Seohyun opened the front door of her house, already knowing who had been knocking a few seconds before. She was greeted by the kind smile of Im Yoona, who waved at her excitedly. Her injured jawline looked slightly better and her doe-like eyes seemed to be swimming with happiness. Her thankfulness for what Seohyun was doing for her was palpable, and Seohyun felt damn good for it.

“You’re here, Yoona-unnie!” Seohyun greeted, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear in a move of nervousness. The doe-eyed girl nodded her head repeatedly.

“Yes, Luhan should be getting here any second with my things.” Yoona winked at Seohyun, making the younger girl blush profusely. Of course, it was no coincidence that Luhan had volunteered to help her move into Seohyun’s house; as soon as Yoona had told him that she was going to be living with Seohyun, he had gone mad making up plans of how to talk to her. Yoona knew she owed the boy the favor, even if Seohyun didn’t seem too interested in dating for the time being. The cashier boy made Yoona promise she’d introduce him to Seohyun after they were done settling Yoona’s stuff into the younger girl’s house. It didn’t take much convincing from the maknae to get Yoona to accept her offer; the doe-eyed girl was truly desperate and too in pain to look for any other cheap dorm. After Seohyun explained the situation with Hwayeon and that she needed someone to stay with her, the doe-eyed girl had accepted almost instantly, thinking that Seohyun was definitely a blessing. “Don’t worry, he’ll go as soon as we bring my things in.” Yoona explained, feeling uneasy by Seohyun’s silence.

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Seohyun answered quickly, waving her hand. Yoona nodded and the two girls were left in an awkward silence. Yoona was about to bring out a subject to talk about when a car parked outside Seohyun’s enormous house. Both girls recognized the driver as Luhan, who was sporting a big smile that revealed just how excited he was to be in his crush’s domains. He didn’t come alone, though; another Baru worker named Lay as well as Sunny and another girl that Yoona didn’t recognize made their way out of the car. Yoona furrowed her brows and gave Luhan a questioning stare. She didn’t know if Seohyun would be comfortable with so many people coming in and out of their house, especially if they were strangers.

“Yah, don’t look at me like that! Your things are heavy and I’m not that big.” Luhan defended himself as he approached the door porch. He waved at Seohyun shyly, and Seohyun waved back at him in the same way. To hide his blush, he lowered his head and casually messed with the beanie he was wearing. Yoona could only giggle silently.

“Just say it, Luhan, you’re a small guy.” Luhan turned his head to glare at Sunny and her companion, who only laughed at him. 

“Sunny-unnie, Sooyoung-unnie!” Seohyun greeted excitedly at the two girls who were following Luhan.

“Do you know them?” Yoona asked, furrowing her brows.

“Of course we know her; she’s one of our best friends. By the way: Yoona, this is Sooyoung, a friend of mine.” Sunny answered before Seohyun even had the chance to open . Yoona smiled widely and nodded her head towards the taller girl as a greeting. “And Seohyun, this handsome guy here is Lay. You must have seen him working at Baru sometimes.” Sunny introduced. Seohyun smiled shyly at the auburn-headed guy and waved at him, receiving a wave back.

“More like lazing around all day and making us do all the work.” Luhan replied, rolling his eyes and receiving a playful glare from Luhan.

“I work more than you do, all you do is stand behind that counter all day and tell us waiters and waitresses what to do.” Lay fired back, making Luhan blush. Everyone could notice how embarrassed he was for being humiliated in front of his crush.

“It’s too hot out here, let’s get this done.” Luhan commanded as he got his blush under control. All four of them agreed and began to move towards where Luhan’s car was parked. Seohyun was about to go and help, but as she thought things through, it probably wasn’t such a good idea for her to be out in the sun for long, so she just stood by the house’s porch. Soon, all four of them began to bring in boxes full of Yoona’s belongings. Seohyun silently guided them to the guest room upstairs that Yoona would occupy. Meanwhile, her guests could only admire how big and beautiful the house was. The doe-eyed girl couldn’t help but feel lucky to be able to stay in such a big house. As they were bringing the boxes in, Luhan suddenly leaned closer to Yoona.

“Remember our pact, noona.” He whispered, slightly out of breath as they were carrying the boxed belongings upstairs. Even if the boy was around a month older than Yoona, he still called the doe-eyed girl ‘noona’.

“I wouldn’t forget it, Luhan.” Yoona said with a chuckle, wincing as the bottom edge of the box she was carrying brushed against her battered side. “Why are you wearing a beanie anyways? It’s so hot that walking around is quite a tempting offer.” Luhan and Yoona dropped the boxes on the floor of them ample room.

“Sunny-noona said that beanies suit me and I figured I had to look my best for finally meeting Seohyun, don’t you think?” Luhan said smugly. Yoona could only chuckle at his failed cockiness.

“And that’s why you’re also wearing a shirt that reads ‘I’m awesome’?” Yoona asked in-between laughter. “You’re really helpless, Luhan.” The younger boy crossed his arms and glared at Yoona.

“And you really look like an alligator when you laugh.” He commented, smirking when Yoona suddenly stopped laughing. “But noona, I’m serious. I look good, right? Please tell me!” Luhan begged, bringing his hands together and pouting at her. Yoona gave him a gentle smile as she reached out to ruffle his beanie.

“You do, Luhan. I’m sure she’ll like you.” As soon as those words left , Yoona’s throat was suddenly filled with a bitter taste that she couldn’t really place or recognize.

“Yay! I hope you’re right, noona.” Luhan said, giving Yoona a wide smile. Soon, Sooyoung and Lay reached upstairs with a few more boxes.

“That’s it, Yoona.” Lay said, wiping the sweat off his brow. “There were no more boxes inside the car.”

“Let’s go downstairs, then.” Yoona suggested, giving Luhan last look and leading them downstairs.

Seohyun and Sunny were waiting for them with glasses of iced water to cool off. Once they were all done with it, they started heading out of the house, except for Yoona and Luhan. Before it could get too awkward, Yoona stood up and helped Seohyun get the now empty glasses of water to the sink. Luhan stood up and followed the two ladies, his heart thumping with anxiety and anticipation.

“Thank you, unnie.” Seohyun said politely. She was about to start doing the dishes when Yoona softly grabbed her wrist and prevented her from doing so.

“I want to formally introduce you to Luhan, my co-worker, but you’ve seen him at Baru already.” Yoona said, chuckling awkwardly. Seohyun turned towards Luhan and bowed at him, giving him a smile. Luhan bowed back, already feeling on cloud nine. “He’s a very good friend of mine even if we haven’t met for long. If it wasn’t for his persistence, I wouldn’t have gotten that job at Baru and I really needed it. He’s proven to be an awesome friend.” Yoona said honestly, smiling at Luhan. The younger boy could only smile back and scuff the toe of his shoe against the floor because of the appraisal he was getting.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Luhan.” Seohyun answered casually, even if she knew the reason behind the very special introduction Yoona was doing. The younger girl might have been naïve, but she definitely wasn’t dense.

“I-It’s nice to meet you too, Seohyun-ssi.” The boy answered shyly, his face heating up.

“Luhan is a very uncommon name…” Seohyun commented. Yoona could only watch with a smile; it was clear that neither of the two were experts at making new friends.

“Oh, it’s because Lu is my family name and Han is my first name. I’m Chinese, hehe…” Luhan explained. Seohyun nodded and the three fell into an awkward silence. The flustered boy looked at Yoona, silently asking her to break the ice.

“I didn’t know you were Chinese. Where were you born exactly?” Yoona asked.

“Beijing. I’m a city boy, I guess.” Luhan answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to Beijing!” Seohyun said excitedly. Luhan, who had gained a little more confidence by now, smiled at the younger girl’s excitement.

“If you do go one day, I could be your tour guide.” Luhan offered in a flirty way. Seohyun blushed and looked away.

“Thanks, Luhan-ssi.”

“I’d better go, the others are waiting and my afternoon shift will start soon. I hope to see you soon, Seohyun-ssi.” Luhan smiled charmingly and then waved good-bye at Yoona, mouthing a quick ‘thank you’. Then, he hurriedly exited the house. Once he was out, Seohyun turned to Yoona with a raised eyebrow.

“What can I say? He wanted me to introduce you guys. Sunny-unnie wouldn’t, and honestly I owe him too much.” Yoona answered, shrugging her shoulders. “I meant what I said… He’s a really nice guy a-and I think you should give him a shot.” Yoona rushed her statement, not really knowing why she would stutter over such simple words.

“I’ll… consider it. You should go and unpack your things. Do you need any help?” Yoona thought about it for a few seconds, knowing that the pain in her torso would definitely slow her down and make things harder. In the end, she decided she didn’t want to bother Seohyun with it because the girl was already doing so much for her.

“No, I got it.” Yoona answered, giving Seohyun a small smile and making her way upstairs.

…

Yoona straightened herself up as she heard footsteps approaching the room. Her sore body soon complained with little pulses of pain that shook her to the core, but she managed to put herself together before Seohyun approached her. The younger girl stopped for a moment when she reached the room’s doorway, admiring Yoona’s work at transforming the room. She was actually surprised at how much the dull guestroom had changed and almost felt the urge to thank Yoona for moving in.

“What do you think?” Yoona asked with a smile. Seohyun made her way into the room and looked around some more. The doe-eyed girl’s heart raced when Seohyun stopped in front of a family portrait Yoona had just hung on the wall.

“It looks so different. Are you going to be comfortable here?” The younger girl asked, not taking her eyes off the picture on the wall.

“Of course I will, Seohyun. I’d be comfortable even if you made me sleep on the couch!” Yoona exclaimed, running a hand through her hair. She was beginning to feel nervous about Seohyun staring so intently at the picture of her and her father, because she knew eventually it would lead to the dreaded question…

“That’s a very nice picture, unnie.” Yoona let go of the breath she had been holding and turned it into a sigh of relief.

“Thanks…” Yoona murmured awkwardly, desperately thinking of ways to avert Seohyun’s attention from the picture.

“It’s your appa, right? He looks like you.” Seohyun commented, turning to Yoona and giving her a sweet smile before turning her attention back to the picture.

“Oh, jinjja?” Yoona asked casually, still not coming up with something good enough to change subjects.

“Yeah, he looks just like you. Why isn’t your umma in the picture?” Yoona looked down at the floor and bit the inside of her lips. When the doe-eyed girl took too long to answer, Seohyun looked away from the picture and saw that Yoona looked quite uncomfortable.

“I… I don’t have a mother.” Seohyun’s face turned crimson red and she started fiddling with her own fingers, mentally scolding herself for being so snoopy.

“Oh… So is all your stuff unpacked?” The younger girl changed subjects lamely. Yoona met her eyes finally, looking a little bit more receptive than before.

“It is, actually. I thought it would take me longer to get rid of all those boxes.” Yoona commented, looking around and feeling quite satisfied with her work.

“Me too.” With that Seohyun took a few tentative steps towards Yoona. “I’m really glad and happy that you’re staying here, unnie.” The younger girl felt her face burning as those words left , but she was glad she had the courage to blurt them out.

“You stole my words, Seohyun. I’m almost a stranger to you, yet you’re letting me stay here for free… I wouldn’t have found that anywhere else.” Yoona whispered, all traces of her previous distaste long gone. Seohyun couldn’t help but blush harder at the deep stare Yoona was giving her. “I don’t know how to show you how thankful I am.” The doe-eyed girl finished. Seohyun was about shrug it off, telling Yoona that it was no big deal and that she was also doing her a favor by moving in, but Yoona surprised her by lunging forward and wrapping her arms around Seohyun’s shoulders. The younger girl stood unmoving and stiff for a few seconds, still processing the feeling of being held like that.

“I’m really, really thankful, Seohyunnie. I promise you won’t regret accepting me here.” Yoona whispered with her voice full of emotion. She just wished Seohyun could understand how moved and lucky she felt for meeting someone like her. Since the younger girl was still static and wasn’t returning the hug, Yoona was about to pull away embarrassedly and apologize, but Seohyun beat her to it. The younger girl sighed and slowly wrapped her arms around Yoona’s lower back, returning the hug. The doe-eyed girl smiled widely, even if Seohyun couldn’t see her, and unconsciously tightened her arms around the slightly shorter girl. Seohyun was getting more comfortable with the tender skinship, after all it had been a while since the last time someone had given her such a sincere hug. The younger girl locked her wrists behind Yoona’s back, mindlessly squeezing the doe-eyed girl. In that moment, Yoona hissed and unwrapped Seohyun’s arms from around her body in an act of reflex. Seohyun was startled, and soon became worried when she noticed Yoona’s pained expression and the way the doe-eyed girl’s hands that were wrapped around her own midsection.

“Yoona? Did I hurt you?” The younger girl asked innocently, stepping towards Yoona. The doe-eyed girl shook her head repeatedly and tried to stand up straight.

“A-Aniya… I just had an accident the other day…” Yoona explained, feeling the urge of throwing herself onto the floor and lying in a fetal position. “It was when I hurt my jaw too.”

“Come sit.” Seohyun quickly grabbed Yoona’s arm and led her to the bed. Yoona complied and let out a sigh when the pain diminished just a little. Seohyun sat next to her, but kept her distance due to shyness.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have squeezed you like that…” Seohyun trailed off, looking away from Yoona. The doe-eyed girl shook her head repeatedly, relieved that the terrible pain seemed to be fading away.

“I should have told you I was hurt from the beginning, but I didn’t want to worry you.” The doe-eyed girl whispered, looking at Seohyun apologetically.

“C-Can I see?” Seohyun asked in a whisper, her cheeks heating up instantly. Yoona also blushed at the question, but since she knew the younger girl’s intentions were to help her, she nodded and slowly pulled up her shirt. Seohyun gasped when she saw the purple bruise that adorned Yoona’s right side and hip. The doe-eyed girl lowered her head and pulled down her shirt, smiling sheepishly at Seohyun. “Omo, Yoona, that’s bad…” The doe-eyed girl grimaced.

“It’s not as bad as it was a few days ago.” Yoona comforted, giving Seohyun a side-smile.

“How did that happen?” Seohyun asked, tearing her eyes away from Yoona’s now covered torso and meeting her doe-like eyes.

“I was hit by a car while biking towards a possible new dorm…” Seohyun gasped again and Yoona couldn’t help but grimace, feeling bad for making Seohyun worry.

“Was it a hit and run?” The younger girl asked. Yoona shook her head.

“No, the guy gave me a ride home, some money and even volunteered to take me to the hospital. He was almost in tears when he saw my bike was destroyed.” Yoona looked into the pocket of her jeans and took out her wallet. “He gave me his card. His name is Yang Seungho and he’s the CEO of Mblaq Corp.”

“So he took you to the hospital?” Yoona lowered her head and started playing with the hem of her t-shirt. Seohyun widened her eyes.

“Not really, I don’t have medical insurance and it was going to be too expensive.” Seohyun shook her head and her chest felt heavy with worry. Yoona just averted her eyes, feeling truly embarrassed.

“But that’s serious, unnie…” Seohyun whispered, biting her lip afterwards. Yoona only nodded and puffed out a sigh. “You have to get it looked at.”

“I’ll do whenever I have the money to go to a clinic. Don’t worry about it for now; it really doesn’t hurt too bad.” Yoona tried to convince her, but the younger girl wouldn’t budge. She looked for her cellphone and scrolled down her list of contacts. “What are you doing, Hyunnie?” Seohyun felt the urge to smile due to the cute nickname, but managed to stay expressionless.

“I’m calling the family doctor. You have to get it looked at.” Yoona widened her eyes and stayed silent for a few seconds. Seohyun was already doing so much for her, how could she let her do that?

“No, don’t do that! I’m fine, seriously!” Yoona bolted up and started doing jumping jacks. “See? I’m perfectly—Ow!” Yoona yelped in pain and stopped her jumping jacks, crouching down and rubbing her right hip. The pain had come back and twice worse than before. Maybe doing those jumping jacks wasn’t such a good idea… “I-I’m just a little out of shape…” She lied dully, trying to justify herself. Seohyun was staring at her with a raised eyebrow and a small amused smile playing on her full lips.

“Right. I’ll try to get you an appointment for tomorrow.” Seohyun brought her phone to her ear and Yoona sighed in defeat. Now, there was no way she was going to convince Seohyun to not do the call.

“I’ll warn you, Seohyun, I’m poor. I can’t afford the appointment.” Yoona whispered as she sat back down on the bed. The younger girl examined the slightly sad expression on Yoona’s visage and couldn’t help but pity her, and the urge to help her in everything she could took over.

“My medical insurance can cover it.” Seohyun assured with a smile, placing a hand on Yoona’s knee. The doe-eyed girl nodded her head and listened closely as Seohyun made the call. Once the younger girl hung up, she gave Yoona a wide smile.

“He can have us tomorrow at noon. Is that a good time for you?” The doe-eyed girl nodded her head and returned the smile Seohyun was giving her.

“It sounds like you really trust that doctor, huh?” The younger girl nodded and bit her bottom lip lightly.

“He has been my doctor since I was little, when I fell sick.” Seohyun explained, making Yoona furrow her brows.

“What happened to you? I mean, if you want to talk about it.” Yoona’s cheeks reddened at her forwardness, but she felt relieved soon when Seohyun shrugged her shoulders and made a vague gesture.

“It’s okay, unnie. You’re living here now and you deserve to know. When I was nine years old, I was playing in the backyard and I stepped on a barbed wire. I didn’t bleed too much so I figured it was nothing serious, and I didn’t tell my parents because I knew they’d ground me for playing outside being barefooted. In the next couple of days, I started feeling nausea, dizziness and I even passed out in class. My parents took me to the doctor and it turned out I had some kind of blood poisoning called Septicemia that had originated in the veins of my foot. I think it’s fair to say I was close to dying; I was even bedridden for six months and lost my school year. Since then I’ve been on antibiotics because the blood poisoning takes time to disappear and sometimes it never does. The antibiotics have kept me alive, but they have like a cycle of side-effects; sometimes I’m perfectly fine and then one day I don’t even have enough energy to stand on my feet. That’s what my doctor calls a ‘relapse’ and it can take from a week to a whole month.” Seohyun explained, averting Yoona’s gaze.

“Wow… But you look so healthy, Seohyun.” The younger girl chuckled lowly.

“You say that now when you see me at my best. I doubt you might ever want to see me when I’m sick.” Seohyun said solemnly. Yoona kept her brows furrowed, still struggling to imagine a sick Seohyun. “My doctor says it’s not recommendable for me to live alone. I’m almost completely dependent when I have my relapses. I managed to do without much help, but still, it’s not good for me to be so alone. I told a friend I was worried about you not finding a place to stay in, and she suggested that I should ask you to move in with me. That way we’d both be helping each other.” Seohyun explained. She expected the doe-eyed girl to be second-guessing her stay already, not knowing that that was the last thing on Yoona’s mind.

“What about your parents, Seohyun? Do they live too far from here?” Seohyun bit her lip and her chest suddenly felt tight with pain. She should have expected that question to come sooner than later.

“They’re… gone.” She responded in a small voice, praying that Yoona wouldn’t ask further. The doe-eyed girl frowned, placing a hand on Seohyun’s shoulder.

“Sorry to hear that…” She trailed off. Seohyun finally met her gaze and Yoona took advantage of the moment to give Seohyun the best smile she could muster. “I promise you won’t regret having me here, Seohyun. From now on, I got you and you got me.” Yoona said, lightly squeezing Seohyun’s shoulder. The younger girl couldn’t help but return the smile and place her hand on top of Yoona’s on her shoulder.

The next morning.

Yoona tip-toed into Seohyun’s room with extremely caution, mentally praying that the younger girl wouldn’t consider this an audacity and mostly trying to not wake the angelic maknae up. Seohyun lied in her bed, sound asleep, and with the covers up to her chin. As Yoona set the tray with recently-made breakfast down on Seohyun’s nightstand, the coffee mug made a quite loud clinking sound against the tray. Yoona shut her eyes and held her breath, mentally cursing at herself for not being more careful.

“Hmm? Yoona-unnie?” The addressed girl turned around swiftly and was met with an adorable sight; Seohyun was now sitting on the bed, rubbing her eyes. She must be a light sleeper, Yoona concluded, feeling down now that her plan had been spoiled.

“Uh, yeah, sorry I woke you up. I made this for you and I wanted to leave it here before I leave to Baru.” Yoona explained, picking up the breakfast tray with from Seohyun’s nightstand. Her cheeks reddened when Seohyun stopped rubbing her eyes and looked at the tray appreciatively. Yoona took Seohyun’s silence as an opportunity to approach the bed and place the tray on the younger girl’s lap.

“O-Omo… You didn’t have to…” Seohyun finally looked up at Yoona, giving her a breathtaking smile. Yoona ran a hand through her hair and smiled back sheepishly.

“I wanted to.” Yoona said simply, sitting on the edge of the bed, in front of Seohyun. She watched intently as the younger girl began eating the healthy buttermilk crepe. Seohyun hummed and closed her eyes as she swallowed.

“This is so good, unnie. Thank you so much.” Seohyun said. Yoona blushed and smiled contentedly at her accomplishment.

“I’m glad. I’d better go now, my shift starts in an hour.” The doe-eyed girl said, looking at her watch. She wanted to stay a little longer with Seohyun so they could chat, but considering she only had her recently-fixed bike as a way of transportation, she’d better go out with anticipation.

“Don’t you have classes today?” The younger girl asked, furrowing her brows and continuing to eat her breakfast.

“Three nightly classes, actually. Don’t worry, I’ll make it to the appointment.” The doe-eyed girl gave Seohyun a lopsided smile.

“Arasseo. Have a good day.” The younger girl responded as Yoona stood up from the bed.

“You too, Hyunnie. Call me if you need anything.” Seohyun nodded and watched Yoona make her way out of her room. As she was left all alone, Seohyun couldn’t help but smile to herself and continue eating, thinking that she had definitely made the best choice the moment she asked Yoona to move in with her.

Later, at Baru Vegan Restaurant.

When Yoona entered the restaurant, she was surprised to see almost all the waiters and waitresses bunched up around the counter. The doe-eyed girl furrowed her brows and made her way to where they all were. The restaurant was about to open and she was surprised that the obedient Baru workers weren’t all in their places, ready to attend the coming costumers.

“So you think I should ask her out to eat? Where to?” Yoona heard Luhan’s voice from inside the crowd. The doe-eyed girl puffed out a sigh, already guessing what this was all about.

“She appears to likes salads, a lot.” Tao, one of Baru’s cooks, brought out. All the others nodded their heads, turning to Luhan. The kid-like guy tapped his chin and thought for a few seconds.

“I might as well bring her here, the food would be free!” Luhan exclaimed, smiling widely. There was a collective groan and some verbal attacks towards Luhan’s not-so-ingenious idea.

“She comes here every day, can’t you think of somewhere else? There are like a hundred vegan restaurants in Seoul!” Lizzy, a waitress, said exasperatedly, reaching out to knock Luhan’s head.

“What are you guys doing?” Yoona decided to in. All heads turned to her as they all realized she had arrived. They were so focused on the task at hand that neither of them had noticed Yoona’s presence at all.

“Look, Luhan, she can help you!” Suho, a waiter, nodded towards Yoona. The doe-eyed girl raised an eyebrow at them.

“Yoona-ssi, would you like to be a part of the ‘SeoHan’ operation?” Lay asked. Luhan looked at her with a puppy-dog look that could soften the devil’s heart. Still, the doe-eyed girl pondered for a little.

It sounded like a nice plan, and considering how dense Luhan was, it could even turn out to be pretty fun to hook SeoHan up. Luhan had helped her before, why wouldn’t she do the same for him? Still, even if she went over the good possibilities of the plan, there was a feeling in her gut that kept telling her to say ‘no’.

“Sure, I will.” Luhan fist-pumped and soon their co-workers started cat-calling and wishing him good luck. Yoona smiled lightly, feeling satisfied by seeing Luhan so happy. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sunny shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

The Baru workers dispersed and went to their respective places as some others opened the restaurant, welcoming the costumers who were already waiting outside. Yoona stood unmoving for a few seconds before she snapped out of it and put on her working suit. Inwardly, she was regretting her decision of getting Luhan and Seohyun together, and she didn’t even know why.

…

A/N: I didn’t think this was going to be so long, but well… :P What can I do? I hope you liked the shy and sweet Yoonhyun interaction ^^ Thanks for reading! Also, YulTi and Taengsic will have their spotlight soon ;)