Yuri gave a shiver at the passing November breeze, pulling her slipping hood up and over her head once more as she shoved her hands further deep into her pockets, gathering herself as close as she could together.

 

The winds had been getting stronger over the weeks, as she had noticed, carrying along the barest sting of the approaching winter with it. It wouldn’t be long before it started to get real cold, real soon, with the streets and shop-houses buried under layers of fluffy white snow.

 

Yuri couldn’t help a smile.

 

Who knew, maybe there could be a chance of a white Christmas this year.

 

Maybe.

 

Hopefully.

 

She brought her hands together, puffing briefly into it before rubbing at them to generate whatever little of heat she could. Eyes furtively following after the body of students that were gushing out of the school gates, their numbers eventually waning out into a trickle as time ticked by, she could just feel the undercurrent of unease crawling beneath her skin.

 

She had been standing— waiting— by the gates of a certain known performing arts high school for nearly half an hour or so now, and was starting to get strange looks from the surrounding high-schoolers and occasional passerby.

 

And here she was hoping that by going low-profile for the day, she wouldn’t draw as much as attention to herself.

 

Then again, she had forgotten to count in the possibility that she may or may not look like a creepy stalker standing by the gates of a popular arts school in a hoodie and a facemask…

 

She just prayed that she hadn’t missed Hayoung on her way out, or she was going to end up looking like the biggest fool in the world just standing there.

 

There was a distinct hitch of breath— a sharp gasp— coming off from her side as Yuri glanced up slowly from her hands, crossing her fingers that her cover hadn’t been blown just yet.

 

It was the bright yellow of the school’s iconic uniform that caught her attention first, and she was nearly on the verge of burrowing her face away into her facemask out of embarrassment from being recognized in such a shabby state of dress by idol standards.

 

That was until she found herself gazing into an all too familiar face— deep brown eyes staring back at her, wide with surprise, and pink lips parted ever so slightly.

 

Yuri couldn’t help the resulting smile, although hidden by her face-mask, upon recognition of the girl standing before her.

 

She raised a hand, wiggling her fingers coyly at her in greeting.

 

And that seemed to have broken the girl out of her daze as she immediately came scurrying over to Yuri.

 

“Unnie!” Hayoung exclaimed, albeit taking the extra precaution of keeping her voice down low. She gave their surroundings a quick sweep before turning back to Yuri, perturbed. “What are you doing here? I thought we agreed on meeting up at that usual dukkbokki place?”

 

“Surprise!” Yuri grinned, laughing. “Thought you might like it if I came down to pick you up instead. After all, it’s been a while since we’ve last met.”

 

 She paused, breathing a soft sigh, lips curling and eyes glinting down at the younger girl with that usual spark of tease.

 

“Did you miss me much?”

 

Hayoung stiffened, eyes briefly averting away from Yuri’s face as her cheeks burned an attractive— guilty— shade of rosy pink. Lips pressed thinly into a straight line and brows creasing ever so slightly while she kicked at her feet awkwardly, Yuri could practically see the internal struggle of the younger girl playing out before her eyes.

 

It was adorable— kind of— to see her get all flustered like this. It really made Yuri want to all the more, but then again, she was sure she had a lot more opportunities like this in the future.

 

Deciding to finally put the poor girl out of her misery, Yuri was right about to fan her previous remark off nonchalantly when her particularly sharp ears had picked up on an imperceptible soft mumble that happened to roll off the lips of the younger girl.

 

“Only a little…” Hayoung shrugged, trying to play it off cool, schooling her features together into a calm mask to no avail. The embarrassment was still hot on her cheeks.

 

Yuri grinned, unable to resist the temptation of reaching out swiftly to grab the younger girl in a playful chokehold as she mussed her hair up roughly, despite being met with a couple of protests here and there.

 

It was kind of starting to be a thing for them. The whole chokehold grabbing and messy ruffling of hair thingy, thought Yuri amusedly.

 

“Aish, you little punk!”

 

She laughed heartily and finally— much to Hayoung’s relief— released her grip around her, though not entirely, merely sliding it down to her shoulders.

 

She held the younger girl firmly at arm’s length, briefly scanning through her features— reacquainting herself with every little aspect to her once more— before looking her square in the eyes, smiling widely with a peculiar warmth swelling up deep in her chest.

 

“I missed you too.”

 

If it was even possible, Hayoung blushed an even deeper shade of red.

 

Chuckling at the sight, Yuri gave her a light affectionate flick on the forehead.

 

“You’ve grown taller again,” she remarked, looking Hayoung up and down, noting as the younger girl now stood eye-to-eye before her. “Now, don’t grow any taller.”

 

“You’re starting to sound like all my other Unnies now.” Hayoung laughed, grinning mischievously. “One day, Unnie, I’ll outgrow you and you can’t mess my hair up again.” She cackled, smoothening out the puff that was currently her hair.

 

The Black Pearl snorted and landed a light, playful punch on her shoulder before hooking an arm around her. “Dream on, it’s not gonna’ happen, punk.” She grinned.

 

And she proceeded to lug the younger girl off into the direction of the car while she attempted to fight off the odd-curious looks thrown in the general direction of Hayoung and herself.

 

Idly, she wondered what it might seem like to the onlookers— a creepy stalker stealing away and kidnapping an idol of said-girl group, maybe?— but didn’t linger long enough to harp over it.

 

That didn’t really matter.

 

At least for now.

 

“It is a possibility after all, Unnie. What will you do then?”

 

“Na-uh. Not going to think about it.”

 

“But Unnie—”

 

“Hayoung-ah.”

 

 A sigh.

 

“…Fine, not going to think about it.”

 

 

--

 

 

A movie and a quick trip to the bookstore— that actually lasted for a good hour because Hayoung was apparently extremely enamored by the variety of books there—, they finally ended up at their usual haunt in the more secluded part of Samcheong.

 

Yes, granted. It was quite a deviation to their original plan. But even so, it was every second well spent.

 

If anything, Yuri had learnt two new things about Hayoung that day.

 

One, the girl had no fear.

 

Either that, or she had a heart made of steel when it came to horror movies.

 

Throughout the film, she had remained mostly unfazed, though starting only slightly at those cheap jump-scares and what not. Then again, Yuri was used to watching horror flicks with Tiffany, Taeyeon, Sooyoung and occasionally, Jessica, and most of them startle easily.

 

Very easily. Especially the two Korean-Americans.

 

However, for some reason, she was plagued with this unexpected sense of… disappointment… that Hayoung hadn’t actually jump and latch herself onto her, like most of her members would do while watching horror flicks.

 

But she didn’t let herself get bog down over it, nonetheless.

 

It was probably just her usual instincts of protecting and coddling those around her again.

 

But she digressed.

 

Moving on.

 

Two.

 

Hayoung was a bookworm; and a bookstore or a library was her heaven.

 

In that aspect, she kind of resembled Seohyun, her group’s youngest.

 

Except that, she wasn’t exactly obsessed over self-help books or the U.N Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon. (Thank goodness for that.) So in a sense, it was a breath of fresh air for Yuri.

 

At least she didn’t find herself hovering shelves after shelves of books on how to better improve herself. 

 

The fiction aisle, in comparison, was definitely a pleasant change in scenery, and was actually something that Yuri enjoyed browsing through, so she didn’t whine and moan as frequent as she did at the bookstore. But she still whined and pouted to leave like a child, nonetheless.

 

(Yuri just didn’t like books that much. Only magazines and comics.)

 

Currently sitting across Yuri at the table, Hayoung was almost looking like she was trying her bestest to not wiggle about excessively in her seat from the budding excitement for their orders to arrive.

 

Eventually, she had settled for bouncing on her heels and tapping her fingers against the table with her lips pursed tightly in a straight line, but that only made her seem like she had a pressing need for the washroom and Yuri couldn’t help but crack a tiny grin at the sight.

 

There was just something about this particular food house that lit a fire within Hayoung.

 

It made her eyes glow a gleam brighter than usual and her smile even more so blinding than it was normally.

 

Not that Yuri minded or anything.

 

Hayoung had never been any more endearing and charming.

 

And adorable.

 

It was just that… times like this, she was painfully reminded that Hayoung— despite her fairly mature appearance— was still very much a high-schooler. A second-year at that. For some reason, she tended to forget about that fact whenever she was around her.

 

It just didn’t really seem to matter to Yuri.

 

She was still going to be her precious little dongsaeng, be it a year or seven years younger.

 

Hayoung was still going to be Hayoung.

 

“Unnie, you’re staring.”

 

Yuri chuckled, eyes crinkling at the younger girl. “Do you seriously love dukbokki that much, Hayoung-ah?”

 

“Yes, of course!” replied Hayoung without missing a beat, looking a tiny bit offended that her love for said-food was being doubted. “The dukbokki here is seriously, seriously the best! Really.”

 

“The lady-boss would be extremely glad, hearing that from you.” Yuri bit down on a grin. “Who knows, maybe you could endorse their dukbokki or get yourself a dukbokki CF deal one day.”

 

“Ah… That’ll definitely be a wish come true…” sighed Hayoung dreamily.

 

Yuri only laughed.

 

It didn’t take long before their orders arrived; or at least for the lady-boss to finally come around to light the fire beneath their large pot to set things in motion.

 

And in time, they were soon slurping up and gobbling down three-person’s worth of ramyun and dukbokki like no tomorrow. Because yes, after all that window-shopping and book-browsing, they were apparently that hungry.

 

“Yuri-unnie,” Hayoung had only spoken up when their chopsticks had hit the table and their pot was left bare. “There’s something… that I would like to ask you.”

 

Yuri glanced up, passing her a brief questioning look when she finally noticed— and recognized— the edgy look the younger girl had on.

 

Pursed lips and creased brows, topped with the conspicuous fidgeting of her fingers.

 

 If Yuri wasn’t worried from the graveness of her voice from before, she was now.

 

“Yeah?”

 

She watched as Hayoung stalled, nibbling at her bottom lip and wringing her hands a good number of times nervously before responding with a deep inhale.

 

“I’ve, uh… been hearing a couple of things about you, Unnie.”

 

Instinctively, Yuri couldn’t stop herself from instantly freezing over.

 

Her heart throbbed, picking up slightly in pace, as her blood roared in her ears, palms turning cold and clammy.

 

Immediately, she did a quick recount of whatever things she had done— or whatever nasty rumors she had heard or read about herself— over the past couple of months.

 

But as far as she knew, her track record was clean. No dating rumors. Scandals. Misbehavior. Sparkly clean.

 

Then what?

 

“Um, things like… you were romantically involved with an actress-sunbae and that you’re not into men at all...”

 

Oh that.

 

Yuri felt the tension in her shoulders fall back a little, but not entirely. The grim expression she had, still clung to the edges of her lips, tweaking it into a deep-set frown.

 

She worried on her bottom lip, pulling and tugging at whatever loose strands of her hair that had fallen out of her ponytail.

 

Jessica was most likely going to chew her out like an angry lioness if she were to ever find out that word had apparently gotten out.

 

What with all that damage-control and all…

 

She was always especially touchy whenever it came to that… particular issue.

 

“I was just wondering if it were all just rumors or—”

 

“They’re true,” said Yuri, quietly, cutting Hayoung off.

 

She couldn’t bear to hear the end of it. Nor did she see the point in making excuses and denying what was indeed the truth. It was better to put her foot down and deal with it head on, once and for all, than to beat around the bush and land herself in some huge misunderstanding.

 

She sighed, albeit resignedly, and bowed her head almost in shame. “I like women.” Yuri breathed.

 

Though, she was sure that it was more or less an ‘open secret’ amongst those from the same label as herself, it was still tough admitting it out loud. Especially to newly made friends and colleagues.

 

For a long while, no one spoke.

 

And it was just the sheer deafening silence ringing between them.

 

Yuri waited, watching closely for any change in the younger girl’s expression that might suggest disgust… or maybe (hopefully) acceptance. But all this while, Hayoung’s features gave nothing away as she remained perpetually unfazed, taking a casual sip of the glass of water beside her; and this only served to unnerve Yuri all the more.

 

Hanging her head low, unable to bring herself to meet Hayoung’s eyes, Yuri busied herself by fiddling at the sleeves of her hoodie and briefly cleared in her attempt to disperse the growing tension in the air.

 

“If you, uh, find it uncomfortable to be around me after this, I completely understand.”

 

Her voice had come off to a surprisingly hoarse start, and she could just imagine how pathetic she sounded at the moment, rambling on like some hopeless fool.

 

“We can put all this behind us and pretend that all that had never happened. I’ll stop calling and texting you, and I won’t bother you again—”

 

“Yuri-unnie, it’s fine.” Hayoung interjected, voice unexpectedly soft and gentle. “I just wanted to know, that’s all.”

 

“I don’t make you uncomfortable?” asked Yuri in an awfully tiny voice.

 

“No, you don’t. In fact, I think it’s the opposite. Whenever I’m around, Unnie, I feel really comfortable.”

 

There was a short beat of silence, and Yuri took the opportunity to risk a peek up at the younger girl.

 

It was then did she finally register the light pink flush on Hayoung’s cheeks; and the glint in her eyes— like a flame, burning slowly but steadily— which she recognized to be determination and… something else. Whatever she was about to say next, she seemed to be mentally prepping herself up for it.

 

“Whether you like women or not, it doesn’t matter to me. Because Unnie is still a beautiful person, inside-out. And I don’t ever want you to stop ‘bothering’ me. Hearing your voice over the phone and receiving your text messages… it makes me really happy and I think….”

 

A deep inhale as their gazes collided.

 

Yuri felt her heart begin to race, pounding furiously against her chest, even more so than before.

 

Hayoung’s stare was burning— it seared her like fire and melted through her like lava—, and it held Yuri with such intensity that it smoldered the breath out of her, making her catch her breath.

 

“I think I like you, Unnie.”

 

And the whole world felt like it had came down to a standstill then.

 

At this point, Yuri had no idea to how she was supposed to respond or even react.

 

Apart from the explosion of butterflies in her stomach and the rapid hammering in her chest that was her heartbeat, nothing else seemed to register.

 

“Before, I liked you as a fan, but now… But now I like you more than just that. I like you, Yuri-unnie.”

 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t received a good fair share of confessions before this.

 

She did.

 

Like the rest of the other members in her group, the numbers were pretty large. And each time, the outcome was almost always the same— it usually ended with one broken heart, that wasn’t her own.

 

But unlike all the other times where she was very much detached from the whole situation— although, admittedly she was quite flattered— and still had it in her to resolve the issue quickly by gently letting the other person down, she actually felt… something… for Hayoung.

 

Yes, it certainly did cross her mind once or twice during the day that their outing could very well play off as a date. What with the movie, the short trip to the bookstore and finally having dinner together, it all screamed ‘DATE!’ to Yuri. But somehow, she wasn’t exactly affected by it. Instead, it had come to her as a realization that deep down, she wouldn’t have minded if it was, in fact, a date. 

 

She was attracted to her, there was no doubt about it.

 

Hayoung was beautiful, sweet, charming and every bit female. 

 

And honestly? On a regular occasion, Yuri would have immediately jumped the gun and went on to accept her confession without even thinking twice.

 

So what was holding her back now?

 

 

‘I think…’

 

The brunette walking a couple steps ahead of her came to a sudden halt.

 

Stumbling to catch her footing, Yuri glanced up, perturbed. But in the instant upon looking up, she found herself catching her breath.

 

She had seemed almost ethereal then, standing by the Han River with the soft orangey glow of the evening sky as her backdrop and her fairer, browner hair fluttering lightly in the oncoming breeze.

 

In that moment, Yuri swore she had never seen anyone far more beautiful than her.

 

When the brunette finally whirled sharply back at her, Yuri’s heart had nearly stopped right there and then from being greeted by a smile, so bright that it blinded her eyes a little.

 

‘I think I like you, Yuri-yah.’

 

 

 

Yuri mentally shook herself, forcefully snapping herself out of that one particular memory. One, which she had stashed far back into the recesses of her heart, hoping for it be buried so deep that it would never see the light of day again.

 

Because each time she relived that very moment, it only brought her pain, above anything else.

 

But well, the past was the past.

 

She was over it.

 

Over her.

 

Right…?

 

Once again turning to Hayoung, whose eyes were round and wide with apprehension, fear and… the tiniest flicker hope, Yuri honestly had no clue to what was the right thing for her to say at a time like this without exactly putting her down nor raising her hopes up too high.

 

But nonetheless, she shouldn’t keep her waiting too long. Not after she had gathered such courage to come out and confess to her like this. Courage that was apparently dwindling fast as the seconds ticked by in silence, as seen by the rapidly forming frown on her face.

 

“I…”

 

Before Yuri could even put so much of a word out, her phone had chosen the perfect time to rattle noisily against the tabletop.

 

Without so much of a glance at the caller i.d, she had swiftly picked up the call in a rush, albeit crossing her fingers that it wasn’t her Manager who was on the other line.

 

“Hello?”

 

‘It’s me.’

 

Came an all too familiar voice, which made Yuri’s heart throb for all the wrong reasons.

 

“Oh hey, Sica-yah. What’s up?”

 

Count it on Jessica to have such impeccable timing for things.

 

‘Where are you?’

 

Yuri flinched inwardly and merely picked at a loose thread off her sleeves, swallowing uneasily.

 

Oh, she recognized that tone of hers anywhere. There was that underlying frigidness to her voice that was only ever present when she was frustrated over something.

 

‘You’re not home, and neither are you at dorm or with any of the girls. So where?’

 

The Black Pearl heaved a soft sigh. Eyes briefly flickering up, she was met with a raised brow and a pair of curious looking eyes staring back at her.

 

Idly, she wondered if Hayoung was able to hear Jessica hollering at her through her phone.

 

“Um, excuse me just for a sec’.”

 

Flashing the younger girl a quick tight-lipped smile, Yuri made to rise from her seat in their tiny little booth. She only spoke when she was she sure she was beyond earshot from Hayoung.

 

“I’m out,” she said, then added quickly as an afterthought, “with a friend.”

 

A beat of silence.

 

‘You’re out, huh...’ Jessica hummed pensively.

 

In the meanwhile, Yuri was tugging uncomfortably at her hoodie that suddenly felt like it was stifling her in. Hopefully, Jessica hadn’t put two and two together and figured out that she was actually out with Hayoung. She always got unusually pissy with anything got to do with Hayoung, so it was best if she kept this outing out of her knowledge at least for the moment.

 

‘Hmm, so I’m assuming that you won’t be back for dinner?’

 

“Why do you ask?” Yuri inquired warily, treading on thin ice that was Jessica.

 

‘Nothing, just curious,’ replied the Ice Princess airily and Yuri could just hear that nonchalant shrug of hers over the phone.

 

“Don’t tell me that you’re at my apartment right now with Chinese takeout.”

 

A guilty pause.

 

‘Not exactly…’

 

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” Yuri sighed.

 

‘Well, instead of the usual jajangmyun and sweet sour pork, I have… — some rustling of paper bags from over the other line— your favorite churros, some macarons and a few slices of delicious red velvet cake.’

 

Yuri pursed her lips and gulped audibly, mouth watering at just the mention of her favorite goodies. She could imagine savoring them bit by bit… sweet macorons melting in , bursting with flavors in its all sugary goodness.

 

Mmm…

 

However, a distinct sharp crinkle— probably of Jessica closing up the paper bags— broke her out of her reverie.

 

‘But I reckon that you wouldn’t have the stomach to finish them off with me, so I’m heading back home to have them all to myself—’

 

“Wait, no!” Yuri couldn’t hold back from exclaiming. Maybe a little too loudly.

 

Ignoring the dirty looks thrown her way by the patrons of the food-house in her periphery, she consciously pulled at her hood and hung her head, lowering her voice down to her a whisper.

 

“I’ll be home real soon, okay?” She began nervously, eyes darting about her surroundings watchfully, hoping that her previous outburst hadn’t garner her much attention. “In the mean time, you can, uh, sit back and watch some TV. Or… You can pick out a movie and we could watch it together later when I get back later or something. Please. Just… don’t finish the churros without me.” She implored. More like begged.

 

‘We shall see,’ murmured Jessica haughtily with a sense of finality.

 

And Yuri immediately knew where this was going.

 

“Hey, Sica! Wait— Ah really, that girl…” She groaned out loud, staring down at her phone’s blank screen, signaling the end of the call. She sighed.

 

She knew Jessica.

 

She wouldn’t be that heartless to leave her out on a feast… right?

 

Heading back to her booth with Hayoung, Yuri was once again met with the dilemma of finding the words meant for her current situation with the younger girl at the moment.

 

Rubbing at the skin of the nape of her neck awkwardly, she sidled into her seat, flashing Hayoung a sheepish smile.

 

“So, um, about before…”

 

“You don’t have to feel burdened to let me know what you feel about me now, Unnie.” Hayoung said with a small smile, probably having caught on to Yuri’s internal plight. “I just… I just wanted to get it off my chest. But I hope it wouldn’t make things awkward between us or anything…” She trailed off uncertainly, meeting Yuri’s gaze ever so meekly.

 

Upon catching the hint of doubt and worry in her eyes, Yuri couldn’t hold herself back from diving in. “It won’t,” she assured her with a smile.

 

Taking a quick glimpse of the time, with the reminder of her possibly dwindling sugary snacks back home at the back of her mind, she suggested, ”How about we call for the bill and head back? It’s getting dark, I’ll drive you back to dorm.”

 

“No, it’s okay. I can take the bus.”

 

“Eyyy, no can do! Your Unnies at home would have my head if anything were to happen to you on your way back. As far as it goes, you’re my responsibility. Got it?” Yuri said, putting on her best stern look she could muster.

 

Blushingly, Hayoung gave a nod. “G-Got it,” she mumbled.

 

Grinning as she ushered the younger girl out of their booth by the small of her back, Yuri chuckled, “Come on, I’ll foot the bill and you can go wait by the car. I’ll be out before you know it.”

 

As Hayoung made to open to possibly protest against her, Yuri passed her a firm look. Immediately, she resigned and clamped shut, shoulders sagging in acquiescence.

 

“Okay…”

 

Smiling in satisfaction, Yuri reached in, very lightly tousling her hair, fingers rifling through dark locks affectionately. She fixed Hayoung a broad smile, albeit not before playfully bopping her on the nose.

 

She chuckled, unable to hide her mirth.

 

The girl was blushing so hard, she was practically pink up to her roots at this point. Although, Yuri had to say… Pink was an attractive color on her.

 

She really was adorable.

 

And beautiful.

 

And there was that tingly pleasant warmth spreading through her again.

 

Her heart swelled.

 

Maybe.

 

 just maybe…

 

“Alright then, I’ll be back real soon.”

 

With a final pat on the younger girl’s shoulder and a brief grin, Yuri gathered herself together and made to leave for the front counter.

 

However, while her back was turned, she was unable to catch the small wistful smile that tugged at the corners of Hayoung’s lips.

 

 

--

A/N: Here's the much awaited chapter! It's more Hayoung-Yuri centric this round, though of course Jessica will find a way to exert her presence in every Hayoung-Yuri chapter somehow. But I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. Thank you so much for making through the long one month wait. As well as for all the comments, subscription and up-votes. It means much to me and I appreciate all and every feedback. So yeah, I'm back, at least for now. I'm expected to get a lot more... busy in the weeks to come. So... be prepared for slower updates from here on. >< Much apologies, haha. But it can't be helped. Dilemmas, dilemmas. What's Yuri going to do with Hayoung's sudden confession now? Things are going to get even more complicated from the next chapter onwards. So do stay tuned. ;)

So yeah, if you have any pressing questions regarding this fic, or any other fic of mine in particular, that you need me to answer asap, or you just simply want to know the progress of each coming updates, you can hit me up at my ask.fm.

Aaand, I'll see you guys soon! (Hopefully) :P

 

*Condolences to the remaining members of Ladies' Code. May EunB and RiSe both rest in peace.