Yuri had been driving about aimlessly for the past half hour or so; winding through bends along streets that were bathed under the soft glow of the streetlights, with the soft humming of the car’s engine in the background. She only drove further— deeper— into the night, her destination unclear and very much undecided.

She just wanted to be somewhere that wasn’t dorm or home.

Because then, she wouldn’t need to face either her members or… Jessica.

Yuri cringed, bit hard into her lip and swerved abruptly onto the shoulder of the road.

She clenched her eyes shut, gripping at the steering wheel as she slumped her forehead against the back of her hands, letting loose a long shuddering sigh.

Everything had been going swimmingly well for them for the past month or so.

Granted, they still fought time to time over the smallest things, but lately, their fights had decreased to a bare minimum.

Things were finally starting to pick up.

And she was starting to feel like things were finally going back to normal— like how they were to be in the past.

That was until a few days ago on her twenty-forth birthday.

The events that happened that very night were still very much all fuzzy and blurry to Yuri and she could only recall tiny bits and pieces of it.

They had been drunk. Well, nearly everyone at their private little party— held back at dorm— was, to a certain extent.

Blame it on Sunny for bringing the bottle of vodka.

But she digressed.

They had been drunk. Words slurring and mind hazy drunk.

And Yuri had no idea to how or who was the one who had brought on the whole thing… but she vaguely recalled that it had something to do with the way Jessica had been staring, eyes hooded and dark with desire.

The next thing she knew, their lips were all over each other and they were making out on the kitchen tiles without a single care in the world.

She remembered the bittersweet taste of vodka off her lips, the scent of alcohol and lemony shampoo heavy in the air. Long slender fingers fervently tangling through her dark raven locks, locking her in a deep, bruising kiss.  And the way they grasped at her face, her cheeks and everywhere else that was exposed to the cold, wintry night with a kind of desperation that was completely unimaginable.

The feel of a slim, smooth stomach, clenching and unclenching beneath her fingertips.

A moan that elicited a jolt down to her nether regions.

And then came the dreaded morning after…

To be awoken by the telltale poundings of a raging hangover, could hardly even beat off the shock (and awkwardness) of finding both herself and Jessica, scantily clad, clothing askew and limbs all entwined together as they lay on the cold kitchen tiles of their dorm the next morning.

Things… hadn’t exactly been the same since.

Jessica had claimed— or at least pretended— that she had no recollection of the night before. But honestly? From the soreness of Yuri’s own lips that came with the amount of making out that night, she was just as sure that Jessica was experiencing the same.

But if she didn’t want to remember that night… who was Yuri to force her to?

At least they hadn’t done anything more than just… making out.

Needless to say, they (or Jessica, to be particular,) had brushed the whole entire thing off with a shrug, a smile and an awkward joke of sorts, and the events of what happened on her birthday were never to be brought up ever again.

However, that couldn’t ease the fact that each time they saw each other, there would be that underlying tension between them, so thick it was threatening to smother them to death despite the ‘cheeriness’ of their smiles.

And somehow, this whole predicament had only left Yuri far more wounded and exhausted than she had thought she would be.

Her mind was plagued with countless of questions daily and sleep no longer came easy to her as she stayed up all night, thinking. Pondering.

Just what did Jessica want?

Apparently from that night, it almost seemed like Jessica had wanted her just as much as Yuri had wanted her.

Then again, she had to account for the alcohol blindsiding the both of them.

But what if.

What if Jessica really did want her.

Then why was she going about denying everything that happened that night?

Why?

Why, god damned it!

Why was she doing everything she was doing?

Kissing her. Touching her all over. Then acting like none of it ever happened. Smiling in that stupid, infuriating way like she didn’t even care of Yuri’s own feelings.

What of her own feelings?

What of her own feelings… 

Damn it.

Yuri struck at the steering wheel and swore loudly. She could feel the burning hot tears prickle at the corners of her eyes.

She just wanted to get away from everything.

She can sort things out at a later date.

But for now, she had to get away.

She needed to get away.

Flipping through the contacts on her phone, her thumb hovered over a particular name.

Immediately, Yuri was flooded with memories of idle chitchat at a salon, light playful conversations at a cozy family restaurant. A pair of sparkling clear eyes and a blinding, toothy grin.

Warmth.

A small smile tugged at her lips.

Without a moment of hesitation, she tapped at the highlighted contact and waited patiently for whoever she was calling to pick up.

‘Hello?’

“Hayoungie, it’s me, Yuri-unnie.”

A soft hitch of breath.

‘Yuri-Sunb—Unnie, hello!’

Yuri laughed, grinning. She could almost imagine the girl bowing over respectfully like she always do in greeting.

She swiped at the rogue tears that had trickled off her cheeks and cleared

“Hayoung-ah, are you free now?”

‘Yeah, I just ended my schedule not long ago. Why?’

“Hmm, you wanna’ hang out for awhile? We could go out for some snacks if you want.”

‘Okay!’ Hayoung’s reply had come rather enthusiastically and it brought a large smile onto Yuri’s face.

“Great! So where are you at?”

‘Oh, I’m currently back at dorm.’

“Alright, so I’ll come pick you up in about ten minutes. See you soon!”

‘See you!’

Ending the call and slipping her phone back into her pocket, Yuri was overwhelmed with a particular lightness swelling in her chest and she couldn’t stop her grin from growing any wider.

Warmth, she repeated, closing her eyes and she tried to savor the feeling building up in her chest.

Warmth.

--

A/N: So sorry for the shortness of this chapter, to make up for it, I'll try to get the next one out fast. So yeah. Thank you so much to those who have commented/subscribed/up-voted. And last but not least, thank you too for your readership! It means a lot, and it really makes my day. So yeah. Things are only getting messier and complicated from here on out, so hold on tight. Aaand, I'll see you guys pretty soon! :)