Chapter 2

Yuri didn't know why she did it, but after all, she had been doing it for the last few days anyway.

Maybe out of boredom? She had nothing to do in the dorm anyway, and it was still early.

She hated wasting the day away.

Yuri tugged on a pair of jeans and wrapped a scarf around herself, not before throwing on a thick jacket.

It was almost winter and it was smart to dress warmly, and in Yuri's case: she didn't want to get recognized as who she was--Kwon Yuri.

She made her way quickly to the coffee shop that she frequented and bought the same thing again--White Coffee.

This time, she bought a chocolate frappe for herself too, so that she could have something to wake her up properly.

Quickening her steps to Dongguk University, she managed to slip through the gates again and stealthily made her way up to the library and to that designated table that Yoona was always at.

"Hey, Blanky!" She called, smiling when she saw that familiar head of silky hair.

Yoona turned her head, eyes widening when she realised who it was.

"Yuri, I can't accept this again. I've been accepting it for a long time, now." Yoona said.

"I felt like it, and I was bored," laughed Yuri, pushing the cup across the desk to Yoona.

When Yoona didn't touch it, Yuri said, "I really want to do this, so accept it, okay?"

Yoona took a sip and smiled, "Thanks."

"Where's your friend?" Yuri asked, jutting her chin to the seat that Sunny had originally been sitting in a few days ago. 

Yuri had already been buying coffee for Yoona then and Sunny had, of course, made use of the chance to get more autographs and selcas with Yuri.

Maybe it was Yuri, and she had 3 years of experience of being an idol, but she knew how to dodge crowds and hide with relatively good disguises.

"Overseas," sighed Yoona wistfully.

Yuri nodded in response and they both sat in comfortable silence until a voice rang out,

"Kwon Yuri is in school!"

*

Yuri jumped.

She literally did, out of her seat.

But in a second's time, pupils were streaming into the library, all holding cameras and phones and bits of paper for Yuri's signature to be on them.

Yuri sighed mentally as a male fan came up, asking, "Hey, can I take a photograph with you, please?"

Yuri nodded, because Wooyoung would kill her if she decided to just ditch all the fans.

A forced smile made its way onto her face.

Yoona sat by the corner quietly, knowing that this would have happened sooner or later.

If things got too out of hand, she knew what to do.

It was then she realised that she had been thinking of Kwon Yuri much more than she had wanted to.

She shook that thought away and continued sipping at her coffee that Yuri had bought for her, watching as more students piled into the library, camera flashes blinding her slightly.

"Kwon Yuri!"

"Yuri unnie!"

"Yul noona!"

"Saranghae, Yuri!"

Yuri was forced into a chair and she started signing autographs resignedly, giving the occasional smile so that articles wouldn't come out of her being rude to fans.

Just then, someone, presumably a hater (there were as many haters as fans, Yuri could say) threw something in Yuri's direction that hit her on her exposed calf.

It had to be something sharp because a cut with blood was springing out on her leg. It was rather deep, with the sides of the cut being jagged.

Yoona shot up straight from her seat and made her way through the crowd, pushing here and shoving there.

She pushed her way through the hysterical fans, gripping Yuri's wrist and mouthing, "follow me, you have to follow me."

Yuri did, bearing the searing pain in her thigh as Yoona shoved through the protesting crowd.

More camera flashes came and this time, agitated yells appeared as well.

Yoona didn't stop until they were outside the school and had found a place in the alley leading to the other side of the road.

They caught their breaths, and Yoona realised that her fingers were still clasped around Yuri's wrist.

She let go shyly, brushing her sweaty palms on her shorts as she panted.

"I...are you okay?" Yoona asked first, bringing her hand across her forehead to wipe away the glistening sheen of sweat.

Yuri managed a shaky smile and ignored the blood running down her calf, making a puddle on the floor.

"I'm fine, thank you..." She said softly.

"You're not," Yoona said, kneeling down as well to examine the cut.

She could hear bated breaths coming from Yuri and her worry intensified.

"It's deep, your cut is deep." Yoona muttered, fumbling in her pocket for a piece of tissue paper--hopefully she had brought some.

She didn't.

She used her shirt sleeve to start soaking up some of the blood and took off her cardigan, completely wrapping it around Yuri's leg.

"I can use my--"

"You just keep quiet. Don't worry so much," Yoona assured, although it was less than twenty degrees and she was freezing without her jacket.

"Let's go," murmured Yoona, extending a hand for Yuri to hold.

"I--"

Yoona swallowed and squatted down, motioning for Yuri to get on her back.

"You'll collapse. I'm heavy." Yuri warned, but before she knew what was happening, Yoona had her fingers around both of the underside of her thighs, hefting the older girl up.

Yuri blushed.

"I'm strong," Yoona said, and although her arms were shaking slightly, she was coping.

Yuri chewed on her lower lip and followed as Yoona said, "Wrap your arms around my neck--yeah, so that you don't fall over."

As Yoona placed one step in front of the other, breathing getting heavier and heavier with each step, Yuri continued to say, "It's okay, I can walk."

But every time she did, Yoona would give a short shake of her head and reply, "I'm okay, I'm fine," when actually her arms felt like they were breaking and she would do anything for her legs to have some rest. Not to mention the freezing weather that caused Yoona's teeth to chatter.

"You're cold," Yuri said matter-of-factly, trying to wriggle out of her thick jacket while Yoona walked labouredly.

"I'm--not--" this time, the chatters were so loud and evident that Yuri shirked out of her jacket and laid it across Yoona's shoulders.

Her hands came up to rub Yoona's bare arms, hopefully generating some warmth for the younger.

Yoona felt more goosebumps rise and she said, "Don't--"

Yuri immediately stopped.

"I...I'm sorry, I just don't like the idea of touching," Yoona muttered quietly, although a smile made its way onto her face for the warmth that Yuri had attempted to give her.

"It's okay, we'll do it one step at a time." Yuri assured, as Yoona reached a penthouse with metal clanging gates.

"You're rich," Yuri said.

"I'm guessing you are, too," Yoona laughed, fumbling for her key.

Once the piece of metal was in her hand, she tried to stuff it into the keyhole and turn, but it wasn't working.

"Hey, Yuri, can you--"

"Okay, give the key to me,"

Yuri told Yoona to bend and the younger did, letting Yuri slide the key easily into the lock and twist.

"Okay, let's go in," said Yoona, but just after she took the key back from Yuri, she dropped it.

"Sorry, it's just...my fingers..." Yoona said, kneeling down again to retrieve the key.

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Yuri slid off Yoona's back before Yoona could disagree, wincing slightly as she landed hard on her left leg, the one with the cut.

"Ow," she muttered quietly, swiping the key from the floor and handing it to Yoona.

Yoona said, "get back on my back."

Yoona opened the wooden door and they staggered in, one from the cold, the other from an injury.

Yoona, with one hand on Yuri's waist and the other on Yuri's shoulder, to stabilise her, told Yuri to sit on her bed once they reached the bedroom.

The curtains were drawn and the sun was starting to set, adding to the mounting darkness and Yuri's spiralling fear.

"Sit here, and wait." She told Yuri.

"Where're you--"

"I'm going to get the first-aid kit, just give me a mo--"

Solid fingers wrapped around Yoona's wrist.

"No, stay here with me," Yuri pleaded, tugging slightly.

"Just a few seconds," smiled Yoona, but Yuri shook her head stubbornly.

"Bear with it for a few moments, if not your leg might get infected," Yoona frowned slightly.

With reluctance evident, Yuri let go of Yoona's hand and waited as the younger went to get medication for her bad leg.

Yuri swallowed and a fresh bead of sweat coated her hairline as she drummed her fingers on the bed, hoping that Yoona would return soon, just soon.

*

Yuri remembered, rather vividly, how her mother had left her.

It was a chilly October night many years ago and her mother had left her wallet at some dinner function. They were just across the street from the location and her mother had left her by the other side of the road, leaving the last few words,

"Yuri, stay here and wait for me. I'll be back very soon, okay?"

It was dark at that time and Yuri, who was still around four, didn't feel as frightened.

Yuri had nodded, clutching her soft toy closer to herself as she saw her mother walk across the road.

Just then, a lorry (Yuri was still foggy, unsure of who was actually at fault--her mother, for "jaywalking"; or the driver for not looking properly and not turning on his headlights) drove past and knocked her mother down.

Yuri remembered hearing a sickening crunch before all was silent.

The lorry driver drove off and then thunder came, followed closely by lightning and heavy rain.

One of her mother's colleagues had found Yuri, crying and helpless by a tree once the rain had stopped and brought her home.

Yuri had waited exactly two hours by herself in the darkness.

The driver was caught soon after and forced to go to jail and pay a fine.

Yuri smiled bitterly at the thought of that night as she saw Yoona re-enter the room.

Somehow, seeing this girl in front of her, determined to heal the cut for Yuri, with her concentrated face and furrowed brows, eased Yuri slightly.

She found that she could breathe easier with her around.

Yuri didn't want to think why: her stomach lurched with guilt every time Jessica crossed her mind.

*

Yoona carefully untied her cardigan from Yuri's leg, trying not to blanch as she saw it a purple reddish colour. No--not the cardigan (if it was the cardigan, Yoona would be so relieved), but the cut.

"We need to bring you to the hospital tomorrow to get that checked," said Yoona as she unrolled a piece of gauze to dab the blood away.

"It's okay," Yuri muttered, flinching visibly as Yoona pressed the gauze slightly against the cut.

"It's bad, it's very bad, Yuri, you need to go to the doctor's."

Yuri gave Yoona a brief smile as the younger went to the washroom to wet the piece of cotton and wipe all the blood off.

She then proceeded to pour anti-bacterial liquid onto the cotton and trailed it lightly around the cut.

Yuri scrunched up her face in pain and tried her best not to gasp. Her fists clenched the bed sheet around her.

As she opened one eye, she saw that Yoona was holding a hand out to her.

It was a first. Yoona never initiated skin contact.

"Take my hand," she said, barely audible, and Yuri did.

Yuri threaded her fingers through Yoona's, squeezing when it hurt the most.

"Just squeeze it when it hurts, and I'll be gentler, okay?"

Yoona had asked her while unrolling a piece of bandage to stick to Yuri's leg.

"Is it fine?" Yoona asked, looking at the white bandage now in place of the originally bloody cut.

"Much better, thanks a lot," Yuri smiled, and it was not a lie.

She felt much more relieved.

"Really? You can stay the night, if you want. It's getting late."

"You'll have to sleep on the couch," Yuri pointed out smartly.

Normally, in her own dorm, she'd have Hyomin sleeping in the bed next to hers so that she didn't feel as lonely and scared.

"Yeah, but that's fine." Yoona said while placing her hands under the running water coming from the tap.

"I...can't sleep," Yuri professed quietly.

Yoona's mouth curved upward into a smile.

"I can bring the couch into the room," she offered.

Truthfully, her limbs ached and she wanted the large king-sized bed to herself, but she wasn't going to be picky.

Yuri thought about it.

She felt bad.

Yoona had done so many things for her today and it just left guilt springing in her heart.

"Okay, can you do that? I'll sleep on the couch." Yuri asked, playing with her fingers.

"No, you take the bed."

"I want to take the couch."

"You need a bath and a bed."

"So do you,"

"I don't need the bed!"

"I..."

Yoona silenced Yuri by laying a finger on Yuri's pouty lips.

"Shh, okay? Shh," Yoona muttered, leaning closer to Yuri.

Their lips were centimeters from touching and Yuri's fingers were clasping the cotton beneath.

Yuri gave a nod and Yoona smiled before leaning back.

"Good."

*

"Here,"

Yoona's fingers held something in them.

"What's that?" Yuri asked curiously, opening her palm.

Yoona placed the object into Yuri's outstretched hand, Yuri noticing that Yoona's cheeks were unnaturally red.

"It's a...you don't have to be so scared of darkness, you know? It's just a...a...token?" Yoona muttered, turning away slightly so that Yuri could not see her heated face.

"A token?" Yuri smiled to herself, the four-leaved clover pendant.

"It's cute," Yuri breathed.

"It's for you," Yoona smiled, a little bashfully, as she kept her eyes on the floor.

"To tell me that I don't need to be afraid of darkness?" Yuri mused.

"Yes, because that represents me, and if you carry it around with you, I'll be with you." Yoona's smile grew wider by a little after she had gotten that off her chest.

"Okay," Yuri promised, "I'll carry it around every day."

*

"I'll take a bath first, just...you know, make yourself at home, okay?"

Yuri nodded, smiling gratefully at Yoona.

Yoona returned the smile before closing the bathroom door behind her.

Curiosity overwhelmed Yuri and she carefully shifted her weight to her right leg before trying to stand up.

It worked.

She limped, carefully, around the room, to have a closer look at all the items.

There was a photo frame.

In it was a black and white photograph of a younger Yoona with mud all over her and a toothy grin was hung on her face. Beside her, a boy stood in a solider pose, saluting for the camera.

It was then she caught sight of the texts at the bottom of the photo frame.

Donghae & Yoona. September. Family Gathering in Yuchiri.

Donghae...Hmm. The photo was taken a good ten years ago.

She pursed her lips in thought as she limped to the other side of the room, spotting a desk with a notebook on it.

Director Planning (Dongguk Uni):

Name: Im Yoona...

Yuri's eyes trailed down the page.

Oh, she had heard of that end of year director movie programme.

So Yoona's dream was to become a director?

Smiling slightly, Yuri felt her fingers inch closer to the book to flip it open and have a look. Curiosity never hurt.

Should she? Or should she not?

She thought about it for a while, before she settled with: just a tiny look won't hurt.

She flipped open the book, reading down the first page.

"She asked with her eyes more than her lips,
To stay for the night.
My heart didn't understand the mad palpitation,
And hence denial was thick.
Bringing an extra mattress into the room was easy,
Falling asleep that night was not.

For all I ever could hear,
Was the soft and constant breathing coming from my left.
Many called it a privilege,
Others called it a disadvantage.

Was this love?
The infamous saying love at first sight?

I cease to know,
For I am unsure if experience is enough
To tell me the truth.

I am still an amateur in this complicated matter that still some humans cease to understand,
I yearn to know,
Yearn to experience.

Love--

The sound of water clashing against floor abruptly stopped and Yuri jumped from where she was, closing the book before stepping back and sitting on the bed once again.

Yoona came out, only wrapped in a towel with her wet brown hair clinging to her cheekbones.

"I forgot to bring clothes in," she giggled apologetically, "I left them on the bed, could you give them to me?"

Yuri kept in her laugh as she threw the shirt and shorts to Yoona.

"And...uh, I forgot to take out the..." Yoona said awkwardly, her towel almost slipping just before she caught it and wrapped it tighter around her bare body.

"Oh--your underwear?"

Yoona nodded, red coming to her cheeks as her teeth made marks on her lower lip.

"Okay, which one do you want?"

Yuri decided to have some fun.

"Anything," Yoona said hurriedly as the towel to threatened to slip off again.

"The polka dotted one? Or the silky one? Maybe the animal print--"

"A bland one will do," Yoona said exasperatedly, desperately trying to hide the blush that had made itself really obvious on her cheeks, heating her from her neck to her forehead.

"So, the beige polka--"

"Just give it to me," Yoona urged, jerking the piece of cloth from Yuri's fingers.

"You don't need a bra?" Yuri called, after hearing the door slam shut.

Yuri chuckled.

*

Yoona leant her head against the cool mirror in her bathroom, letting out the breath that she had unknowingly been holding.

She looked at the piece of flimsy cloth lodged in her fingers and felt herself burn again.

Yuri just made her feel this way, especially when the older girl enjoyed teasing.

She wasn’t going out there again to beg Yuri to give her her other piece of underwear again, anyway, so might as well put it on later when Yuri was asleep or something.

After hastily throwing on her clothes, she opened the door and saw Yuri sitting on the bed, her good leg swinging while the other rested on a makeshift stool made from a chair.

"You don't wear bras?" Yuri asked doubtfully.

Yoona swallowed and said confidently, "not at home."

Yuri nodded in understanding before confiding, "Neither do I, it's just uncomfortable, isn't it? Hugging at your chest like that..."

Yuri would have wanted to go on, but her eyes found their place at Yoona's chest where the thin material of Yoona's baggy shirt was clinging onto her wet skin, causing it to be even more translucent.

Yuri subconsciously her lips and reality appeared in a startling snap as Yoona waved a hand in front of her face.

"You okay? I'll bring the couch in and we can go to sleep," Yoona suggested.

"Bed? Oh...uh, couch...um, yeah..." Yuri muttered distractedly, swinging a leg up onto the bed as she laid down.

It was really unfair how Yoona could make Yuri lust after her that much in just a span of a few days.

Yoona laughed to herself as she made her way out into the living room to lug the heavy couch in, sighing as it was dropped onto her wooden floor.

"Okay, I'll let you bathe tomorrow morning since your medication needs time to act on your cut. By next morning, I'll remove your bandage and you can wash up before we go to the doctor's, okay? It's a Saturday tomorrow anyway." Yoona explained, tugging out the blankets from under the stacks of pillows to spread them over Yuri.

Yuri nodded, not finding the strength to speak because was dry and Yoona's practically uncovered chest was staring at her again as Yoona pulled the cover up to Yuri's chin.

"Go to sleep, see you in the morning."

Yoona looked at Yuri for a while, as if she wanted to say something ( was actually parted), but she closed it at the last minute and walked to the couch.

"Good night, Yoona." Yuri managed.

"Night, call me if there's anything wrong."

"...Yoona?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

*

Yuri awoke in the middle of the night.

She blamed it all on her bad leg.

Pain was shooting through it so bad that she had to sit up, breaths getting shorter, as she massaged the area around the cut.

All the whilst, she might have accidentally let slip of a few whimpers and yelps.

Those woke Yoona as well, the younger girl coming to her senses quickly as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Yuri, are you okay?" She asked, stumbling over in the dark.

Yuri mentally cursed.

She didn't mean to wake Yoona.

"...no, everything's okay." Yuri croaked, closing her eyes as pain travelled up the length of her leg, up and down.

"You don't seem okay?"

A hand was placed onto Yuri's shivering thigh and it trailed downward until it reached the cut.

Yuri's breath hitched and a gasp left .

The hand left her leg and soon, the lights were flicked on.

"You should really tell me, I need to change this bandage for you. More cream should hold it off till tomorrow." Yoona said, more to herself rather than to Yuri, as she lugged out the first-aid kit again to re-do Yuri's bandage.

"Hold my hand again?"

Yoona's eyes found Yuri's and Yoona smiled at the older girl's request.

"Okay, take it."

Yuri intertwined their fingers and rested it against the bed below, sighing slightly in relief as the pain went away, only to be replaced by a kind of warmth that only Yoona could bring.

"It's much better, thanks." Yuri assured a worried Yoona.

"Maybe I should sleep here as well." Yoona walked back to the couch to lug the pillow to the bed and collapsed into the soft mattress.

"Wake me again if anything is wrong. I'm just here, I don't mind." Yoona whispered.

"Okay,"

There was a kind of reluctance in Yuri's voice that Yoona could sense.

"I want you to promise me," Yoona muttered.

"I promise."

Yoona smiled in relief and, for once, settled back against the covers and fell into a dreamless sleep.

*

The next day came quickly.

Yoona woke first, walking to the toilet quietly to wash up.

She looked at the clock hung on the white wall:

9:00AM.

Yoona spat out the last mouthful of water she had been gurgling before she left the bathroom, preparing to wake Yuri.

Just then, a vibrating phone on the table near the bed caught Yoona's eye.

Curiosity overwhelmed her and she pressed down on the centre button, looking at the Caller ID.

Name: Jessica Jung Sooyeon.
Group/Profession: 3Vo.
Nickname: Sica.

You also have 9 missed calls and 12 unread texts from this same user.

Yoona could only associate the famous Jung Jessica from 3Vo to girlfriend.

Yuri's girlfriend.

Never mind, she'd tell Yuri after Yuri had bathed.

She walked to the edge of the bed and her fingers curled around Yuri's shoulder, shaking her a little.

Yuri's eyes opened almost immediately, the dark brown orbs turning as she blinked.

"...Yoona?" She asked, voice cracking a little from nonuse.

Yoona smiled.

"Yeah, you should go bathe before I re-do your dressings for you and we'll leave for breakfast and after, go to the doctor's." Yoona said, reaching out a hand for Yuri to hold.

"Thanks so much," Yuri croaked, making her way, with one arm slung around the younger, to the bathroom.

Just as Yoona was about to leave, Yuri caught her arm.

Yoona, being uncomfortable still with bare skin touches, wriggled out of the grasp.

Yuri undauntedly asked, "Can you stay with me, please?"

A small smile escaped and showed on Yoona's lips.

"I'll wait outside the toilet," she assured Yuri, but somehow that wasn't enough.

Hyomin, normally, sat with her back turned in the toilet and used her phone ("Wow, Yuri, your wi-fi is strong in the toilet!") while Yuri bathed to keep her company and make use of the time she spent with Yuri.

"I..." Yuri hesitated for a while before she finally dared to say, "Can you wait with me inside?"

*