Disclaimer: I would like everyone who started reading this again to know how important it is to me that you as much as returned to even giving this a chance. My heart is full and my mind is driven. Thank you so much. To the following people, who took the time to comment: RavensHaven, Trackstar, yoyusic, bluelyps27 thank you so very much. Before I posted the updated a few days ago I told myself that I will be okay with one comment and a couple of views, that will be enough for me to continue this, but for you to comment and give me words of encouragement, it truly means a lot. It isn’t an easy task to put oneself back together—sometimes it takes too much but other times it takes simple things for me to push myself, and you have given me enough drive to feel a lot better about ending the story. As for my new subscribers, God Bless your souls! This one’s for you, too.

Again, this truly is for you, and for me.

Chapter 8

Dance Backwards Into Each Other

Im Yoona was probably some species of snake. Yuri was certain about that at one point. When that point would be? That would be right now.

The celebrity, upon arriving at the café trio’s apartment, giving both Sunny and Seohyun very formal and famous-person bows, she walks into Yuri’s room, shedding an article of clothing one at a time—bag nearest the door, socks next to it, scarf thrown to the side, coat next to that one, and jeans—

‘HEY—WHOA—WHOA!’

Yuri immediately turns around beet red upon realizing Yoona was very casually ing her jeans, completely forgetting the fact that Yoona was very much disorganized.

‘You could warn me!’

She hears Yoona giggle, and after a few sounds of shuffling, she feels warm and slender fingers wrap around her elbows, beckoning her to turn back around.

‘I’m done.’

That smile was impossible, Yuri decides.

‘Done bothering me you mean?’ Yuri scoffs.

Nope. She didn’t think that smile could get any more playful.

‘Oh, I bother you?’ Yoona asks, tilting her head a little to the side as she eyes Yuri sideways.

Yuri snorts.

‘Okay, now that’s pushing it,’ Yuri said as she gently pushes Yoona to sit on her bed. ‘Sit. We need to talk about sleeping arrangements if we’re going to live like this.’

Yoona is on the verge of laughter. Yuri was very sure of that with the way the other girl was biting her lower lip.

‘What is it now?’ Yuri says, sounding close to being exasperated.

‘One—‘ Yoona slides her index finger down the slope of Yuri’s shoulders very, very agonizingly slow, ‘—so we are going to live like this?’

‘O—Oh, was I actually given a choice?’ Yuri tried to sound sarcastic, but her ears and the little tickle in her voice definitely made her sound less mocking and more comical.

‘Two—‘ this time, Yoona emphasized how she uncurls her fore finger, stretching two fingers out now, and slides them back up all the way to the now reddening Yuri’s chin, ‘I don’t mind being pushed into your bed once in a wh—‘

‘—OKAY!’ Yuri comically flails her limbs as she frees herself from Yoona’s enchantment.

Yoona breaks out laughing.

‘Seriously?’

Yoona was still laughing. Yuri decides she was actually cute being all happy and less bratty that she herself was subconsciously smiling at the younger girl’s antics.

‘You should have seen your face,’ Yoona says as she finally stops laughing to catch her breath.

‘You should seriously stick to doing that to interested people,’ Yuri says as she started making the bed. Then, something came to mind—something she forgot to maybe clarify. She was not even certain why she needed to.

‘—like maybe your boyfriend.’

Yoona’s happy demeanor visibly drops.

‘He’s not my boyfriend.’

Yuri’s eyebrows probably perked up, because in a second, Yoona smiles very playfully at her again.

‘So I do bother you?’ Yoona poked Yuri’s side with a painted nail.

‘OKAY!’ Yuri huffed. ‘That’s probably too much fun for you now!’

Then, Yoona was laughing again.

.

.

.

‘You know—‘ Yuri struggled to say as she shifts in Yoona’s embrace. God did this girl loved to spoon. ‘I think I clarified at one point of our conversation on sleeping arrangements a while ago that I don’t like too much physical contact.’

Silence.

‘Yoona?’

Silence.

‘Yooooooooona?’

Silence.

‘Yah. Im Yoona.’

Nothing.

Yuri groans, which curiously jolted Yoona.

Yuri would have counted that as a success, however she feels a smack to the back of her head instead.

‘I’m trying to sleep,’ came the very entitled response.

Yuri couldn’t find a better response for that. It was beyond unbelievably entitled.

‘I probably sinned. That’s probably it. I sinned and God is punishing me so bad that—‘

Another smack to the head.

‘Sleep, Kwon Yuri,’ Yoona very nonchalantly says as she buries her face into Yuri’s nape.

Well. Looks like there would be no sleeping for Kwon Yuri tonight again.

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.

.

Yuri probably fell asleep. She wasn’t sure how long. She couldn’t bring herself to move to take a peek at her alarm clock. She probably fell asleep, because right now she was no longer spooned by Im Yoona.

Instead, she was facing the actress, and oddly enough, she couldn’t move despite not being tangled in the other girl’s limbs. Was it the distance? Earlier that night Yuri was sure it should have been the distance that bothered her—

But it wasn’t.

There was a glint budding at the corner of the other girl’s visible eye—the one unhidden by her tousled hair. That bothered her.

Yuri was always a focused person; she would always know what to do. But why did this girl always push her towards cluelessness? Or was it helplessness? She decided that was something she’d settle some other time—

--for tonight, Im Yoona came first.

She brings a thumb to Yoona’s eye and brushes the tears away.

Yoona shifts then her brows furrowed even as she slept.

Yuri’s hand drew back an inch. She didn’t want to wake Yoona, but she didn’t like how heavily the other girl slept as well. Her hand twitched. She didn’t know exactly where to do with them. Helplessness, indeed.

Kwon Yuri sighed softly as she decided. She brings her hands on the mattress and slowly slides them upward under the pillow where she finds Yoona’s colder hands. She closes her eyes as her fingers closed around the other girl’s, occasionally brushing her thumbs over Yoona’s knuckles.

She would sleep now. That was something she was certain about now.

.

.

.

Yoona hated the night more than a regular work day—

Of course, until she felt Kwon Yuri’s rough and calloused fingers wrap around her hand under the pillow.

She cautiously opens her eyes, not wanting to be caught awake. She’d rather pretend she had memory loss right then and there than be caught staring at anyone.

Yuri’s eyes were closed. That should be okay, but somehow it isn’t.

Because Kwon Yuri’s eyelashes, she just noticed, were very, very long and thick, and the bridge of her nose was a slope she could always find time to have her gaze slide up and down at one point in the night.

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.

.

Yuri woke up early as usual, and with the morning rush she didn’t bother to wake Yoona. She was sure the other girl had her own activities today.

Her own itinerary for the day: coffee shop shift for three hours this morning, school after lunch, homework at the library for an hour, then coffee shop double shift in the evening.

Hmm. Just before walking out of her room, she started thinking about where Yoona fits in that schedule.

She shrugs instead, opting to just think about it later. After all, Yoona was a capable and independent woman—

She groans however. Something is still bothering her.

She decided, however, that Yoona will worm her way into schedule anyway.

She shrugs again as she went out of her room door and out of the apartment.

.

.

.

That definitely ruined Yoona’s mood. Well, not that it wouldn’t be further ruined by the news that she was probably going to be paired off with Ok Taecyon for the movie she just recently risked being in public for again.

However, she was Im Yoona, and that meant she needed nothing rational to justify why she had to feel that irked. In the middle of the script adjustments meeting she had to attend, she shoots Kwon Yuri a very, very Yoona text.

Kwon Yuri, you will eat barbecue for dinner with me.

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In the middle of class, her phone vibrates and Kwon Yuri did not appreciate that. She decided it wasn’t something she needed to immediately address. Besides, she got a peek of the number, she wasn’t familiar with it, however it did seem like the same number that tried to call her yesterday.

The message preview did show up anyway though.

Kwon Yuri, you will eat barbecue for dinner with me.

Well. She didn’t hate barbecue, and what was that she said about worms and Yoona earlier today?

Right.

‘Hey,’ Tiffany whispers from behind her.

Yuri tilts her head a little, beckoning for Tiffany to proceed.

‘I’m eating at the café tonight. Want to do homework there, too?’

Yuri’s eyes narrowed with a twitch—not because she was annoyed, but because she knew nothing can stop Im Yoona’s plans. Besides, it didn’t seem like “Kwon Yuri, you will eat barbecue for dinner with me” was a question or a request. It was truth. Im Yoona truth.

‘I can’t.’

‘Is this you saying no to homework? What went and finally tugged your reigns loose?’

‘Barbecue,’ Kwon Yuri answered with nearly a groan.

‘Barbecue?’ Tiffany questioned with a lively brow raised.

‘Yes—‘ Yuri looked thoughtful for a second, tentative ‘—and Im Yoona.’

Tiffany chortled, earning her a glare from the lecturer. She bites her lower lip and waves a hand in apology.

‘That’s new. I thought she was dating that Ok guy?’

‘She isn’t,’ was Yuri’s quick answer, and she immediately regrets how fast she answered that. Tiffany was a Sociology major and people from that region of the academe were big on implications.

‘Should I be curious?’

There was definitely amusement in that particular tone Tiffany used.

‘Would you be less curious if I said you should not?’

‘Obviously,’ Tiffany says with a chuckle again.

‘Ms. Hwang, this will be the first time you are getting on my bad side so I will probably let today slide,’ the lecturer says, voice too stern to be taken seriously. ‘What is so interesting?’

‘Barbecue,’ Tiffany nearly chokes as she tried to answer casually against the urge to laugh.

.

.

.

Number one, Kwon Yuri was not sure how this particular barbecue was going to work. For starters, Yoona had yet to tell her anything else apart from the text she sent a while ago.

Now that Yuri thought about it more, she was starting to regret cancelling on work today. That message could have been from anybody else. A stalker? Right, she wasn’t famous to earn a stalker.

Sunny was very happy though. She was awfully happy that Kwon Yuri was “finally living her life”. Yuri would not forget how happy she was, she had to say that last phrase over and over anyways.

Number two, Kwon Yuri wouldn’t know what to wear in such occasions. Well, that’s if this barbecue date did turn out to be Yoona’s threat—err, invitation.

Go outside. I know you’re at the café.

Well, that somehow addresses dilemma number one. Definitely Yoona.

As she bids Sunny and Seohyun goodbye and steps out of the café, she found herself immediately looking down at her everyday clothing.

That limousine definitely was Yoona’s. She’d hate to be found anywhere near it or in it—not with the clothes she was wearing. Well—or her overall person.

One of the many limo windows slide down to reveal a disgruntled Sooyoung.

‘Listen, kid—‘ she starts ‘—I like you and all, but you can’t be seen with Yoona so she had me fetch you. Now, come in. My game is paused and I hate pausing.’

Yuri quickly but still albeit tentatively enters the limo as soon as Sooyoung kicks a door open.

‘Um—‘ Yuri looks around the car’s interior, which effectively makes Sooyoung look up from her pad’s screen, ‘where are we going?’

‘I’m meant to take you to the pier. Our guys down there are waiting to stuff you in a barrel and throw you into the ocean,’ Sooyoung deadpans.

‘Ah, Yoona’s house then,’ Yuri concludes.

‘You’re smart. I really like you.’ Sooyoung says as her attention returns to her paused puzzle game. ‘Don’t worry. She’s actually a decent cook.’

.

.

.

As soon as Yuri was dropped off at “Casa del Imp” (as Sooyoung would call it with emphasis on the p sound), she almost considered that maybe she will be stuffed in a barrel at one point—

Because the house was huge—the kind of huge that would only serve as a criminal overlord base in the movies. It was mainly zen and Mediterranean with the actual house ridiculously far from the lot gate.

She tentatively pushes the glass door open and cringes immediately at the idea of glass doors and walls. There is nothing secure about it, but she did see Yoona moving about the kitchen in a cute little ruffley apron.

Number three, it would seem she doesn’t know how this works either.

‘Hey,’ she chooses to say, but she fought the itch to smack her own forehead with her chosen greeting.

Yoona looks up from the glorious food she was plating and offers Yuri a smile the former had only seen today. Tentative, was it? Shy?

‘Hi,’ Yoona says through a breath and a smile. She then beckons for Yuri to sit at the ridiculously long table nearby. ‘Sit.’

Yuri mock salutes, and her hand twitches again.

‘So you actually cook,’ Yuri starts—an attempt to divert the spotlight away from her silly attempts at socializing. ‘That food looks glorious.’

‘Thank you,’ Yoona said with a smile—easier and free this time, ‘I actually haven’t cooked for anyone in a while.’

‘Oh, when was the last time?’

Yoona looked thoughtful as she expertly sets the table.

‘For my mom, I think?’

Mom. A long time ago.

Yuri’s hand twitches for different reasons this time as she watched Yoona settle herself on the seat next to Yuri.

These are words dangerously familiar to Yuri, and if she could relate then that wasn’t a pretty setup. Yuri chose a safer response.

‘She must love being cooked for by you then,’ Yuri tried to be cheery with that one, but without diverting her eyes from Yoona who suddenly seemed unable to look at her, suddenly very torn between choosing the right condiments to put near Yuri’s table space and slicing a bite from the grilled sirloin on Yuri’s plate.

‘She sure did.’

Did.

That was certainly another red light Yuri needed to avoid if Yoona wouldn’t openly talk about it.

‘Open up,’ Yoona says as she holds a fork of meat for Yuri.

Number four, Yuri was not entirely sure how this is done. Never was she pampered this way. Besides, it’s Yoona, she wasn’t sure where to place such interactions.

She gulps an imaginary lump down she wasn’t sure was there before taking the bite into .

Dilemma number four was quickly ignored anyway for Yoona was a wonderful cook. The burst of flavor was definitely something else.

‘Oh, wow,’ Yuri groans, ‘you should quit the show business and get into the food business.’

Yoona laughs as she proceeded to slice another bite for herself, but the very, very fleeting downcast weight in the actress’ eyes was something Yuri didn’t fail to see.

‘Is—‘ number five, she was not sure when she would be invading, but she had to ask. Yoona has been invading plenty anyway. ‘Is everything alright?’

‘Yes,’ Yoona offers another smile and another bite.

‘Sure, and I’m engaged to the Chairman of the North Korean Republic,’ Yuri deadpans, refusing to take the bite albeit with great effort.

Yoona actually chuckles now, and sighs as Yuri finally took the bite.

‘It’s work.’

‘Ah, fake boyfriend?’

‘Fake boyfriend,’ Yoona says with a nod as she continues to feed Yuri, who seemed a lot more relaxed than minutes ago.

‘What about him?’ Yuri tried her best to not seem very interested.

‘My manager?’

‘Jessica-sshi?’

Yoona nods, ‘Her father, owner of the company, wants him to take the lead role for my next movie.’

Yuri pauses from chewing for a very noticeable second.

Yoona takes this instead as a cue to pour Yuri a glass of water.

Yuri swallows. Then, gulps down an entire glass of water. That isn’t alcohol, she tells herself.

‘Do—‘ Yuri clears ‘—do you think he’ll get the role?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do—‘ a gulp of a very known lump this time ‘—do you want him to?’

‘I really don’t mind.’

It was very safe to say Kwon Yuri really hated that answer, and also very safe to say she did not want to deal with the reasons why right now.

‘But if Jessica-unnie won’t be able to find ways to remove all of the kissing scenes from the original script, I’d hate to have to work with him.’

Number six, there was no kicking around this particular hideous bush this time; Kwon Yuri was definitely bothered now. She was so bothered she could renovate the entire café.