“You―?” Yuri gasped.

Yoona looked up from Soojung’s drawing and she was also surprised to see that the president is right there in front of her.

“P-President K-Kwon…I…” Yoona said as she stood up. She’s completely shocked that the President caught her inside her daughter’s room.

“I told you to leave, didn’t I? why are you still here? What do you want?!” Yuri raised her voice.

“I…Uhh…” Yoona tried to find an answer as well. She doesn’t know why she’s still here. All she knew was that when she’s about to find her way up, she bumped into that little girl again who called her ‘umma’. The little girl began crying and begging not to leave her. So, to appease the little girl, she went with the little girl and spend time with her. This is where she found out that the little girl is indeed Kwon Yuri’s daughter and the nation’s first daughter.

Yoona thought that this will be a great scoop for her that she finally saw the first daughter whom the President refused to share to the public. But as she spend time with Soojung, she grew closer towards her. The little girl is very adorable and very smart. She couldn’t even resist the little girl’s charms.

“Please, for the last time. I’m asking you to leave.” Yuri said menacingly. It made Yoona shiver involuntarily. “Don’t make me use force on you, Miss.”

“I…uhh..” Yoona could only say as she shakingly grabbed her things. She bowed at the President in apology. “I’m sorry, President. I’m sorry.”

Just then, Soo Jung hugged the leaving girl which made Yoona looked at the President, alarmingly.

“Umma! Don’t leave me again. Jebal~!” Soojung cried as she hugged Yoona.

Yuri tried to pry Soojung off Yoona’s legs so the other girl could walk away. Yoona hate to admit it but its hard for her to leave Soojung since she’s already fond of her.

“Soojung-ah, let go of her. I’m here.” Yuri coaxed her daughter.

“No! I want umma!” Soojung wailed as she pulled out of Yuri’s grip and went in to hug Yoona again. “Umma! Please! Don’t leave me! Soojung will be good. I promise you that!”

Yuri’s heart is breaking upon seeing her daughter cry. Seeing Soojung like this kept her thinking that she failed Yoonhee again.

Seohyun came to them with guards tailing her. “Unnie?”

Yuri saw her sister and sighed in relief. “Seohyunnie.”

Seohyun nodded and turned towards Yoona. “Ms. Im, follow me please.”

Yoona nodded at Seohyun as she looked down at Soojung.

“Soojung-ah, I really need to go.” Yoona leved herself to the little girl.

“Why? Why can’t you stay here with us? Don’t you love us anymore?” Soojung asked.

Yoona looked at Yuri and Seohyun trying to find an answer. She’s completely clueless on what to say to the little girl.

“Uhhh…”

“Soojung-ah, umma needs to go somewhere important.” Yuri interrupted the two.

“Why? Why can’t she stay here? Why does she always have to go?” Soojung asked.

Yuri looked at Yoona warily before saying to her daughter, “When you’re older, umma will tell you. But right now, be a good girl so that you’ll grow up real quick and umma will tell you, arasso?” Yuri promised which Soojung finally nodded.

“Okay, now, say goodbye to umma.” Yuri ordered her daughter.

Soojung gave Yoona a hug as she whispered into her ears, “Umma I’ll put my number into your pocket so you could call me everyday, okay?”

Yoona’s eyes went wide. She’ll be in big trouble if the President finds out that her daughter gave her number to a reporter. The President might sent her into the ocean if she found out. So she kept it a secret between her and Soojung. So, Yoona just nodded at the little girl.

“Take care of yourself, okay, Soojung-ah? Be a good girl always.” Yoona ruffled Soojung’s hair and stood up. She nodded at Seohyun before bowing at the President.

“I’ll get going, President. I’m sorry for the commotion that I bring.” Yoona apologized and followed Seohyun and the guards on her way out.

As Yoona followed Seohyun, she couldn’t help but asking the secretary.

“Uuhh…chief secretary?” Yoona asked meekly.

The chief secretary turned towards the reporter and answered, “Yeah?”

“Uhh, Soojung, the little girl earlier, is she the President’s daughter?”

Seohyun stopped her tracks which made Yoona and the guards to stop their tracks as well.

Seohyun sighed. “How much do you want?”

Yoona got confused. “W-what?”

“Tell me, how much do you want and I’ll give it.” Seohyun said sternly.

“I…I don’t understand.”

“This is what you reporters want, right? You’re going to expose any public figure’s secrets and in exchange of your silence is money. You’re not the first one, Ms. Im. Don’t be shy in asking the amount. I could give you anything you want.”

Yoona never felt so degraded in her life before. Is this what the President’s sister thought of her? That she’s money? She just graduated from college to become a great reporter but being a low class reporter in the eyes of the person she respected, hurts her.

“With all due respect, chief secretary, I’m not asking for money. I was just plain curious about Soojung. That little child kept on calling me ‘umma’ and it got me confused. I believe that Yuri is her mother but why she’s clinging into me like I’m her mother. But I guessed I wouldn’t be getting an answer from you. Don’t worry, I’m not planning to expose that part to the public. Soojung is too precious to be tainted by the public. So, you can keep the money that I’m hoping that didn’t come from all of our taxes.”

Yoona walked out of the Presidential palace, leaving a dumbfounded chief secretary Seohyun behind.

“Oh, Yoonhee…” Seohyun muttered.

**

As the reporter and her sister left, Yuri managed to send her daughter to bed. Seeing her daughter sleep peacefully with her tongue out, you can’t hide the fact that Soojung is her daughter. She remembered her wife teasing her about their sleeping habits.

“Soojung is just like you, you both sleep with a tongue out. It’s so cute.” Yoonhee teased.

Yuri just smiled at the memory. As she tucked in her daughter, she decided to stay for a while at her daughter’s room. It’s been a while since she stayed like this and watch her daughter sleep.

She suddenly reminded of what happened earlier. Now that Soojung thought that the reporter is her mother, the little girl will constantly asked for her. what will she do now? She doesn’t know the reporter. She can’t trust her child towards that woman and pretend that she’s her mother.

‘If only things were not as complicated as this. I’ve spent my life trying to hide and protect you, Yoonhee. I’m sorry that things are going on this way. Mianhe~’ Yuri said to herself.

**

Flashback:

After their first meeting, Yuri never saw Yoonhee again. Yuri thought that maybe because their university is big and also they were from different departments so its impossible for her to see the other girl.

“Aissshh…I should’ve asked for her number. Now, I couldn’t get her out of my head. She’s very sweet and very kind! Aigoo~!” Yuri said to herself as she ruffled her hair.

“YURI-YAH!” Taeyeon yelled at her as she pulled a very sleepy Jessica.

“What?” Yuri asked lazily. She’s completely not in the mood to practice with her friends for their band.

 “What are you doing, Yul? You’re wasting a beautiful day!” Taeyeon said as she slumped beside the tanned girl.

“It’s a beautiful day to do nothing, Taeng. Leave me alone.” Yuri mumbled as she hide her head on her arms. Jessica completely agree with the girl.

“Nonsense! Do you know what is more interesting thing to do on a beautiful day like this?” Taeyeon asked.

Yuri lifted up her head and asked, “What?”

Taeyeon suddenly got stiffed and looked down. She was here with one mission for her best friend but now that she got her attention. She’s scared to tell it to her.

“Well…uuhh…” Taeyeon started.

“Well, what?” Yuri asked again.

Jessica rolled her eyes on her two best friends. She definitely proved that she’s the smartest among the three.

“Yonghwa has a friend, who has a friend, who has a friend that is into mixer*. Well, they wanted to ask if he knew someone who’s single. Yonghwa said yes and it was you. Since his friends knew about you, they wanted to ask if you wanted to join them?” Jessica explained.

(*mixer-group dating; or Gokon in Japanese. A  group blind date, typically used to form at least some friendships between two groups that are each of a single . Generally, a single man and woman who know each other organize the gōkon in advance, each agreeing to bring three or four eligible friends. The venue is usually a restaurant, an izakaya, or anywhere people can eat, drink and make a bit of noise.)

Yuri was surprised on what she heard. Her friends are trying to sell her out?!

“WHAT?! ARE YOU TRYING TO SELL ME OUT?! NOW, WHERE IS THAT STUPID YONGHWA AND I’LL KILL HIM! I SHOULD’VE NEVER LET HIM NEAR MY SISTER AGAIN!” Yurii went furious.

“Calm yo wonderful ies, black pearl. Where not going to sell you out.” Taeyeon said. “we just wanted you to mingle with other people. You’re always too busy with school work, band practice and spending time with us. People were curious about you, Yul. Stop being so mysterious. You’re setting up a standard here.”

Yuri rolled her eyes at her best friend’s ridiculousness. For her, she doesn’t need to be in a mixer or for any blind date for that matter. She already found a girl she’s been looking for but she’s just too stupid to make a move.

“YAH! Why aren’t you two join that stupid mixer?! You’re both single!” Yuri exclaimed.

“Please, where not into that scene! Besides, we told them we’re dating so that we could get out of there. We don’t even like that kind of stuff.” Jessica excused.

“AND DO YOU THINK I’M INTO THAT KIND OF SCENE?! WHAT KIND OF FRIENDS ARE YOU?!” Yuri yelled at her two friends.

“YAH! We don’t have a choice! We wanted to get out of there so―” Taeyeon started but got interrupted by Yuri.

“SO YOU SELL OUT YOUR BEST FRIEND?! WAAAAHHH! JEONGMAL!” Yuri hollered.

“Please, Yul! The reason why Yonghwa did that is because that person is a son of a bar owner near here. He told us that if you come to join them, they’ll let us play in their bar. Their bar is quite known here. This Is what you want, right? We will never get stuck in Yonghwa’s garage to practice.” Jessica pleaded her best friend.

Yuri thought for a while. This is what she dreamt off. That someday, she and her friends will play to an unknown crowd and people would scream their names. Maybe one mixer wouldn’t hurt. She’ll think of a way to get out of there just like her two friends.

“Alright. Just tell me where and what time. I’ll be there.” Yuri sighed which made the two girls squealed in delight.

**

At a café…

“Okay, now I’m here at the café. Now where are they? Let me check what Taengoo sent me.” Yuri mumbled to herself as she put out her phone.

From: Taengoo

Soshi café, 3PM there will be 3 guys and 2 girls waiting for you. The one that will be paired to you is the bar’s owner. He’s wearing red shirt. I wouldn’t say what he looks like. Kekekeke. Yuri-yah~ fighting!

Yuri sighed and returned her phone into her pocket.

‘If its not for my dream, I wouldn’t do this.’ Yuri said to herself and exhaled. “Yuri, fighting!”

She went inside the café and looked around. The café is almost deserted with only few customers. She walked further inside until she reached the corner and found a group of boys and girls. She immediately found the guy that Taeyeon is referring to. Yuri couldn’t help but gasped.

‘Oh God! Is he the guy?! I would rather get killed by a Yakuza than be with him! My parents will kill me if they found out that I’ll be dating this guy! I can imagine my mom saying, ‘Yuri yah! How come your sister found a very nice, good looking gentleman unlike you?’ Otteoke! I’m gonna kill those three!’ Yuri fumed with herself.

Just then, one of the guys in the group saw her and waved. “Oh? Are you Kwon Yuri?”

Yuri smiled forcibly and nodded. “N-ne. I’m K-Kwon Yuri.”

She wanted to lie but there’s no turning back now. She walked closer and bowed.

“Oh, you’re really beautiful in person. I only get to see you upstage when you’re performing with Yonghwa.” One of the guys said.

The guy in red shirt laughed, “Look all you want. She’ll be mine real soon. I’m so lucky, right?”

Yuri wanted to puke and punch the smug out off his face.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Gil, this are my friends, Noh Hong chul and Jeong Jun ha. This is Hong Chul’s date, Im Jin Ah.”

Yuri turned towards the girl and she wondered why she’s here. She’s very gorgeous and she had that vixen look on her. Yuri bowed at the girl. “Hi, I’m Yuri.”

“Call me Nana.” The girl just said cooly. “Have a seat.” Yuri immediately went to seat beside the girl.

The guys suddenly went crazy upon seeing the two beautiful girls. They began fighting whose date is prettier. As the two girls watched the three bicker, Nana whispered on Yuri.

“Yah, why are you here?”

Yuri turned towards Nana and answered, “My friend ordered me to go here. It’s against my will. How about you?”

Nana inspected her nails and looked back at Yuri. “I got bored. Besides, it’s a dare from my friends. A way to get back to my ex.”

Yuri got confused with this girl. Nana is really weird.

“You find me weird, right?” Nana smirked. “Well, my friends dared me to join in a mixer like this, in hopes to find a replacement for my ex but sadly, I still love her.”

Yuri just nodded but suddenly got her attention. “Her?”

Nana giggled and put a finger over her lips. “Sssshhh.”

Oh, Yuri finally got it. Nana wasn’t into guys. Especially not those three in front of them.

“YAH! DO YOU SEE HOW HOT MY DATE IS?! Jin-Ah IS DEFINITELY HOTTEST!” Hong Chul bragged which made Nana smirked. If they only knew.

“NO! MY DATE IS WAY HOTTER! LOOK AT HER! SHE CAN BE SWEET AND HOT AT THE SAME TIME! PERFECT COMBINATION!” Yuri blushed at Gil’s boasting about her. Nana elbowed her while smiling.

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?” Nana whispered at her which made Yuri blushed even harder.

“YAH! JUST WAIT TILL YOU SEE MY DATE! SHE’S LIKE AN ANGEL THAT NO ONE COULD COMPARE!” Jun Ha boasted.

Just then, a voice stopped their bickering.

“I…uhhmm..I’m sorry I’m late. I got lost in finding this café.”

They all turned around and it’s Yuri’s turn to gasp really loud. She was surprised to see YoonHee in a mixer like this. YoonHee was also equally surprised to see Yuri in front of her.

“Hey! That’s okay, YoonHee. C’mon, have a sit.” Jun Ha offered. “See? What do you think of my date? Like an angel, right?!”

The three guys continued with their bickering about whose the prettiest among their dates while Yuri turned towards YoonHee.

“Yah! What are you doing here?” Yuri asked the girl.

“What are you doing here, too?” Yoonhee asked.

Now, Yuri started to stammer. “I…uhhhmm…my friend got me here. It’s not my choice to be here.”

“Me too. My friend got me here, too.” Yoonhee mumbled.

As the two girls were talking, Nana suddenly banged the table which made all of them stooped and looked at her.

“I better leave. It gets boring.” Nana said sternly and started to grab her things.

“YAH! We haven’t get started yet?” Hong Chul tried to plead the girl.

Nana rolled her eyes at the guy and said, “Yah! I’m not into guys especially with faces like yours! I’m into hot girls like them.”

Yuri and Yoonhee suddenly gasped on Nana’s confession.

“So, you, two? Are you just going to stay here with these three ugly guys or are coming with a hot girl like me?” Nana offered which made the two girls scrambled to follow the other girl.

The three of them left the guys shouting at them to come back.

When they finally out of the café, Nana exclaimed, “Ah! Finally! Out of that hole!”. She turned towards the girls and smiled.

Suddenly, she kissed both of them on the lips and acted as if she just did the normal thing.

“Thanks for coming along with me. I thought I never see beautiful things upon seeing those three ugly guys. My kiss is a sign of thanks and hopefully we could see each other again, some time.” Nana said and turned towards Yuri, “Hopefully we could talk again some time, Yuri. Nice to meet you.”

Then, she left those two girls completely dazed from her kiss.

Good thing Yuri came back to her senses and cleared .

“Uh…well, t-that was awkward.” Yuri tried to laughed at the scene.

Yoonhee finally came into her senses again and smiled shyly. “Y-yeah. Completely awkward.”

“W-well, do you want to get out of here?” Yuri offered.

“Hell yeah.” Yoonhee smirked as they ran away to spend time with each other.

**

Yoonhee and Yuri became friends after that incident at the mixer. Both of them found out that Seohyun and Yonghwa planned that mixer to partner them together but instead of ‘thank you’ the couple received hits and ignores from Yoonhee and Yuri.

Aside from Yonghwa and Seohyun, Yuri introduced Yoonhee to Taeyeon and Jessica. All of them became fast friends and whenever the band has a practice, Yoonhee and Seohyun were present to join and watch them.

As Yoonhee and Yuri grew their friendship, their secret love for one another are growing as well. So when Yuri shyly asked the other girl to have a date with her, Yoonhee agreed in a heartbeat.

Both of them were not a fan of extravagant things. They were happy with a simple candlelight dinner and quiet walk at the park under the stars.

As they were walking, enjoying the quietness of the night, Yuri shyly linked her hands towards Yoonhee’s fragile ones.

Yoonhee blushed in return and both of them shared a shy smile with each other.

Yuri cleared and asked Yoonheee, “uhhmm..Yoonhee?”

“Ne?” Yoonhee looked up to her.

“I’m really curious, why do you become a lawyer? I mean I know you’re not into politics but why do you want to take up Law?”

“Well, I have a dream.” Yoonhee started as she sat on a nearby bench which Yuri followed.

“What is it?” Yuri asked.

“Someday, I get to help other people. Not just simply but a person who can change the world, you know, like an ambassador of UNICEF or something. Maybe a President.” Yoonhee dreamt but she suddenly laughed at her ridiculousness. “I’m sorry, I’m so ridiculous. I know its going to be impossible.”

Yuri felt her love towards the girl grew as she sees how pure Yoonhee heart is.

“No, that’s a nice dream. I know it will happen,Yoonhee. I believe in you. You have the purest heart and I know someday you will be the most beautiful President that Korea has ever have.” Yuri encourage the girl which made Yoonhee giggle at Yuri’s words.

“I’m hoping for that, too.” Yoonhee smiled at her.

*End of Flashback*

Yuri sighed at the good memories. She saw Yoonhee’s photo with her and Soojung. She smiled at the memory of the time it was taken. They spend their afternoon chasing Soojung just to take that one photo with her.

Yuri promised to herself that once this is all over, she’ll live a simple life with her loved ones. She’s done protecting them and hiding them from the public.

***

Meanwhile with Yoona…

“GODDAMNIT, IM YOONA! I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU BUT WHY DID YOU LET THAT PASS?! “ The Editor-in-chief yelled at the poor girl.

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean it.” Yoona apologized.

The doe eyed girl told that she didn’t finished the interview with the President and lied that the President was already busy and the questions that she asked were heard couple of times, so she was asked to go home. She left the incident about Soojung and her confrontation with the chief secretary. Despite of that, she still respects the President and her private life.

She couldn’t understand to herself why she’s like that to her.

The Editor-in-chief sighed. “Alright, I guess we didn’t anticipate that but you should’ve atleast have back up questions just in case it happened.”

Yoona kept her head down. She’ll probably lose her job now.

“Alright, since its your first assignment, I’ll try to email the chief secretary to have another interview with the President but if not, you’ll find a way to find a scoop about the President and it will be your last chance or you’re fired.”

Yoona gasped. This is her last chance. She can’t have her dream job went into waste.

She nodded hesitantly and gulped, “N-ne, Mr. Editor-in-chief. I’ll do my best.”

“Arasso, now go. I have things to do.” He sent the girl away.

As Yoona went to her desk to think of ways on how to get a scoop about the President, she sighed. It will be impossible for her to interview the President since everybody in the palace probably knew her. She’s the girl who caused commotion and angered the beautiful President.

Yoona suddenly remembered how beautiful the President up close. No actress or idol could compare the beautiful President and her presence really demanded authority. Her admiration towards her grew even more.

“Oteokke, Im Yoona! Why are you spazzing towards the President when you’re going to lose your job?” Yoona said to herself as she bumped her head on her desk. “Stupid, stupid. Why did you let your chance passed by? Now the President will be absolutely mad at you for being with her daughter.”

As she thought of little Soojung, she suddenly remembered what the little girl told her.

“Umma I’ll put my number into your pocket so you could call me every day, okay?”

Good thing she decided to wear the same coat she wore yesterday. She suddenly search inside the pockets and finally she found a small paper. She immediately opened it and found a scribble of numbers and hoping that this one is a legit number and not some random number that a child was normally writing in.

Suddenly, her conscience kicking in. How could she do this to an adorable girl like Soojung. It’s low for her to use a child for her own sake. But other part of her is saying that it’s for her dream. She wouldn’t let herself get fired with a failed assignment. She’ll do what it takes to reach her dream. Even if it ruined other people’s lives.

Besides, she remembered how the chief secretary thought that she’s after money.

‘I know that this is wrong but them thinking that I’m some low journalist hurts my pride. They’re not what I thought they are. My respect towards them lessened when they degraded me. Take this as a revenge on them.’ Yoona thought.

“I’m sorry, Soojung, I hope you’ll understand why I’m doing this.” Yoona sighed and started to dial the number on the paper.

TBC.

***

FINALLY I FIND A TIME TO UPDATE THIS STORY. I'M CURRENTLY RE-READING MY FICS TO REMEMBER THE STORIES THAT I WROTE AND HOPEFULLY I'M STILL AT THE ORIGINAL PLOT :) I HOPE YOU WOULD LIKE THIS CHAPTER THAT I DID. SORRY FOR LACK OF YOONYUL MOMENTS. BLAME IT ON YOONYUL. KEKEKEKE ENJOY :)