolutely despised). In fact, the smell of broccoli was already grazing her nostrils; any other day, it would have made her grimace and want to puke, but this time it only fueled her happiness to be back.

“Noona!” Yoona’s heart leaped inside her chest as she turned her head in the direction of the person’s voice. Her smile widened even more as she saw Luhan waving and jogging towards her. Like she had expected, this was also his first day back to work. “We’re just in time!” He panted as he reached her, almost tackling her into a hug.

“Luhan! You’re sweaty!” Yoona shrieked as she laughed, pushing him away. The slightly older boy pouted and crossed his arms as he pulled away.

“I thought I was running late… I was already getting used to the unemployed life…” He trailed off, giving Yoona a half-smile. Yoona bit her bottom lip as a wave of guilt shook her body on the inside.

“I’m really sorry about what happened, Luhan… I messed things up badly from the beginning and you got in so much trouble trying to protect me…” The doe-eyed girl apologized. Luhan eased her guilt when he shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic look.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, noona. I was very mean to you, not only that night but before that. Lying for you was the least I could do to redeem myself…” Yoona was about to talk but Luhan raised a hand in front of himself, stopping her. “… and about Seohyun, I just want you to know that I’m over her… I don’t know why I had such an infatuation on her from the beginning. To be reasonable, I don’t even know her that much.” Luhan shook his head, but Yoona didn’t know if his words were truthful or not. There was a tad of hesitation in his voice.

“Whatever is done, is done. Let’s just not fight again now that I think we both learned our lesson. So… friends?” Yoona shrugged her shoulders shyly and smiled, extending her hand towards Luhan. The latter pretended to look at it severely and intently, but ended up laughing within a few seconds and shaking it enthusiastically.

“Of course, noona. I promise we won’t fight again.” Yoona smiled widely as she let go of Luhan’s hand and the two went into the restaurant for their second first day of work.

As soon as the two went in, the rest of the Baru staff stared at them in surprise. After a few nanoseconds of deathly silence, the Baru workers broke in applause and cheering, not really minding that it was the beginning of the afternoon shift and there were a lot of costumers inside. Kai ran to them and enveloped them both into a bear hug before lifting Yoona and twirling her around a few times. The doe-eyed girl almost felt tears pooling her eyes at the warm welcome she was getting from her co-workers, but willed herself to not cry as she hit Kai’s shoulder until he put her down. The waiters and waitresses crowded around her and Luhan, giving them hugs and occasional bows of greeting. Through the mass of people around her, Yoona took a look at the counter, where Kris stood behind the cash register. Much to her surprise, he smiled at her and gave her thumbs up from his spot. Yoona could see that his smile was sincere, and even if he would never admit it, he was glad that she and Luhan were back.

The sound of a door being burst open caused the crowd to jump a little and disperse a bit. It was Lee Soo-man, who was looking around, probably alarmed by the noise that had taken over his oh-so-calm-and-quiet restaurant. Upon deducing that his workers were just welcoming Luhan and Yoona, he let out a small sigh of relief. The Baru staff grimaced and looked down, ready to hear his lecture about their working etiquette. Instead, he only cleared his throat, getting them to look at him. He had a slight smile on his face as he looked between Yoona and Luhan, which surprised them all.

“It’s nice to have you two back, Yoona-ssi and Luhan-ssi.” The two addressed youngsters’ jaws slacked open at the warm greeting. Everyone else just stared in awe, utterly surprised, feeling glad that they weren’t going to get lectured and ignoring the angry calling of some unhappy customers who threatened to leave the restaurant if their salads weren’t served soon.

Yoona and Luhan snapped out of their trance and bowed almost simultaneously, smiling overexcitedly. Lee Soo-man gave Yoona a look before he bowed his head again and calmly went back into his office. The doe-eyed girl looked down with a smile, taking the look that Lee Soo-man had given her as a sign that he was thinking about the conversation they had, and hopefully it would have a good outcome for Sunny’s and Sooyoung’s relationship.

“Alright, let’s get to work, all of you!” Kris finally came out of the counter, clapping his hands and hurrying the waiters and waitresses to get to job, while they just groaned in frustration, cursing him under their breaths. He ignored them as he went to where Luhan and Yoona stood. He looked at them up and down before giving them a nice smile.

“We’re glad to have you back. Now, get to work, it’s the busiest time of the day.” He commanded, going back to his leader mode.

“I missed you, hyung.” Luhan admitted, patting Kris’s back as he retook his working spot; the counter. Kris chuckled lowly before turning to Yoona.

“I’m not going to tell you I missed you if that’s what you want.” The younger girl crossed her arms and raised a playful eyebrow at Kris. The blonde laughed and shook his head.

“Just get to work, Im.”

…

“Hyunnie? Are you home?” Yoona called as she locked the house’s front door behind herself. She already knew her girlfriend was home, probably studying in their shared room, but she still called to make sure.

“Yes, Yoongie, I’m upstairs!” Yoona smiled upon hearing her beloved’s voice answering her. She quickly hung her coat and made her way to Seohyun’s room, pleasantly anticipating spending some time with her girlfriend. She was still happy about her first day back to work, and she knew that sharing her happiness with Seohyun would only make things ten times better. As expected, she found Seohyun, sitting Indian style on the bed while eyeing a magazine. Yoona smiled warmly at the sight; her smile only widened when Seohyun looked up from her magazine and met her gaze. Yoona blew her a kiss from the doorway, enjoying how it made Seohyun smile. The latter put the magazine aside as she stood up from the bed, walking towards Yoona. The doe-eyed girl walked into the room and met her halfway, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and bringing her in for a hug. Seohyun couldn’t help but smile as she returned the hug sweetly, wrapping her arms around Yoona’s midsection and snuggling her head into the older girl’s neck.

“I’m finally home… I’ve been wanting to talk to you all day.” Yoona whispered into Seohyun’s ear as she tightened the hug. Seohyun shivered and giggled slightly.

“You’re lucky tonight… I just finished studying for a test tomorrow.” Seohyun pulled away from Yoona’s neck, but kept her arms around the deer. “How was your first day of work?”

“It was the best day of my life, actually, I met a girl named Seo Joohyun because she dropped her wallet inside the restaurant and…” Yoona answered jokingly, making Seohyun laugh heartily as she slightly drummed on Yoona’s shoulder with the palm of her hand.

“Pabo! I wasn’t talking about that day…” Seohyun couldn’t help but blush at how tenderly Yoona had referred to it. The best day of her life. “I mean today.”

“Oh, right. It was really awesome, sweetie… First, Luhan and I talked outside and we apologized to each other… He says he’s over you now.” Yoona winked. Seohyun nodded and beamed a smile. “When we went in, the rest of the waiters and waitresses began clapping at us and pretty much crowded us in a group hug. Lee Soo-man came out of his office all freaked out, but when he saw they were just greeting us, he just smiled and welcomed us back. Can you believe that?” Seohyun widened her eyes, actually wondering if Yoona was serious. “And the place was packed with customers! I think that’s a sign that he doesn’t hate me so much…” Seohyun giggled and admired the sparkle in her lover’s eyes, which tale-told her about the utter happiness that was currently plaguing her insides.

“He could never hate you, Yoona. I don’t think anyone would be able to hate you…” Seohyun trailed off, one of her hands traveling up from Yoona’s neck to her cheek, where it stayed. “I’m so happy for you, Yoona-ah.” The older girl nodded her head slightly as she turned her head, closed her eyes softly and nuzzled Seohyun’s wrist.

“If it wasn’t for your encouraging words, I wouldn’t have been able to gather the courage and talk to Lee Soo-man in the first place, baby… You’re my motivation.” Yoona smiled, opening her eyes and piercing Seohyun’s with them. The latter just smiled and tightened her hold around Yoona. Her head found its way to the other girl’s porcelain neck as she breathed her in. Yoona shivered and giggled softly to hide the fact that Seohyun’s proximity was really affecting her. “Hyunnie? What are you doing?” Yoona asked in-between giggles.

“I just missed the combination of your natural fragrance and the smell of a fresh salad…” Seohyun whispered against the skin of Yoona’s neck, leaving an ice-burning sensation. Yoona closed her eyes and continued giggling, pretending to not be affected by the feeling of Seohyun’s lips on her neck.

“Hehe… So my n-natural fragrance isn’t enough?” Yoona asked shakily, especially when she felt Seohyun begin to shower her neck with butterfly kisses. Seohyun pulled away from the doe-eyed girl’s neck and looked into her eyes.

“Of course it is, baby… You smell delicious…” Seohyun smiled. The flirty twinkle in her eyes and her smile made Yoona’s heart accelerate. Before she could even process what she was doing, she removed her arms from around Seohyun’s shoulders. One of her hands went to the maknae’s silky while the other went to the small of her back, pulling her closer. Seohyun felt her heart racing as she realized what Yoona was about to do. Looking into Yoona’s pink lips so close to her own, she knew she wanted the same thing, so she removed her arms from around her girlfriend’s midsection and wrapped them around her neck instead.

Yoona smiled at her lovingly before she leaned in and captured her bottom lip in-between hers. Seohyun felt her knees wobbling at the sweet kiss, but returned it just as passionately, moving her lips synchronically against Yoona’s. The latter smiled into the kiss and slightly bit Seohyun’s bottom lip, causing Seohyun to sigh. The maknae didn’t even register Yoona walking them towards the bed until the back of her legs collided with it. She pulled away abruptly, even if she was so enjoying the kiss. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds before she opened them to the sight of Yoona’s blushing, smiling face.

“I thought you wanted to talk?” Seohyun asked with a giggle. It always embarrassed her that every time she and Yoona pulled away from a kiss, she couldn’t stop giggling and blushing. Yoona pretended to be pensive for a few seconds before she shrugged her shoulders.

“We haven’t done this in a while…” Yoona trailed off with a pout, eyeing Seohyun’s lips intently. The hand that was on the maknae’s hair began to move up and down her spine, making Seohyun shiver and close her eyes.

“W-We kissed this m-morning, Yoong…” Seohyun stuttered out, trying to control her breathing. Yoona smirked and leaned towards her ear, breathing softly next to it as she thought of what words to say to make Seohyun let go without inhibitions.

“I know… we’ve kissed several times, but we haven’t… made out in a while…” Yoona explained before pulling away to watch Seohyun’s reaction. The maknae’s cheeks were colored in red and her eyes were still closed because of Yoona’s proximity. “Is it okay?” Instead of giving out a vocal answer, Seohyun used her arms, which were still wrapped around Yoona’s neck, to pull her in for a kiss. Yoona once again smiled into it as she cupped Seohyun’s cheek and used her body weight to gently lay Seohyun down on the bed and following suit, remaining on her knees and hovering over her. The doe-eyed girl pulled away slowly, giving Seohyun a loving stare and tucking a strand of her silky hair behind her ear. The maknae could only smile and feel the love that Yoona was conveying with her stare, secretly wishing she could show Yoona the same.

“I’m falling harder for you each day… I still don’t know how my life could change so drastically in a matter of a few months, but I guess that’s how fate works…” The older girl whispered. Seohyun felt her heartbeat accelerate as she impulsively grabbed Yoona’s face and pulled her in for a kiss again, when Yoona’s lips touched hers. The latter kissed back just as passionately as she slowly shifted herself so that she slipped one of her legs in-between Seohyun’s, making them both gasp at the new position. One of Seohyun’s hands left Yoona’s cheek and began trailing over her back and pulling her closer. Yoona’s hands moved from Seohyun’s hips to her stomach, down her pajama shirt, making Seohyun moan at the warmth they held.

“I love you so much…” Seohyun whispered breathily as the older girl pulled away from the kiss due to lack of air. Yoona smiled and pecked the corner of Seohyun’s lips. One of her hands left the maknae’s stomach and cupped her cheek instead.

“I love you too… Thank you for changing my luck.” Yoona whispered just as breathily before moving to the right side of Seohyun’s neck, it with the tips of her fingers before she replaced them with her lips. Seohyun gasped and bit her bottom lip at the feeling, not wanting to let out any noise that gave away how aroused she actually was. However, when Yoona’s kisses became open mouthed and the doe-eyed girl lowered herself even more on her, Seohyun couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips. Yoona’s lips descended to where her neck met her shoulder, slightly at the junction. Seohyun moaned again as she clutched the fabric of Yoona’s shirt tightly and pressed her own lips to Yoona’s shoulder, making her shiver. She and Yoona had never really gone that far, but she couldn’t say she wasn’t enjoying it. She was probably enjoying it too much. Yoona moved back to her lips, crashing them against her own in a now desperate kiss. This time, both her hands cupped Seohyun’s face as they kissed, and Seohyun’s buried in her hair. They both moaned as their tongues touched and swirled against one another. As they pulled away due to lack of air, Seohyun surprised Yoona with a bold move as she leaned her neck up and began kissing Yoona’s neck, starting on the spot beneath her ear and imitating the doe-eyed girl’s previous moves on her, breathing hot air onto her deer’s skin in-between each kiss. The maknae felt satisfied enough with her work as she heard Yoona gasping and when she reached a sensitive spot. Suddenly, Yoona’s phone began vibrating inside her jeans’ back pocket, which made her jump slightly and pull away from Seohyun. She considered ignoring the call and going back for a kiss, and she was about to do so, but Seohyun stopped her softly.

“Answer, but after that call, you’re turning it off.” The maknae winked, causing Yoona to become red and nod frantically, taking her phone out and answering without even looking at the ID caller.

“What?!” She answered harshly, wanting to ballistic on the person who had interrupted her intimate moment with Seohyun. The latter could only giggle at Yoona’s tone of voice and facial expression.

“Uh-Um… Yoona-ah? Are you okay?” Yoona sighed and breathed in and out slowly as she recognized Taecyeon’s voice. The poor guy was doing a lot for her and he didn’t deserve to be yelled at.

“Yeah, sorry about that. What is it, Taec?” She asked, still trying to calm her breathing.

“Your father has been asking for you since last night. I told him you’re coming to see him in two days but he says he needs to tell you something important now that he’s not sedated anymore…” Yoona furrowed her brows, but soon deduced what it was that her father adamantly needed to tell her. “… He keeps saying he doesn’t have much time left, but I wouldn’t worry, Yoona. The doctors insist that he’s been stabilized.” Taecyeon finished. Yoona noticed some hesitance in his voice, like he didn’t really want to worry her telling her that. Still, Yoona was thankful that he was telling her everything. She nodded understandingly, sighing and rubbing her temples.

“I’ll try to change my train ticket for tomorrow afternoon, then. Thank you for letting me know, and I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to go sooner… So much has happened here that I needed to fix… And also, Taec… Thank you for convincing me to meet with my mother. It turned out to be much better than what I thought it would be. It was an eye-opening experience.” Yoona looked at Seohyun, who had sat up on the bed and was now giving her a questioning stare.

“S-So you really met up with her?” Taecyeon asked, sounding surprised.

“I did. In fact, I think she’s going to Damyang with me. I’ll talk her into it… I think I know what appa needs to tell me, and I’d like her to be there when he does.” Yoona explained. She heard Taecyeon humming on the other line.

“I see. Your father and I will be waiting for you, then. I’ll tell him you’re coming tomorrow. Bye, Yoona.”

“Bye, Taecyeon. Thank you for everything.” Yoona hung up, biting her bottom lip. Seohyun took her hand in hers, giving it an encouraging squeeze.

“What happened, Yoongie?” Seohyun asked, slightly worried. She felt frustrated that every time things seemed to be going good for her and Yoona, something always came up and took away their tranquility.

“Appa has been asking for me. He says he needs to tell me something important…” Yoona trailed off.

“Do you think he wants to tell you about your sister Seoyeon?” Seohyun asked. Yoona smiled warmly; Seohyun was always so intuitive.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking, baby… What else could he want to tell me? Let’s just hope that his version of the story is the same that my mother told us…” Yoona muttered, chuckling bitterly at how chaotic and dramatic things would be in case Mrs. Im didn’t tell the truth. “Do you think it’s a hasty decision to ask my mother to go with us—I mean, me?” Yoona quickly corrected herself, blushing bright red in embarrassment as she remembered she hadn’t asked Seohyun to accompany her to her hometown. Seohyun smiled widely and looked away from Yoona’s eyes.

“I don’t think that’s too hasty… Do you really want me to go with you?” Seohyun asked shyly, biting her bottom lip and meeting Yoona’s gaze.

“Y-Yeah, I do. It’s okay if you don’t want to go, my apartment there is really small and Damyang is really boring and you’d be more comfortable staying here…” Seohyun cut off Yoona’s rambling with a lingering kiss.

“Of course I’d love to go with you, Yoongie…” Seohyun answered in a whisper as she wrapped her arms around Yoona’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. Yoona sighed into the hug and smiled as she buried her nose in Seohyun’s hair, drowning into her intoxicating scent. It was in times like this one that she wondered what she’d done to deserve someone like Seohyun. As they pulled away, Yoona rested her hands on Seohyun’s shoulders as she leaned forward, resting her forehead against Seohyun’s.

“Thank you, Seobaby. You’re so amazing… I’m sorry about killing the mood, by the way.” Yoona laughed, making Seohyun blush and giggle as well.

“Well… who says we can’t revive it now?” Seohyun asked flirtatiously as she grabbed Yoona’s jaw with her right hand. Yoona couldn’t help the million butterflies that began swirling around inside her stomach because of Seohyun’s tacit suggestion.

“I already turned off my phone… So let’s revive the mood.” Yoona whispered with a mischievous smile as she leaned in and pulled Seohyun in for another long kiss.

The next day.

Yoona sighed deeply as she made her way inside of her mother’s penthouse. Reaching the room to her apartment, she braced herself. Even if they had ended their meeting in good terms, it was still a little bit hard to see her face. Yoona now understood a lot of things and, in a way, felt sorry for her mother. Still, the reluctance wouldn’t leave her insides.

She decided to let go of her fear and slight anxiousness as she knocked on the door three times. She hadn’t called to let Mrs. Im know she was coming, partly because she wanted to avoid talking to her for too long. In a matter of a few minutes, Mrs. Im opened the door. She widened her eyes when she saw Yoona standing in front of her. The latter just smiled awkwardly and bowed her head respectfully.

“Yoona-ah, I wasn’t expecting you here today. Come in, please. It’s early, let me get you a cup of coffee…”

“Actually, u-umma, I just came here to tell you something. I’ll be very brief since I have to go to work.” Yoona said firmly, yet respectfully. She just wasn’t expecting to stumble over such a simple word like ‘umma’, but it was very hard for her to refer that way to the person who abandoned her, even if it wasn’t directly her fault. Mrs. Im nodded her head quickly and her cheeks turned a little bit pink.

“Oh, sorry. What is it that you need to tell me?” Mrs. Im gave Yoona a longing look; one that expressed how much she wanted to have a good mother-daughter relationship with her, but acknowledging that it would take a few years and a lot of healing for that to happen completely. She was just a mother; even if she hadn’t raised Yoona, no one could blame her for wanting to be close with her daughter.

“I’m leaving to Damyang today. Appa has been asking for me, and I think he wants to tell me the truth about you and my sister… I want you to come too.” Yoona blurted out. Mrs. Im widened her eyes; she hadn’t expected Yoona to follow through with that plan. “I know he never stopped loving you… He deserves to know that you’ve looked for me… for us.” Yoona finished. Mrs. Im kept silent for a few seconds, processing Yoona’s request.

“Of course I’ll go. If you want, you can cancel your train tickets and my driver can take us. It’ll be faster.” Mrs. Im suggested. She looked down at her feet before meeting Yoona’s gaze. She looked slightly anxious now. “… but if you’re going to Damyang with me… I need to take you somewhere.”

“Alright… where?” Yoona asked curiously, narrowing her eyes. Mrs. Im swallowed the lump in as she willed herself to speak.

“Your sister’s grave.”

A/N: Hey, awesome readers! Sorry about the delay X.X Thankfully I managed to make this update long enough to make up for these past two weeks, hehe. This fic has reached the 100 subbers and I couldn’t be more thankful for all the support. You guys are the best. Thank you for reading, and you know comments, votes and subscriptions mean a lot :)