Silver Spoon

Chapter 19

special thanks to snsd_4_ever and a loveable purple pink Dino

Yuri stood a distance away from where Jessica sat. The blonde was asleep on the sofa. Her body was tilted to the side and her head was placed on top of the arm rest. Yuri leaned over and tried to pull the novel away from the blonde’s grip, however the sleeping figure did not let go of the novel. The taller figure pulled the novel with more force. The object slid away from Jessica’s grasp. Yuri closed the novel and placed it beside the blonde. 

The taller figure stared lovingly at the blonde. Without much hesitation Yuri bent down and placed a gentle kiss on the blonde’s cheek. She pulled away from Jessica as the blonde stirred in her sleep. Her heart was beating rapidly and the effects never cease to amuse Yuri.

The blonde figure stretched her arms. She lifted a hand to rub her eyes and yawned. Jessica stared at the figure that stood in front of her. Yuri was holding onto a helmet. Jessica noticed that she had an odd grin plastered on her face.

“Hey.” Yuri said as she extended her hand for the blonde to hold.

“Hi.” Jessica replied. She held onto Yuri’s hand and stood up.

Jessica looked at the helmet Yuri was holding. “Where are you going?”

Yuri lifted the helmet up and replied, “I’m not going anywhere. Taeyeon came by to return my bike.” 

Jessica nodded her head in response. Jessica mentally scolded herself for placing such high hopes in this relationship. The longer she stared at the helmet, the more she felt that the dream was real. She had hoped that her dream was real but it wasn’t. She missed the motorbike.

Yuri distanced herself away from Jessica and placed the helmet on the table. 

“Are you alright?” Yuri asked as she noticed the dazed looked from the blonde. 

Yuri stood in front of Jessica and placed a hand to cup her cheek. Her other hand held onto the girl’s arm. Yuri moved closer to the blonde.

“Is something wrong?” Yuri asked and leaned in to give the blonde a kiss on her cheek.

Jessica tilted her head away as Yuri’s lips inched closer to her cheek. She took a step away from the taller figure.

“I’m fine.” Jessica replied without looking at Yuri. Yuri loosened her grip as the blonde pulled away. 

Jessica bent down to grab her book and she walked away, Jessica turned to face Yuri. 

“I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up too late.” Jessica said and made her way towards the door. “Good night.”

Without saying anything, Yuri nodded her head in response. 

“Yuri.” a tall figure called out.

“Hi Sooyoung.”

“How have you been?” Sooyoung asked as she pulled the chair out and sat down. She reached for the napkin on the table and unfolded the piece of cloth. “I’ve been away for nearly three months, update me on your personal life.”

Yuri raised an eyebrow at the shikshin’s ridiculous statement.

“I don’t want to tell you.” Yuri replied. She reached out for the glass of wine on the table. 

Yuri averted her attention to the waiter walking towards them. The waiter placed their plate of food on the table. Yuri waited until he bowed and walked away to continue her conversation with Sooyoung. 

“After all I’ve done to help you, you haven’t made a move yet?” Sooyoung asked as she eyes scanned over her plate of food.

Yuri rolled her eyes and replied, “We’ve been alright.” 

“Good. I’m glad to hear that you two are alright.” Sooyoung said with an uninterested tone. She held onto her fork and knife ready to savour the food placed in front of her. "It’s all about the progress, take it one step at a time buddy.”

Without any hesitation, Sooyoung stabbed her fork into the piece of roasted chicken. She had no interest in what the other person sitting opposite from her was doing. Sooyoung used the knife to cut the piece of meat and placed the piece of chicken in her mouth with her fork. 

Both Yuri and Sooyoung sat quietly eating their lunch. Sooyoung was preoccupied with her food while Yuri was contemplating on how to persuade the taller figure to agree with her plan.

Sooyoung took a sip of water and placed the glass back onto the table. She broke the silence as she asked, “How did you change her mind?”

Yuri placed her fork down onto the plate

“Nothing.” Yuri simply replied. She stared blankly at the taller figure.

“Don’t give me that look. I know you too well. Jessica seemed quite determined to separate.” Sooyoung declared as she pointed her knife at Yuri.

“We made an agreement.” Yuri said as she shrugged her shoulders. She grabbed a bite of her food. 

“What agreement?” Sooyoung asked as she narrowed her eyes. Something in her gut told her that Yuri’s answer wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“I promised to relinquish fighting for custody of our kid if we ever decide to sign the divorce papers again.” Yuri said. She extended her hand for the glass of wine.

“You’re not going to follow through with that.” Sooyoung said.

“You think so?” Yuri asked and lets out a chuckle as she held onto the glass of wine.

“Yeah. Unless you have it in writing. When the time comes you’ll utterly denial any agreement you’ve made with her.” Sooyoung calmly said as she placed her fork and knife on the plate.

“I signed that agreement already.” Yuri said as she placed the glass of wine on the table. “So, I was hoping…”

“Let me guess, you’ll be expecting me to discreetly deal with your problems again?” Sooyoung asked with a hint of agitation.

“Well, that’s all you ever do.” Yuri replied.

“Psh.” Sooyoung rolled her eyes. “You called me out to lunch just for this?”

Yuri looked at the tall figure and smirked. 

“No, I missed you. Sorry, I was meaning to say WE missed you.” Yuri said while grinning. “Come on, I don’t trust anyone as much as I trust you.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t do this.” 

“What? Why not?” Yuri asked as her facial expression hardened. 

“I have a conscience. Aren’t you conscious about what you’re attempting to do?” Sooyoung asked as she diverted her gaze from Yuri.

“No.” Yuri answered. “I have the right to be apart of making decisions for my kid even if my relationship with her turns sour.”

“You have that right even if you two are separated.” Sooyoung snapped back. “You are in a near perfect relationship. Relax and stop trying to be in control.”

“My problem is nothing compared to Taeyeon’s. You’re doing an outstanding job for her. Don’t play double standards.” Yuri argued back. 

“There’s a limit to everything we do. Don’t try to push the boundary” Sooyoung softly said as she held onto her fork.

Both of them stayed silentand stared at each other. They both looked away and continued to eat.

Before Yuri got into her car, she turned around to face Sooyoung.

“Sooyoung have you talked to Victoria?” Yuri asked in a serious tone.

“No.” the taller figure replied.

“You’ve nagged us to be grateful and cherish our relationships. But you’re doing the opposite of what you’ve told us to do.” Yuri said as she pulled her car keys out from her jacket.

“There are things that aren’t meant to be forced.” Sooyoung said.

“Victoria’s not attached anymore.” Yuri said as she opened her car door. “There’s nothing wrong in pursuing something we have interest for.” 

Sooyoung extended her arm to hold on to Yuri’s car door, not allowing the shorter figure to enter the car.

“Yuri, what is love to you? Is it just a game?” 

“Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.” Yuri replied as she shrugged her shoulders. 

Sooyoung moved her hand away from Yuri’s car door. Yuri got into the car and closed the door. She rolled the window down and looked at Sooyoung.

“Don’t you think this is the most intriguing thing about relationships?” Yuri said. “It emits so much emotion from us and drains so much energy.”

It was a usual Tuesday where Yoona and Seohyun were on a play date. The kids were sitting on the floor in the living room while Taeyeon and Yuri were on the couch nearby.

Keroro was sitting in between the two children. Seohyun was looking at the red soft toy Yoona was holding onto.

“This is Elmo.” Yoona happily said. “Grandma gave it to me.”

Seohyun nodded her head and opened her mouth to say something.

But Yoona was quick to stop the younger child from speaking, Knowing what she was about to say. 

“Elmo only comes in red.”

“Really?” Seohyun asked as she frowned. “But my Elmo is pink.”

“Elmo is red.” Yoona replied in a determined voice.

The younger girl shook her head in disagreement. 

“If you give Elmo a bath, it’ll be pink.” The younger child said.

Yoona widen her eyes in astonishment. 

“Is that true?” Yoona asked.

Seohyun nodded her head. Yoona looked at Elmo and lifted her head to look at Seohyun. She grab hold of the younger girl’s hand.

“Lets try it.” The older child said as both of them stood up.

Taeyeon held onto the remote control and randomly flicked to different television channels. Yuri sat on the sofa next to the shorter figure and stared unenthusiastically at the television screen. 

“Has Sooyoung talked to Victoria?” Taeyeon asked while staring at the television screen.

“No. That’s the fifth time you’ve asked me.” Yuri answered in an annoyed tone.

“I’m worried about Sooyoung. Aren’t you?” Taeyeon asked as she turned to look at Yuri.

“Tae, she’s old enough to solve her problems. She’s doing an excellent job avoiding it. We can only support what she has decided to do.” Yuri said as she closed her eyes. She placed a hand over her mouth as she was about to yawn.

“I’ve heard rumors from my associates.” Taeyeon said while she turned the television off. “It’s about Sooyoung buying Victoria’s family company.”

“I don’t know if she is.” Yuri replied, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she bought it. It’s her second job to--”

“To buy out and then sell the company off for a higher price after re-establishing and exploiting it.” Taeyeon chanted sarcastically before Yuri could end her sentence.

“Why do you sound sarcastic? We make a lot of money from all that stuff. We should be thankful.” Yuri said as she lifted her head off the head rest.

“You’re the only one profiting from all this. I make money by other means.” Taeyeon said as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Of course! You make money buy selling mushroom and gems.” Yuri said with the same enthusiasm as Taeyeon. “Oh my gosh I nearly forgot that you also transport illegal stuff too!”

“Shut up.” Taeyeon growled at Yuri’s stupid joke. Taeyeon’s voice turned serious as she asked Yuri, “Do you think that’s the reason why she’s avoiding the girl?”

“I don’t know.” Yuri simply replied.

“Yul, you’re useless in gathering information.”

“Then you shouldn’t be asking me. Go ask Sooyoung yourself.” Yuri said as she smirked. She leaned back onto the sofa. “Did Fany ban you from Sooyoung again?”

“No, but it’s in my best interest to not get Tiffany angry again.” Taeyeon said and she turned around to face Yuri. “Hey, I need a favour.”

“What?” Yuri asked while she closed her eyes.

“Can Jessica and you baby sit Seohyun this week end?” Taeyeon asked.

“Sure. What’s the special occasion?”

“We’re going on our second honey moon.” Taeyeon replied.

Yuri faced Taeyeon and smiled. “That’s a good idea.”

The younger child held tightly onto Yoona’s hand as they walked through the main hallway. 

Yoona halted in front of a door and pulled it open. She stepped outside into the garden. The child turned to look at Seohyun who had let go of their entwined hands. Yoona frowned as she grabbed onto the younger girl’s hand. She gently pulled the younger girl towards her. Seohyun was reluctant to move.

“Grandma lets me play here.” Yoona said as she watched for the younger girl’s reaction. 

“Omma said that there has to be an adult with us if we play outside.” Seohyun said.

“Butler Ahn said that appa is outside.” Yoona said.

Both children peeked outside from the door to look for Yuri who was supposed to be outside in the garden.

“Appa’s over there.” Yoona stated as she pointed at the green hammock near the small pond. Yuri’s hand was hanging out from the hammock. Yoona turned to look at Seohyun and grinned. “We can play outside.”

“Unnie let’s go.” Seohyun said as she pulled Yoona outside towards the pond.

Yuri moved her hand which was hanging out of the hammock and placed it on top of her head. Her eyes were closed. She snuggled closer to the figure lying with her. The blonde was fast asleep in Yuri’s embrace and her arm was hugging Yuri’s waist. Yuri could feel Jessica’s soft breathing. She could get use to lying around with the blonde in her embrace. 

Seohyun and Yoona sat near the pond. Keroro sat in between them. Seohyun was holding onto Keroro’s right hand while Yoona held onto Keroro’s left hand. 

“Are we going to have long sleepovers like this again?” Seohyun asked Yoona. 

“I don’t know.” Yoona said.

“I hope we do.”

“Why?” Yoona asked as she glanced at the fish in the pond. 

“Unnie, I get to spend more time with you. We get to play together.” Seohyun beamed with excitement. “You have ducks?” 

The younger child stood up and ran towards the ducklings. Yoona followed behind her. Seohyun bent down and stared at the ducklings in amazement. She turned to look at Yoona and said, “They’re so small.”

Yoona giggled at Seohyun’s statement. She knelt down on the grass beside Seohyun. She pointed at the closest duckling and said, “This is Lala.” 

Yoona then pointed at the rest of the ducklings. “That’s Tinky Winky, Po, and Dipsy.” 

Seohyun pointed at the ducklings to try and remember their names. 

“Do you want to feed them?” Yoona asked. 

Seohyun nodded her head. Yoona pulled out a small plastic sandwich bag with a couple of slices of bread. She opened the bag and gave a slice of bread to Seohyun. The younger child pulled a piece of the bread and chucked it to the ducklings. The ducklings briskly moved towards the piece of bread. 

“I really like my ducks.” Yoona stated. 

Yoona placed her hands on Seohyun’s cheeks. The younger child turned to look at the older child. Yoona leaned in and kissed the younger girl on her lips. She then moved away and held onto Seohyun’s hands. She entwined their fingers together. Yoona smiled as she looked into the younger girl’s eyes.

“I like you more than those ducklings.” Yoona said while her cheeks became pink.

The younger child showed an odd expression but then smiled and nodded her head.

It was night time and the two children were in Yoona’s bedroom. Seohyun and Yoona were both sitting in the bed staring at each other. 

The younger child held onto the sleave of Yoona’s jumper. The older child was frowning. 

“It’s pink.” Seohyun stated staring at the jumper.

Yoona shook her head and simply replied, “Red.”

“No, it’s not red. Your Elmo is red. This jumper is pink.” The younger child said with much determination. “Your jumper is as pink as Barney.”

Yoona opened her mouth in shock. She turned her head to look at her Barney dinosaur soft toy. Barney was not pink.

“Barney is purple.”

“You’re getting your colours wrong. Barney is pink.” The younger child stubbornly said.

Yoona pouted and pulled her sleave away from Seohyun. She got off the bed and took the red jumper off. She dropped it on the floor and walked to the cupboard. 

The younger child slid down from the bed and walked to where Yoona’s pink jumper was. She bent down and picked it up from the floor.

“You’re not meant to put clothes on the floor.” The younger child exclaimed and placed the pink jumper on the chair. “Omma says that it’s bad.”

Yoona opened her cupboard and pulled out another jumper. She placed the jumper over her head and pulled it down. She pulled the sleaves of her jumper up and walked to where Seohyun was standing. 

“Big Bird is yellow.” Yoona said as she pointed at the picture on her jumper. 

“You’re jumper is yellow.” Seohyun stated. Yoona nodded her head. 

They both got back onto the bed and under the blanket. Yoona moved closer to where Seohyun laid. Seohyun looked at Yoona and smiled. 

“Omma and appa kiss on the cheek before they go to bed.” Yoona explained.

Seohyun looked surprised. “Really?”

“Yep.” Yoona replied as she nodded her head. 

“My appa and omma always kiss on the lips.” The younger child innocently replied. 

“Do I kiss you on the cheek or on the lips?” Yoona asked. She grinned and placed a hand on Seohyun’s shoulder. “Can I do both?”

The younger child pouted and nodded her head. The older child leaned in to give Seohyun a kiss on her cheek. Yoona proceeded to give Seohyun a peck on her lips. 

“Good night Hyunnie.”

“Good night unnie”

“Good night Keroro.” Yoona and Seohyun both said to the toy that was sitting on the bed side table. 

Yoona opened her eyes to see Seohyun next to her. The younger child was curled up underneath the blanket. Yoona sat up from her bed. She leaned over to Seohyun and without much thought Yoona lifted up her hand. She poked the younger child’s cheek and it made a squishy sound. She tried to wake Seohyun by poking her again but the child was still asleep. 

Yoona jumped down from her bed. She turned to the bedside table and smiled.

“Good morning Keroro.”

She extended her arm and patted the frog on the head. She walked to the door and opened it. Stepping outside, she turned around and closed her bed room door. Yoona quietly made her way towards a door on the other side of the hallway. She stared at the door knob. She placed a hand over it and twisted it open. 

Slowly and quietly the child tip toed to the two sleeping figures on the bed. 

Yoona smiled as she stood at the edge of the bed. Her omma was tightly wrapping her arm around Yuri. The child’s omma had her head leaning on Yuri’s shoulder. Yuri was also hugging onto the blonde. 

The child climbed onto the bottom edge of the bed. She stretched her arms out to balance herself as she stood on the bed. She began to slightly bounce on the bed and without warning Yoona jumped and landed on the two sleeping figures. She began to roll and wiggle around. Unfortunately the two figures on the bed stayed asleep.

Yoona frowned and crawled near their face. 

“Omma, Yuri wake up.” The child said. There was no reaction. Yoona pouted and tried again with a slightly louder voice. “Wake up! Wake up!” 

Yoona was not happy with the response as her parents continued to sleep. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to shout, but a finger was placed on the child’s lips before she could scream. Yoona frowned and stared at the finger on her lips. The child slowly opened her mouth as the finger slid between the child’s lips. The finger pulled away as the child tried to bite it. 

“Too slow.” 

“I wasn’t going to bite.” Yoona replied.

Yuri looked at the child on top of Jessica and herself. Yuri raised an eyebrow and shook her head. 

“Yoona is hungry.” The child stated. “Appa go make breakfast.”

Yuri did not reply and closed her eyes. The child pouted and poked Yuri’s cheek.

“Get up now!” The child demanded. “Omma won’t like you if you get lazy.”

Yuri opened her eyes and replied, “I’m not lazy. You have to get off me if you want breakfast.”

The child pulled her tongue out and got off the bed. Yoona dragged the blanket off Yuri and waited for Yuri to get up. Yuri held onto the blonde’s arm and lifted it up from her waist. She carefully pulled herself away from Jessica and placed the blonde’s arm back onto the bed. Yuri held onto the blanket and placed it over the sleeping figure. 

“Can we make breakfast?” the child asked in a loud voice.

Yuri placed a finger on the child’s lips to keep her quiet. She turned to look at the sleeping figure. Yuri bent down towards Yoona and smiled. She nodded her head.

“Don’t wake omma up.” Yuri whispered. Yoona looked at Yuri and turned to look at the sleeping figure on the bed. She nodded her head. 

Yoona sat on the kitchen bench top and stared at Yuri who was looking in the fridge. She placed her hand on the edge of the bench and waited for Yuri to take out the ingredients.

“Grandma said that it is nice to make breakfast for other people.” Yoona said as Yuri closed the fridge door. “You would only make breakfast for people you like.”

“That’s why you want to make breakfast for Seohyun?” Yuri asked as she placed the ingredients on the bench. 

Yoona nodded her head and smiled. The child held onto the glass bowl as Yuri walked to open the cupboards.

“You’re making breakfast for omma. This means you like her.” The child asked. Yuri turned around and walked to the kitchen bench.

“Yep I like your omma.” Yuri said as she smiled. She lifted her hand and lightly taped her finger on Yoona’s nose. “I really love her. But I love you the most.”

Yuri leaned in and pecked Yoona’s cheek. Yoona smiled and giggled.

Yoona and Seohyun sat at the dinner table as Yuri and Jessica sat opposite of them. Seohyun held onto her glass of fruit juice. She moved the glass near Yoona. The older child averted her attention from her plate of pancakes and looked towards Seohyun’s glass of fruit juice. 

Seohyun grinned and smiled. She looked at her glass of fruit juice and Yoona’s jumper. 

“They’re both yellow.” The younger child stated. 

Yoona nodded her head in agreement. She held onto the silver spoon and took a scope of the pancake. 

“What colour is the pancake?” the younger child asked as she stared at her plate of pancakes. 

Jessica smiled and opened her mouth to reply to Seohyun’s question. 

“Coffee.” Yoona stated. She took her spoon and took a scoop of Seohyun’s pancakes. She fed Seohyun with the spoon.

Seohyun nodded and began to chew her food. Yuri grinned at Yoona’s action. She extended her hand and lifted her coffee cup. She took a sip and placed it back on the table. 

Yuri turned to look at Jessica who was busy looking at the two children. 

“Taeyeon and Tiffany are coming back this evening.”

Jessica nodded her head. “Tiffany told me yesterday.”

“Jessica.”

The blonde turned her head to look at the figure next to her. Yuri placed her hand on Jessica’s hand and smiled. 

“I’m taking a break from work two months from now.” Yuri said. She felt nervous as the blonde intently stared at her. Yuri averted her gaze from Jessica towards a fork on the tale. “Let’s go on a family trip.” 

Jessica smiled and relied. “Okay.”

Yuri grinned and entwined her fingers with Jessica’s. 

Taeyeon stepped into the Kwon’s living room with Tiffany. She looked tanned and more relaxed than before they left. She made her way to where Seohyun was sitting. The child beamed as she saw her parents. She got off the sofa and ran towards Taeyeon. Taeyeon squatted down and opened her arms as the child hugged onto Taeyeon’s neck.

“Appa.” Seohyun happy said. 

“Sweetie did you have fun?” Taeyeon asked.

“Yes.” Seohyun said as she pulled away from their hug. 

“Did you behave?” Tiffany asked. Seohyun nodded her head. Tiffany laughed and patted the child on the head. “I don’t need to worry. You’ve always been a good girl.”

Seohyun giggled at her omma’s comment. 

“Omma, are we leaving now?”

“Yes.” Tiffany replied. 

“I need to get Keroro.” Seohyun said as she stepped away from Taeyeon and Tiffany. 

Yoona held onto Keroro’s hand and dangled him in front of the younger child. Seohyun grabbed onto Keroro and smiled. “Thank you.”

“What did Yoona and you do when omma and appa was away?” Tiffany asked.

“We played with Keroro, Barney, fed the ducks, and kissed.” The little girl replied innocently.

Taeyeon’s eye twitched as she heard the last word. Tiffany turned her head to look at Taeyeon reaction. Yuri was awkwardly grinning while Jessica calmly raised an eyebrow, observing the scene in front of her. 

“Yoona you’re not meant to kiss other people.” Taeyeon said as she looked at the child.

“Why can’t I?” Yoona innocently asked.

“You’re too young.” Taeyeon replied. 

Yoona pouted and replied “I like Hyunnie. Yuri likes omma and they kiss.”

“KWON YURI!” Taeyeon growled at the taller figure. 

“It’s true.” Yuri replied as she shrugged her shoulders. She turned to look at Jessica.

Seohyun and Yoona were confused. They both looked at their parents. Yoona looked down at her hand and held onto Seohyun’s hand.

“You like auntie. You always hug and kiss her. Hyunnie said that you two kiss a lot.”

The child said and pointed at Tiffany. Yoona’s statement earned a nod from the younger child. 

Tiffany could feel her cheeks burn as the four adults were speechless.

The gates of the Kim estate opened and a grey car drove into the drive way. 

Taeyeon stepped out from the drive’s side and Tiffany also stepped out. Two figures in suits walked from the gate towards the grey car. Taeyeon turned to look at them. She discreetly dialled Yuri’s number and placed the phone in her pocket. She made her way over to the other side of the car where Tiffany was standing. 

The two figures stood in front of Taeyeon. They pulled out their badges and showed it Taeyeon.

“Good evening I am inspector Choi Siwon and this is inspector Lee Shindong.” The skinner figure said and placed his badge back into his pocket.

“Ms Kim sorry to disturbed you but we would like you to come with us to the police station for questioning.” The police officer said. 

Taeyeon nodded and held up her hand. “Give me a minute.”

The officer nodded his head. Taeyeon opened the back door of the car and carried Seohyun out from her car. She had placed the phone in Seohyun’s pocket. She walked towards the front door with Tiffany walking behind. They stood near the front door. Taeyeon handed Seohyun to Tiffany to carry. The child was oblivious to the situation her parents were in. 

Taeyeon leaned in to give Seohyun a kiss on the child’s cheek. The child responded by kissing Taeyeon too. Taeyeon moved her gaze to Tiffany.

“I’ll be back once they’re done.” Taeyeon stated. 

“Taeyeon, was our trip an excuse for you to buy time from the authorities?” Tiffany asked as she held onto Taeyeon’s arm. “I’m disappointed in you.”

Taeyeon looked at Tiffany with a solemn expression. She pulled her arm out from Tiffany’s grip. The child in Tiffany’s arms moved her hand around her omma’s neck and tried to reach out towards the other parent. The shorter figure walked away from Tiffany and Seohyun.

Chapter 23

a/n: Flashback

Yoona rubbed her eyes and sat up. She pulled the blanket off and slid down from the bed. She ran out of her bedroom and across the hall way. Without paying attention to what was in front of her, Yoona had accidentally fallen down. 

“Young master, are you alright?” Butler Ahn asked as he bent down to help Yoona stand up. 

“I’m fine. I’m sorry for bumping you.” Yoona replied and looked up at butler Ahn. 

“That’s alright young master. Please be careful when you’re running in the house. It’s very dangerous, especially when you’re near the stairs.” Butler Ahn said as Yoona held onto his hand. 

“I will.” The child said. She happily walked with butler Ahn through the hallway. She curiously turned to look at him and asked, “Where were you going?”

“I was going to wake you up young master.” 

“Why?” Yoona asked.

“You don’t usually wake up this late.” Butler Ahn replied while Yoona giggled at his statement. 

Yoona firmly held onto butler Ahn’s hand as they walked down the stairs towards the dinning room for breakfast. 

The Kwon family sat quietly at the dinning table. Yuri and Jessica sat across from one another and Yoona was sitting in between them. Yuri had her usual toast and a cup of coffee. Yoona was fascinated by the smell that came from Yuri’s cup. It had a nice aroma. Today, the child was quite determined to have a taste of it. It was rather difficult for her to try it. Jessica had kept a careful watch over Yoona’s many attempts of trying to take a sip. The child’s omma had repetitively stated that it was bad for Yoona’s health and that only adults were able to drink it. 

Nevertheless, what her omma said had entered in one ear and those words immediately escaped out from the other ear. Yoona was preoccupied with her fascination towards it. She sat and stared as Yuri held onto the cup to take a sip. The cup was very close yet Yoona could not grab hold of it.

Yuri had noticed that Yoona had stopped eating her breakfast. She placed the cup of coffee back down onto the table and turned to look at her child. Yuri moved her hand towards the child and gently squeezed Yoona’s cheek. The child frown her eyebrows and pouted her lips. 

“If you keep looking at me, your omma will be angry.”

“Why would omma get angry?” the child asked as she held onto her spoon. 

“Omma might think that you like me more than her.” Yuri replied as she took a glimpse of the blonde sitting across from her and playfully smiled. 

Jessica raised an eyebrow. She smiled at the site of Yoona and Yuri’s bonding. Yoona had become attached with Yuri. The site of the child and parent had made her heart flutter. Jessica had always known that Yuri would have been a great parent even if Yuri had a dishearten childhood. 

Yoona turned to look at her mother and then turned back to stare at Yuri. 

“Really?” Yoona asked Yuri. 

Yuri nodded her head in reply. Yoona turned to look at Jessica. Jessica smiled and shook her head. 

“Omma says no.” the child innocently stated. “You look at omma a lot.”

“I do?” Yuri asked with a surprised expression. She was quite astonished at her child’s observation. 

“Yoona isn’t mad. Omma knows that I love her the most and she loves me more than you.” The child said as she beamed. 

Jessica placed an arm around Yoona’s shoulders. She leaned in and kissed her child on the cheek. For a child, Yoona had always seemed to be good with words. Jessica was taken by surprise with Yoona’s random comments. Fortunately, she had gotten use to Yoona’s style of talking. It was amusing to watch the interaction between the two. 

The development reports Yuri was reading were giving her a head ache. She looked up towards the clock from her desk. It was already one o’clock in the afternoon. It was a wonder how time flies when she was at the office. It seemed that there was never enough time to complete any particular task within a desired time frame. 

“Ms Kwon, there’s someone who would like to meet you.” the secretary said looking at Yuri’s response. “He said that it is important.”

Yuri gestured for the secretary to allow the man into her office. As the secretary stepped out from the room, her office door was opened again. In stepped a figure with broad shoulders and a muscular appearance. 

“Hi Yuri, I’m glad you’re still here.” the man said as he closed the door behind him. 

“Yunho, come take a seat.” Yuri said.

She closed the folder that she was reading and chucked it on the mounting pile of folders on the side of her desk. She motioned for him to sit down. 

“What can I do for you?” Yuri asked and she casually leaned forward towards Yunho’s direction. 

“I have this business proposal and I bet you’ll be interested in it.” Yunho answered. 

He took out a folder from his bag and slid it across to Yuri’s side of the table. Yuri had opened the folder and immediately flicked through the content. 

“Thank you but I’m not interested.” Yuri said. She closed the folder and handed the document to the other side of the table. “I’m sorry.” 

“Why? Is it because of Victoria and your cousin?” he asked. 

“It has nothing to do with them.” Yuri said. She grabs hold of her pen and started twirling it with her fingers. “The time plan for this business is inconvenient for me.”

“What do you mean?” Yunho asked while he started to frown.

“I’m taking a well deserved break.”

Yunho nodded his head and lets out a sigh of relief. 

“I understand that you like over seeing these types of projects. Instead of giving this business proposal up, why don’t you get someone you trust to overlook its progress during your break?”

“The person I trust is someone you don’t want to see.” Yuri said. She stopped twirling the pen and placed it back on the desk.

Both Yunho and Yuri knew who that person was. That particular person was no other than Choi Sooyoung. It was inevitable that the two of them will meet once in a while Yuri was not going to jeopardize their business relationship. 

“Yunho, you’re seriously not here for business. You’re just making an excuse to keep an eye on the two of them.” Yuri bluntly said. 

“Yes I am.” Yunho replied and smiled. “But I’m also serious about this business deal.”

Yunho pushed the folder back towards Yuri. He had gestured with his eyes for Yuri to re-look at its content. Yuri had opened the folder again and began to re-read it. 

“Have you kept in contact with Victoria?”

Yunho nod his head, “Yes, awkward as it may seem in the eyes of others, we’re still friends. I still feel the need to protect her from harm and disappointment. ” 

Yuri lets out a noised of agreement as she flips over to the next page. 

“What about you?” Yunho asked. 

Yuri looked up from the folder and placed it down on the table.

“I haven’t kept in contact with her ever since I gave . . .” Yuri started to say but was cut off by Yunho.

“. . .gave her the divorce papers?” Yunho asked while feeling amused. Yuri looked up from the folder with uneasiness. “The media was right. You are the reason for my divorce with Victoria.”

Yuri grunted and shrugged her shoulders. She must admit that she was the reason for the divorce. It wasn’t a surprise to know that he hand found out. Victoria and Yunho needed someone to be the catalyst. She knew pretty well that the two of them were reluctant to bring up the topic because their parents were not big fans of such things. In their society, marriage was a life time business contract. For better or worse it was a contract that every heir had to sign. The affluent society looked down upon those who break these types of business contracts. Yuri had many times assured herself that it was the right thing to do. Furthermore, Yunho seemed happy about it. She had no regrets. She was just helping out Sooyoung. 

“Don’t make your decision right now. I’ll give you a couple of days to think about it.” Yunho said as he pointed towards the folder. 

Yuri nodded her head and stood up from her chair. She followed Yunho and walked him out to the elevator.

“It was nice seeing you again.”

“Same.” Yuri replied.

As Yuri made her way back into her office, she pulled out her phone and dialed a familiar number. She placed the phone near her ear and waited as the ringing sound commenced. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey. Let’s go out for lunch.” Yuri said. She grabbed her coat from her chair and walked out of her office. 

Sooyoung and Taeyeon were having lunch together. They both had a great view looking down from the second floor of the restaurant. They were able to see what was happening along the street. Nothing had yet caught their attention as they gazed down from up above. People were going shopping. While others were making their way in or out from restaurants. There were cars that parked on the street and many other cars slowly driving through the busy area. 

Taeyeon squint her eyes as she looked intently at a very familiar sleek black car. The black car parked on the side of the street. A tall female figure, who wore sunglasses, got out from the driver’s seat and made her way to the other side of the car. She opened the front passenger door and another very familiar figure popped out from the car. Taeyeon smirked as she continued to look at them from where she was sitting. 

Sooyoung, who was preoccupied with what was on her plate, was oblivious to what Taeyeon was staring at. She was going to make the most of her 45minute lunch break. Nothing was going to put Sooyoung off her appetite. Sooyoung looked up at Taeyeon who seemed to be in a trance looking down from the window. 

“Tae.” Sooyoung said in a raised voice. 

Sooyoung rolled her eyes and turned her head to the window. She looked at the direction where Taeyeon was staring. Her lips formed a thin line when she saw the couple standing across the street. Sooyoung unconsciously dropped her fork on the table as the figure wearing sunglasses held onto her companion and walked into the restaurant across the street. Taeyeon turned her head around to look at Sooyoung and smirked. It was odd to witness the taller figure lose her cool. 

“Why are you so tense?” Taeyeon asked in an amused tone.

Sooyoung face Taeyeon and raised her eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

The shorter figure grinned and used her head to gesture at what they were both looking at. Sooyoung grunted and gulped down her glass of water. 

“You’re not happy that they’re together.” Taeyeon said. “Isn’t it alright that Victoria is with Yuri instead of someone else?”

“. I don’t mind that it’s my cousin it’s the fact that Kwon Yuri is attached.” Sooyoung snapped at Taeyeon’s remark. 

“Yuri made clear of her intention from the start. You wouldn’t step up from the challenge so she took your place in taking care of Victoria.” Taeyeon calmly said. “Victoria deserves to be happy. Yuri and I have a clear idea of what we want in our relationships. On the other hand, you seem to enjoy complicating your relationship with Victoria.”

“I’m not selfish. I love her but I’m willing to let go because she deserves better.” 

“Bull sh*t.” Taeyeon said as she accidentally slammed her hand on the table. “If you love someone you’ll fight for them. You won’t hesitate to step up to any challenge. You would give more than what’s adequate. You won’t run away to another country and come back after she gets married. You shouldn’t be snooping around and only be part of her background.”

“I know my limitations. I have boundaries and I don’t want to become ill-fated as the two of you.” 

“Being ill-fated? I doubt that’s the right word to use.” Taeyeon replied and chuckled.

“Yul’s a manipulative, controlling and egocentric freak. She seeks for things and people that she finds challenging. Once she gets what she wants, she discards it in an instant. When something else becomes more intriguing in her eyes she does the same thing.” Sooyoung said and placed her hand on her chest. “In Yul’s eyes, Jessica is an amusement. That’s the only reason why she’s keeping Jessica around.”

“Don’t say that about your cousin.” Taeyeon raised her voice. 

“WHY CAN’T I?” Sooyoung said with a loud voice. She placed her cup back onto the table after taking a sip. “I’m worried about Victoria. Yuri can be very scheming.”

Sooyoung could feel her soul being sucked out as she slammed the door closed. She was angry at Kwon Yuri. The figure was just sitting in her study room, flicking through a novel. Sooyoung slammed both her hands on the desk. The sound made Yuri look up from her novel. 

“How can you do that to me?” Sooyoung screamed at Yuri. “I can’t believe I’ve become a collaborator in your sick revenge.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Yuri said. “The things you decided to do were from your own free will.”

“You pretended to be pitiful in front of me. You told me how much you wanted to find her. You told me how much you regret agreeing to the divorce. You said that you would give everything up just so you can be with her again.” Sooyoung said as she took sharp breaths. “You’re a liar. You tricked me!”

“You’ve already helped me destroy my divorce papers. I can only say thank you.” Yuri replied with a chuckle. 

Sooyoung leaned towards Yuri and glared. 

“Hyoyeon is right. I should have never placed my trust in you.” Sooyoung said in a whisper. “If you keep up with this attitude, you’ll eventually lose everyone who cares about you. You’ll never get what you want.” 

“Thank you for your lecture.” Yuri sarcastically replied. “You’ve only destroyed a couple of useless pieces of paper. You’ve done things that are much worst to others.”

Sooyoung straightened her stance and let’s out a sardonic chuckle. 

“You know what makes this worse?” Sooyoung asked, not caring whether Yuri was listening. “It’s the fact that I’ve never met her.”

“I’m not wrong about Yuri.” Sooyoung stubbornly argued.

“Well, there are things that she can’t control. Yuri’s approach in solving her problems is taken from what she has learnt from the past.”

“Yuri-ah, please open the door.” A mature lady pleaded. “Please open the door for grandma.”

The lady knocked on the door and continued to beg the 9 year old child to open the door. She was worried that the child would do something foolish in the bedroom. She couldn’t lose another member of her family in a span of one week. She wasn’t sure how the child was feeling after losing both of her parents in a horrific car crash.

Kwon Yuri sat on the floor in the dim room. She was hugging onto her Mickey Mouse. Her knuckles were white as she held onto the toy’s arms. She had her eyes closed and was rocking forward and backwards. She wanted to be alone. 

One week ago, she was left behind at home while her parents decided to take a little trip. On the way back, they were involved in a car accident. They never came back home. Yuri was placed under her grandparent’s guardianship. She was never close to her grandparents. She had no idea on how to approach them now that she had to live under the same roof. 

Her parents were never close to her grandparents. They were even colder towards Yuri. She envied her school friends who had parents openly give affection towards their child. She had once hoped that her parents would be the same as other parents. But the closest thing that they ever did to show affection was to give Yuri what she wanted, whenever and with whatever method.

They just needed the child to act her part as the possible heir to the family fortune. Yuri’s parents had thought of her as the object to inherit the Kwon family fortune. Unfortunately the heir to the family fortune had already been decided. There were confirmations that it would not be her parents. Yuri’s parents didn’t know who the fortune was bestowed to but it was rumored to be an outsider. Their chances of getting their hands on the thing they most wanted were obliterated. 

Yuri was thrown to the side and was never glanced at. 

She became the child that her parents never wanted.

Yuri opened her eyes and stood up. She walked towards the bed. The child pulled the blanket to cover her body. She closed her eyes again. The sound coming from the other side of the door was ignored as Yuri tried to fall asleep. 

She wasn’t sad about her parents’ death. In her eyes, they deserved it. 

“You’re no better.” Sooyoung sated as she raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Really?” Taeyeon asked without much interest. She held onto her cup of coffee and took a sip.

“You’re a two face, heartless and sadistic wrench.” 

“That’s a bit harsh.” Taeyeon calmly said. She placed her cup of coffee back onto the table and leaned back on the chair. 

“Have you told Tiffany the other reason why you married her?” Sooyoung asked.

Taeyeon had her mouth shut and was looking blankly at the taller figure. 

“Come on Taetae, let it out.” The taller figure mocked.

“Say whatever you like because I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“How did it feel to know that your family business was secured when you placed that wedding ring on Tiffany’s finger?” Sooyoung asked. She pulled out her phone and placed it on the table. “Would you like me to evoke your true feelings by showing you the photo of that specific moment?”

Sooyoung sneered as she noticed Taeyeon shifting her glance towards the phone. 

“Yeah I married her for that, so what?” Taeyeon snapped at the taller figure. She was starting to feel annoyed. “It might not look right in your eyes. But it’s something that’s normal in our elite- society. Our society isn’t perfect. I can’t be perfect but it’s my responsibility to chose to do the right thing.”

“That’s not my point. Yul, you and I know perfectly well that you don’t love her. You ditch another b*tch that made you happy and married someone else.”

“How would you know?” Taeyeon questioned. Her hands clenched into a fist. “I’ve admitted that I’m not perfect. My feelings may subside to an extent. But I’m learning to feel affection for her.”

“You’ve only learnt how to abuse Tiffany’s trust. You’ve already broken the main foundation of marriage. You consider your marriage as something that would ensure your business’ future.”

“Don’t tell me that you’re just holding a grudge against my marriage just because you don’t like these types of marriages.” Taeyeon said. “It’s very common. These marriages work.”

Sooyoung took a deep breath and exhaled. She shook her head in disbelief. 

“When are you going to face reality?” Taeyeon asked the taller figure as Sooyoung stood up. “You give the vibe that you don’t want to be with Victoria. Then why are you stalking her?”

“You know what? I hate this place.” Sooyoung declared. “We’re never going to this place of lunch ever again.”

Taeyeon looked out from the window and down at the restaurant. It was hard to tell whether or not their feelings were sincere. She was skeptical of Sooyoung’s feelings for Victoria. She doesn’t know if Jessica was just Yuri’s item of amusement. She’s unsure of her feelings towards Tiffany. It seemed like they were all living a lie. Taeyeon had vigorously prayed that this confusion would be kept to herself even when she’s six feet under. 

Chapter 25

Taeyeon held onto the door knob and closed the front door. She held onto her keys and placed it back into her bag. She dropped the bag on the side of the hallway and walked to the kitchen. She was nearing the kitchen when a short haired brunette stepped out from the kitchen. 

The brunette was holding onto a glass of orange juice. She got quite a fright to find Taeyeon standing silently staring at her. She frowned at the awkward silence between them. She wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate to walk away or to just stand and see who would make the first move. Without much thought the brunette decided to make the first move. 

“Tae.” The brunette greeted.

She handed Taeyeon the glass of orange juice. Taeyeon held onto the glass and followed the figure into the kitchen. Taeyeon leaned on the side of the bench staring at the brunette. The brunette opened the fridge and took out the carton of orange juice. She placed it on the bench. She turned around and opened a cupboard and pulled out a glass. She closed the cupboard door and poured orange juice into the cup.

“MiYoung, I’m sorry.” Taeyeon said out of the blue, “I’m sorry for raising my voice at you.” 

“I’m sorry too. I was also being hot tempered.” The brunette replied.

“I don’t mean to ignore you” Taeyeon said. 

“I know.” Tiffany replied.

Taeyeon placed the glass on the bench and moved towards Tiffany. She embraced the brunette and they both silently stayed in the same position.

“Tae, Hyunnie is at my family’s place. Mother’s been nagging me about bringing her grandchild for a visit. We’ll be staying at my family’s place for a couple of days.”

“Are you leaving tonight?” Taeyeon asked.

“Yeah.” Tiffany answered while she nodded her head. “Mother’s being very persistent about it.”

“Let me take a shower and then I’ll drive you there.” Taeyeon said. She reached out and held onto the brunette’s hand. 

“It’s alright, Taeyeon stay home and rest. I know you’re very exhausted from work.” Tiffany said as she tightened her grip. “Mother has already sent one of her drivers to come and fetch me.”

“Are you sure?” Taeyeon asked. “I feel more comfortable if I took you there myself.”

“I’ll be fine.” Tiffany replied.

“I won’t be worn out.” Taeyeon said. “I want to spend more time with you. You can’t deny me of that.” 

Tiffany nodded her head and gently smiled. People may view Taeyeon as someone who was ruthless. Taeyeon may be self-interested. Taeyeon may give the impression that she doesn’t care about anything but Tiffany was able to see through her lover’s outer layer. The shorter figure had always been very thoughtful. She knew that Taeyeon had always secretly taken care of her without much complaint. Tiffany couldn’t be mad because there was nothing more she can ask from her lover, her spouse. 

Taeyeon placed both of her hands on Tiffany’s cheeks and stared into the taller figure’s eyes. 

“Fany.” Taeyeon softly whispered. 

Tiffany replied by slightly nodding to indicate that she was paying attention. 

“You cut your hair short.” Taeyeon stated. 

With her hands on Tiffany’s cheeks, Taeyeon leaned in to give Tiffany a peck on the lips. She pulled away and noticed that the brunette’s cheeks becoming slightly red. Taeyeon wrapped her arms around the brunette’s waist and held firmly onto her shirt.

Taeyeon kissed the brunette’s cheek. 

“I like your new hairstyle.” Taeyeon said as Tiffany giggled at the statement and wrapped her arms around Taeyeon’s neck. 

As Tiffany stepped out from the house, Tae bids good bye. She takes out her phone and dialed a very familiar number. 

Yoona held onto her Elmo’s right hand as she twisted the door knob. She slowly pushed the door and pulled her head through the crack to see if her parents where in bed. The child pushed the door wide open when she saw that her mother was the only one in bed reading a book. 

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” the child asked as she stood at the entrance.

Jessica lifted her head up to look at the child. She pulled her glasses off and gestured for the child to come inside the room. Yoona made her way towards the bed. She got on and sat next to Jessica. 

Yoona had placed Elmo in between Jessica and herself. The child placed an arm around her mother’s waist and snuggled closer. The child was lying on Jessica’s arm. Jessica had her arms wrapped around her child. She gently patted Yoona on the shoulder. Jessica leaned in to softly kiss her child on the cheeks. 

The child giggled at the light kisses. Yoona moved her head towards her mother. She kissed Jessica on the cheek. 

“Omma,” Yoona said while beaming with happiness, “I love you.”

“I love you too Yoong.” Jessica replied. 

Yuri raised her eyebrow when she stepped into her bedroom. Jessica had already started to nod off while Yoona was already asleep. Yuri quietly made her way towards the bed. She placed the glass of water on the nightstand and sat on the bed. She leaned in and smiled at the site of her child falling asleep with a bit of her tongue poking out from her mouth. She then gazed at the blonde who was still hugging Yoona. 

Jessica slightly opened her eyes to look at Yuri. 

“Why is Yoona in our room?” Yuri asked as she placed a hand on the child’s head. 

“Don’t raise your voice. You’re going to wake her up.” Jessica said while she sat up and placed a finger over Yuri’s mouth. 

Yuri bent down and lifted the sleeping child up from the bed. 

“Yuri what are you doing?” Jessica asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m carrying her back to her own bed.”

“No, don’t do that.” Jessica said as she tried to pull Yuri to come back to the bed. “She’s going to get a fright when she wakes up at some place else.”

Yuri held onto the sleeping child and shook her head in disagreement.

“We can definitely fit a child on this bed.” said the blonde.

“There’s not enough space on the bed.” Yuri argued. She was determined not to lose. 

“Excuse me!” Jessica cried out with both her hands on her hips, “There is lots of space on this bed.”

“You and I take up the whole bed.” Yuri said with a grin. 

Yuri stepped further from the bed towards the door.

“Yuri, have you noticed your sleeping habit? You always seem to invade my side of the bed and leave your side of the bed empty.” Jessica said while she glared at Yuri.

“I’m not sharing our bed with anyone else, even if it’s our child.” Yuri childishly argued.

“Yuri, wait…” Jessica said as she held out her arm towards Yuri and Yoona. 

Yuri had already walked out from their bedroom with the child in her embrace. 

Yuri came back and closed the door. She moved under the blanket and extended her arm to hug Jessica. Yuri felt that it was odd for Jessica’s skin to be squishy. She scrunched her eyebrows and squeezed her hand. Yuri immediately removed her hand away from Jessica as she felt herself being able to squeeze the blonde with little resistance. 

Yuri pulled the blanket away and looked at Jessica’s direction. Yuri had not hugged Jessica. She had actually hugged Yoona’s Elmo.

“Why is that red thing on our bed?” Yuri asked as she pointed at the red soft toy placed between Jessica and herself on the bed.

“Elmo?” Jessica asked as she slightly opened her eyes and mumbled, “Well, I was going to tell you to take it back to Yoona’s room but you left before I could mention anything about it.”

“You should have been more forceful.” Yuri said with a grin. 

She held onto the toy and placed it sitting on the night stand next to the bed. Yuri pulled the blanket back up. She moved closer to the blonde and hugged her on the waist. 

“Good night.” Yuri said as she began to softly kiss the blonde’s shoulder. 

Sooyoung stood quietly on the footpath and was staring at the lit window on the other side of the dark street. She was holding onto a lit cigarette. She took a puff and exhaled its content.

It was true. Her friends had always mentioned her weakness towards relationships. She couldn’t live up to expectations and promises. She didn’t want to disappoint someone who is so much in love with her. It was insane of Sooyoung to hold onto Victoria. She was unable to give Victoria the thing she wanted. She was too frightened of the possible consequences and commitment.

She was being selfish. But it was for a good reason. 

Even though they were not together, Sooyoung had always been Victoria’s shadow. It didn’t matter how much it had hurt to know that Victoria was with someone else. She secretly held onto the belief that although they separated, their hearts where still connecting with every beating pulse. She was selfish and nothing was going to change her mind in regards to her approach towards Victoria. 

“If my love for you is true, I’ll be able to take care of you even if we’re apart.” Sooyoung whispered as she looked at the house. “Slowly, you will be able to remove your consciousness of me when you find someone more deserving.” 

Sooyoung’s phone vibrated and she pulled out her phone from her pocket. She dropped the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it before walking away. 

Yoona woke up in the middle of the night in her own bed. She turned around to her right side and tried to grab hold of Elmo but the toy was not there.

The child sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes. She frowned and slid off the bed. Yoona walked silently through the hallway towards her parent’s room. She quietly turned the door knob and step inside the room. Both her parents were already asleep.

Yoona widened her eyes as she saw Elmo sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. She pulled the toy down and hugged it. The child climbed gently onto the bed and squeezed in between Yuri and Jessica. 

Yoona pulled the blanket up as she settled down in the bed between her parents. Elmo was next to Yuri while Yoona was lying next to her omma. Yoona yawned, closed her eyes and snuggled next to Jessica. 

Yuri had suddenly turned to her side and was facing towards Elmo and Yoona. She extended her arm towards Jessica and moved closer into an embrace. 

On the other side of the bed Jessica sighed and snuggled closer to Yuri.

The Kwon family slept peacefully in bed.

Chapter 26

Sooyoung squeezed her way through the rowdy crowd in the nightclub. As she pulled out her phone from her pocket, Sooyoung spotted the shortie sitting near the bar. The figure had her elbow on the table and was resting her head on her hand. Sooyoung grinned and made her way towards the sitting figure. She gently sat beside the shortie and placed an arm around the figure’s shoulders. 

“It’s nice to see you here, Taeyeon.” said Sooyoung with a bemused tone. 

Taeyeon tilted her head and looked up towards Sooyoung. She heaved a sigh and averted her attention back to the glass of tequila. She was not in the best mood. 

“Don’t ignore me.” Sooyoung said, “You’re the one that called me. So, why are we here?”

Sooyoung placed her phone back into her pocket and continued to stare at Taeyeon. It was odd to get a random call from Taeyeon during the middle of the night. It was odder to meet up with Taeyeon in a nightclub. She knew how devoted Taeyeon was towards her family. She also knew how paranoid Tiffany was whenever Taeyeon was not home at night. There was no possibility for Taeyeon to stray away from Tiffany. It would be too much of a risk for Taeyeon to leave the house during the middle of the night. 

Sooyoung was quite impressed because it was a true miracle to find Taeyeon here.

Taeyeon had ignored Sooyoung’s question. 

Without persisting to getting an answer from the shortie, Sooyoung had assumed that something must have happened. It was either about work or family.

“Is it alright for you to even be here drinking?” Sooyoung asked, “She doesn’t like you coming to these places.”

Taeyeon nodded her head and replied, “She’s at her mother’s place.”

“I guess it won’t hurt if she doesn’t know.” Sooyoung said and laughed at her own logic, “Even a push-over requires freedom once in a while, isn’t that right shortie?”

“How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?” Taeyeon growled at the taller figure. 

“Obviously,” Sooyoung mocked using a similar tone as Taeyeon, “Not enough for me to remember.”

Sooyoung held onto her glass as she looked down at Taeyeon chugging down the whole content of her glass. The shorter figure placed the glass down on the table and turned to give Sooyoung a piercing glare. 

“Where were you before I called?” Taeyeon asked, “You weren’t picking up your home phone.”

“Who the hell uses a home phone? You should have just called my mobile.” Sooyoung stated and smacked Taeyeon on the head. “I was on my way home from Yuri’s place.”

Taeyeon lifted her hand to rub her head. Her glass was refilled by the bar attendant. 

“I’m starting to dislike her.” Sooyoung said randomly. She was still disgruntled with Yuri’s light hearted yet mocking tactics about her dawdling relationship with Victoria. 

“Who?” Taeyeon questioned as she tilted her head towards Sooyoung. The alcohol was getting to her head. For a second there were two Sooyoung-s in her line of vision. 

“Yuri.” Sooyoung replied, “I can’t stand this cousin of mine.” 

“Well, welcome to the: I hate Kwon Yuri club.” Taeyeon said as she widened her arms out for a hug and giggled. She was definitely tipsy.

“What a stupid name for a lame club.” Sooyoung said as she held onto her glass. She took a sip and swirled the content with her finger. “I admire you for sticking with Yuri ever since we were young.”

“I hung around with everyone. There were you, Yuri, and Hyoyeon.” Taeyeon said as she counted her fingers. She took a drink from her glass. 

“No, I remember you as my cousin’s sidekick.” Said Sooyoung and she tilted her head towards a random figure walking pass them, “Apparently you were the goofy-underprivileged-Yuri -wannabe.”

Taeyeon smirked and drank the rest of the content in her glass. She gestured for the bar attendant to refill her glass again. She nodded her head as a gesture of thanks when the glass was filled to the brim and the bar attendant moved away.

“I remember the look from everyone when they found out that you where also from a well-off family.” Sooyoung said with much amusement, “Taeyeon, you made the rest of high school life a living hell for those who had picked on you.”

“They deserved it and it was fun.” Taeyeon stated. She smirked as she reminisced about the past. 

Taeyeon turned to look at Sooyoung. The taller figure was obnoxious, self righteous and stubborn but Sooyoung was one of the few Taeyeon could rant out her thoughts without feeling bounded with judgmental remarks. Her thoughts went back to Yuri when she twirled her fingers around the rim of the glass. 

During a certain stage in Taeyeon’s friendship with Yuri, she was devoured with jealously towards the latter’s popularity and influence. Yuri’s popularity and her various links to different lovers after her separation with Jessica had somehow irked Taeyeon. Taeyeon couldn’t pin point whether it was Yuri’s numerous dates or Yuri’s never ending popularity with the tabloids. It seemed like most of society had disliked Yuri yet they were very willing to embrace Yuri with open arms. As that certain phase of jealously subsided, Taeyeon had concluded that she saw Yuri’s rebellion as something that was very appealing compared to her lifestyle and adaptation to marriage. 

Even though Yuri’s popularity and lifestyle was appealing, Taeyeon was content with Tiffany and Seohyun. She wasn’t a risk taker and she was definitely not stupid enough to abandon her own family without thinking of the consequences – personally and financially. There was much more to lose than a couple sleepless nights. 

Sooyoung stretched her arms and gestured for the bar attendant to refill her glass again. She leaned in to look at Taeyeon who was staring off into the distance. The shorter figure blinked and averted her gaze at Sooyoung. 

“Did you know that my mushroom had her hair cut short?” Taeyeon half consciously asked Sooyoung.

“Why would I care?” Sooyoung scoffed at Taeyeon’s question and turned away. 

“I like her new short hairstyle.” Taeyeon said shrugging her shoulders. 

Sooyoung turned to look at Taeyeon. “I thought you preferred someone with long hair.”

“Well, she’s different.” Taeyeon replied with a chuckle and drank the rest of the content in her glass. 

The short figure leaned her head on the counter. Everything around her seemed to be spinning round in circles. Without much struggle, Taeyeon had closed her eyes. 

Sooyoung placed her glass on the table and grinned. She extended her hand and poked Taeyeon’s cheek. There was no reaction from the shortie. She lifted her hand and slightly slapped Taeyeon’s cheek with the back of her hand. There was still no reaction.

“What an amateur drinker.” Sooyoung scoffed and laugh quietly, “Taeyeon, you can rebel all you like for now. Once that mushroom comes back home you’ll always be the biggest push-over.”

Sooyoung placed her fingers near Taeyeon’s forehead. She grinned and flicked the shortie’s forehead.

It had been a week since Tiffany had left to go visit her mother. Today was also the day of Yoona’s excursion. The child was so excited that she had a very hard time falling asleep the night before. 

Yoona’s class was paired up with an older class at her school. Each younger student was holding onto the hand of an older student. Yoona tilted her head to look at her entwined hand. She slowly gazed up at her partner. 

The boy who was holding onto Yoona’s hand tilted his head to look at Yoona. He smiled and held up their entwined hands. 

“You’re my partner today.” the boy beamed with excitement, “Remember, I’m older so you have to call me oppa.”

Yoona widen her eyes and shook her head. “No, Taecyeon.”

“Oppa.”

“Taecyeon.”

“Oppa.”

“Didn’t you call me oppa last time?” the boy asked while lifting his free hand to scratch the back of his head. “Taecyeon oppa.”

The younger child nodded her head. 

They were walking in straight lines in twos. The teachers had been very strict and insistent about having to hold hands. For the whole school day the students had been on an excursion to the museum. The students were all fascinated by what they saw. By lunch time the teachers had decided that it would be enjoyable and fun for everyone to have lunch outside at a nearby park. They all needed to walk through a busy shopping center. 

Before they made their way out from the shopping center, a few of the students complained that they needed to go to the toilet. A couple of the teachers went to supervise while the rest of the teachers stayed with the students who did not need to go to the toilet.

The children were getting restless while waiting for their schoolmates to get back from the toilet. Yoona and Taecyeon on the other hand, were preoccupied with pointing out things that they found interesting. Yoona stood near the second floor rail and Taecyeon was beside her. At a far distance, Yoona was able to spot some one familiar. It was Yuri. She was standing near the elevator on the ground floor. 

She wanted to walk down towards Yuri but was unable to do so. She was still holding hands with Taecyeon. She couldn’t remove her hand away because the teacher had specifically told students to make sure that they were holding onto their partner’s hand. She didn’t want to get in trouble.

The child’s happiness was soon crushed as she widens her eyes. She wanted to cry out but couldn’t. She was getting upset, yet there was no way for her to express it. 

Yuri was hugging someone Yoona had never met before. The lady’s face was leaning towards her appa. The lady’s hands were holding onto Yuri’s shirt and she leaned in to kiss on the lips. They were very close together and the child could see that the two of them did not want to be apart from each other. As the lady pulled away, Yoona viewed Yuri beaming with triumph and contentment. Yuri’s hands did not let got from the lady’s waist. 

The child frowned at what she was witnessing. She was too engrossed with what Yuri has done to even notice Taecyeon pulling her hand. The older boy lifted his hand and waved it in front of Yoona’s face. 

Yoona averted her gaze towards the boy.

Taecyeon smiled and said, “We need to go. Every one is starting to walk away.”

Yoona did not move nor did she reply. The boy started to pull Yoona along with him. Unfortunately, the younger child had stubbornly refused to move.

“Come on Yoona, we don’t want to get in trouble.” Taecyeon said with a persuading tone as Yoona turn to look at the boy.

Yoona turned around again to look at Yuri. The lady was still in Yuri’s arms. Yuri was still grinning and was leaning in to kiss the lady.

Yuri stood near the elevator and was waiting for it. She was oblivious to her surrounding.

“Yuri!” a female figure yelled out and Yuri impulsively turned to look at her.

The figure reached Yuri and was beaming with happiness. She leaned in and lifted her hand to hold onto Yuri’s collar. The figure with the long lush hair pulled Yuri’s collar forward. She was on her toes as they kissed on the lips. 

Yuri’s hands were placed on the figure’s waist. The both of they pulled away. Yuri’s face was flushed and she had a childish grin.

“You have the weirdest style of greeting. You still haven’t learnt to restrain from kissing.” Yuri said with a teasing tone, “My business partner who’s also your husband is easily jealous.”

“Nice to meet you too Yuri.” the figure said and poked out her tongue, “Too bad this is my style of greeting. How are you my old high school friend? I heard from my husband that you’ve taken the new architecture deal to build the new LG Twins baseball stadium. ” 

“Yeah we are.’ Yuri stated with a smile and leaned in for a hug, “I miss the two of you, our families should schedule for some sort of dinner together.”

Pulling out from their intimate embrace, the female figure nodded her head and replied, “We should do that. I’ll tell my assistant to call yours. You better not decline.”

The female figure leaned in to give Yuri another kiss. 

They both lightly heartily laughed and bided each other goodbye.

Tiffany sat on the bench next to her mother. They were each holding onto a cup of tea and occasionally took little sips from the cup. The older lady turned to look at her child and smiled. It had been a long time since the two of them sat outside to have random conversations. She missed her daughter’s smiles, the loudness of Tiffany’s voice and the constant giggles from Tiffany. 

“You should come and visit me more often.” The older lady said and she took a sip of tea, “I’m starting to think that you’ve forgotten about me. I also really want to see how much Seohyun has grown.”

“Mom,” said Tiffany as she turned to look at the older lady. “I know, but I hate leaving Taeyeon alone by herself.”

The older lady smiled and shook her head. 

“Taeyeon is old enough to be left home alone. I don’t understand why you’re so worried.” 

“Taeyeon has become my family.” Tiffany said as a smile slowly formed, “It’s more enjoyable doing things and going to places together.”

Tiffany’s mother chuckled while she shook her head. She was still amazed by how stubbornly attached Tiffany was towards Taeyeon. Taeyeon must have placed some sort of spell on her Miyoung. 

The old lady turned to look at Tiffany. She placed a hand on Tiffany’s cheek and stared lovingly. 

“Miyoung, stop trying to hold Taeyeon in the palm of your hand.” The older lady said as she squeezed Tiffany’s cheek, “Taeyeon might end up breaking up with you if she finds someone else who is less controlling.”

Tiffany frowned at her mother’s comment.

As the last episode of sergeant Keroro ended, Seohyun held onto the remote and turned off the television. She left the remote on the sofa as she jumped down from it. The child turned to look at Keroro who was still sitting on the sofa. Seohyun held out her hand and grabbed onto the plush toy. 

Seohyun held onto Keroro’s arm as they walked through grandma Hwang’s hallway. She turned her head to the right then to the left and began to frown. The child was unsure of where her mother and grandmother would be at this time of the day. She stopped in her tracks as an old man with a moustache walked across the hallway. 

”Butler.” The child called out to the old man. 

“Yes young miss.’ Said the old butler as he stepped towards the child, “What can I do for you?”

“Where is omma?” the child asked.

“She is sitting outside sitting in the back yard.” the butler said, “Would you like me to carry you there?”

Seohyun shook her head and stared innocently at the butler. She pulled Keroro into a hug.

“Would Keroro like to be carried?” the butler asked as he bent down to Seohyun’s level.

The child nodded her head and handed Keroro to the butler. The old man smiled and held onto Keroro with his left hand. He stood up and began walking and Seohyun happily took hold of the butler’s free hand. 

Seohyun ran across the yard to where her mother and grandmother were sitting. Keroro was dragged through the grass and Seohyun had placed the toy sitting in between her grandmother and mother. Seohyun’s grandmother carried the child up and placed Seohyun on her lap.

The old lady leaned in and kissed Seohyun on the cheeks. She embraced the child and gently patted the child on the shoulder. 

Tiffany held out her cup of tea and Seohyun leaned her head towards the cup. The child held out both her hands to hold onto the cup. She placed her lips on the edge of Tiffany’s cup and started to drink the tea.

“She’s just like your father.” Tiffany’s mother said with a smile, “They both have a liking for tea.”

Tiffany smiled and nodded her head in agreement. She gently pulled her cup from Seohyun’s grasp and placed the cup down on the bench. Tiffany glanced at Keroro who was getting dirtier every time she saw it.

“Hyunnie,” Tiffany said while the child looked up towards her mother, “Don’t get Keroro dirty. Your appa just got Keroro washed.” 

Seohyun became expressionless as she nodded her head. 

“Yes, omma.” Seohyun said.

The child extended her arms towards Tiffany as she pulled away from her grandmother. Tiffany held onto Seohyun and placed Seohyun on her lap. The child tilted her head and looked at her mother. 

“Omma.” 

“Yes Hyunnie.” Tiffany said. 

Tiffany’s mother was glancing at them while drinking her tea. 

“I want to go home.” The child stated. 

“Didn’t you say that you missed grandma?” Tiffany asked as she tapped Seohyun’s nose playfully. She gestured the child to look, “Grandma is looking sad.” 

The child nodded her head and glanced at her grandma. She turned back to look at Tiffany and frowned.

“But appa is missing you.” the child bluntly said, “Grandma can always come and live with us.” 

Tiffany’s mother raised an eyebrow and showed a bemused expression. The child was very simple minded. She smiled and gazed at Tiffany.

Tiffany’s mother was fascinated by how well Tiffany had adapted to parenthood. In her eyes, Miyoung was doing a splendid job. She was taken by surprise when she first discovered the child’s existence. She had never expected her Miyoung and Taeyeon to come back and visit with a child after the heated argument and Tiffany’s sudden estrangement from the Hwang family. Initially, she had doubted the possibility of Seohyun and presumed that it was something Taeyeon had planned. She had somewhat concluded that it was a scheming arrangement created to keep her Miyoung with Taeyeon. Nevertheless, she had dismissed her initial thoughts and rationalized that it was something plausible and was bound to happen. 

Seohyun reached out to hold Keroro’s leg. She pulled the toy closer to herself and turned to look at her mother again. 

“Keroro misses Yoona.” Seohyun said in a very convincing voice while her grandmother started to grin, “I miss Yoona too.” 

The child’s eyes started to water. Tiffany widens her eyes and stoked Seohyun’s back. She hugged Seohyun tighter and smiled. 

“We’ll stay for couple more days.” Tiffany said softly near Seohyun’s ear, “Omma, promise to let you and Keroro go visit Yoona.”

Tiffany moved Seohyun off her lap. The child stood in front of her mother and was holding onto Keroro’s hand.

The child’s mother leaned closer and smiled. 

“You have to be a good girl and not cry.” Tiffany said.

The child nodded her head and turned around to walk back into the house. 

Tiffany’s mother stared at the child who was walking away. She was quite surprised to find her grandchild being so attached to Keroro and Yoona. She had never seen Seohyun be on the verge of crying about any of her other friends. 

The old lady turned to look at Tiffany who had just refilled her cup with tea. 

“Our Seohyun seems to really like Kwon’s daughter.” Tiffany’s mother stated, “She mentions about Yoona and Keroro a lot.”

“Yeah mom, I was quite taken aback about it too.” Tiffany said will a light hearted laugh, “I’m having so much trouble converting her to like Hello Kitty.” 

Tiffany’s mother laughed and shook her head. 

“They’re cute.” The old lady said with a chuckle, “It’s quite hard to get our Seohyun to make friends. Yoona is definitely a Kwon. That child inherited the Kwon’s charms.”

Yuri twisted the door knob and stepped into the house. She closed the door and was greeted by butler Ahn.

“Welcome home.” Butler Ahn said with a smile. 

He held out his hand to hold onto Yuri’s bag. Yuri smiled and thanked him. She slowly walked through the hallway and was glancing left and right. Yuri felt a bit puzzled towards the quietness.

Butler Ahn noticed Yuri looking around and stepped beside to her.

“Young master is with her mother.” The butler said and leaned closer to Yuri, “She is a bit reluctant and unhappy since she came back home today. She’s been clinging onto her mother.”

Yuri nodded her head. Butler walled away as Yuri stepped into the living room. 

Jessica was cradling Yoona in her arms. The child had her face buried on her mother’s shoulder while Jessica gently rubbed Yoona’s back.

Yuri quietly walked towards the mother and child. She gently sat down on the sofa next to Jessica. She placed an arm around Jessica’s shoulders while the blonde turned to look at Yuri. She smiled and leaned towards Jessica and they kissed then pulled away. She moved closer to Jessica and placed her hand on Yoona’s head. 

“Yoong.” Yuri said while moving her head closer to the child. But Yoona pulled away. Yuri frowned but smiled again. “You’re not going to give me a hug?”

The child turned to look at Yuri. Her face darkened and she was giving Yuri a reluctant look. 

Jessica patted the child on the head.

“Omma.” Yoona said with a determined voice, “I want to go home.”

“Yoong, this is home.” Jessica replied with a frowned, “Where else would you want to be?”

“I want to be back home where Aunt Krystal is living.” The child stubbornly demanded, “I want to go now, right now!”

“Yoona, be reasonable.” Jessica said with a stern voice. 

Yuri placed a hand on Jessica’s arm and shook her head. Jessica lets out a sigh.

“I guess she still hasn’t really adapted to here.” Yuri said and she leaned to Yoona, “Your omma is going to visit Aunt Krystal.” 

“Really?” the child asked while she tilted her head up. 

Yuri glanced at Jessica and nodded her head. 

“We can’t go right away. We need to get plane tickets and get our luggage packed.” Yuri said calmly.

“Are we all going?” Yoona asked.

“Yes.” Yuri answered, “You, your omma and I will go together but we have to wait until I get time off from work”

“Why?” Yoona asked with an unhappy tone.

“I have to take care of something at work.” Yuri explained, “I promise we’ll go right away when everything is done.”

Yoona nodded her head and got out from her mother’s embrace. The child stood in front of her parents. Yuri moved closer to her child and opened her arms for a hug. 

“I don’t want to hug you.” Yoona stated as she moved away from Yuri and walked up the stairs towards her bedroom.

Yuri glanced at Jessica. The blonde shrugged her shoulders and followed the child up the stairs.

Yuri stood outside of Yoona’s bedroom and waited for Jessica to come out. 

She knew very well that her promise to go on a family holiday was broken. She was never going to mention about the family trip because she had hoped that the topic would subside until her business deal with Yunho was partially completed. It was pointless to tell Jesica things that were of no relevance. It would just cause more trouble and make Yuri give out more promises. Her family and business were both responsibilities she is committed to. She equally cares about both, yet it felt easier to be more dedicated towards the company. 

The blonde stepped out and closed the door. She turned around to look at Yuri who was leaning on the wall.

“She’s fallen asleep.” Jessica said as Yuri nodded her head.

“I’m sorry.” Yuri said as she reached out to hold Jessica’s right hand.

“What’s there to be sorry about?” Jessica replied while Yuri tightens her grip, “There’s plenty of time to go on a family holiday.”

Yuri lets go of Jessica’s hand and cupped the blonde’s cheek.

“Yuri.”

“Yes.” Yuri softly replied.

“I know you have work and I don’t think we’ll be able to go together. I was thinking of going earlier with Yoona since her school holiday is coming.” Jessica said, “We’ll be able to spend more time at Krystal’s place.”

Yuri nodded her head in agreement.

Jessica grabbed hold of Yuri’s hand and pulled her along the hallway.

“Come on, stop sulking about not being hugged” Jessica said while laughing. “I need to tuck you into bed too.”

“I’m sorry for disappointing you.” Yuri said as she pulled the blonde in for a hug. “Do you know that I love you?”

Jessica gazed up at Yuri and smiled.

“I know.” Jessica said with a smile. She pulled away from Yuri’s embrace and her right hand reached up to hold onto Yuri’s collar. “I’m sleepy.”

She dragged the taller figure by the collar along the hallway. 

Taeyeon stood in front of the Hwang’s front door. She was still contemplating on either to knock or calling Tiffany first. 

She was unsure to why she was standing where she was. Tiffany had already called to say that they were going to stay for a couple more days and that Taeyeon didn’t have to worry. Maybe it was due to Taeyeon’s loneliness at home. She missed the family atmosphere, Seohyun’s cartoons and Tiffany’s constant fuss over random things. 

Taeyeon hated to admit that work was becoming less rewarding. Taeyeon felt empty every time she stepped into the house. Without much thought, she had spent most of her free time meeting up with friends and colleagues after work or hung out with Sooyoung like before she was married. 

She moved her fingers towards the door bell and pressed it. The front door opened and the butler bowed to greet Taeyeon. She nodded her head and stepped inside the house. 

The butler led Taeyeon to the main living room where Tiffany, her mother and Seohyun was at. 

Before Taeyeon could step any closer towards them, Seohyun had lifted her head and jumped down from the couch. The child happily ran towards Taeyeon with little hesitation. Taeyeon had squatted down and opened her arms wide to embrace he child. 

“Appa.” Seohyun said as she placed her head of Taeyeon’s shoulder. 

Taeyeon patted the child on the shoulder and stood up to make her way towards Tiffany and her mother in law. 

“Hello mother.” Taeyeon greeted as she sat down on the sofa across from them. Seohyun was still in Taeyeon’s arms. The child sat quietly on Taeyeon’s lap and stared blankly at Taeyeon.

“Hello Taeyeon.” Tiffany’s mother said, “Didn’t you get Tiffany’s message saying that they’re staying for a couple more days?”

Taeyeon nodded her head and replied, “Yes. I got the message when I was already driving to here. I was starting to miss them.” 

Tiffany’s mother raised her eyebrows. She was not impressed.

“It has already been a week and you’ve just started to miss them?” Tiffany’s mother questioned Taeyeon. She narrowed her eyes and said, “I expect better from you.”

“Mom!” Tiffany yelled out. 

Tiffany’s mother turned to look at her child and then at Taeyeon. 

“It’s the truth.” Tiffany’s mother stated, “Miyoung and your child were away from home for more than a week. What were you doing during this whole week that was more important to not even call to see if they were alright?”

Taeyeon opened her mouth to reply but was cut in by Tiffany.

“Mom, Taeyeon did call, many times in fact.” Tiffany said defending Taeyeon, “You can’t expect Taeyeon to constantly call.” 

Taeyeon glanced at Tiffany and slightly frowned. She changed her expression and looked at her mother-in-law. Taeyeon took a deep breath. Tiffany had just lied in front of her own mother. 

Seohyun was oblivious to the adult’s conversation. She was leaning over to grab hold of Keroro’s hand. The distance between her fingers and Keroro was too far. She pulled back and then began to lean out further to Keroro. The child wiggled out of Taeyeon’s grip and grabbed onto Keroro. She sat happily next to the toy and patted its head.

“Taeyeon, you’ve failed as a spouse.” Tiffany’s mother snapped, “Who in their right mind would let their partner be away for so long? If you really cared about Miyoung and your family, then you should have come after them immediately. You have to curb what your spouse wants to what is actually plausible. If you can’t keep your family in tact, then how will you lead by example at work?”

“I’m sorry.” Taeyeon said while she slowly tilted her head down and her hands clamped into a fist, “I should have placed more thought towards Tiffany and Seohyun.”

Tiffany’s mother grunted and shook her head.

Tiffany glanced at Taeyeon and then towards her mother. She placed a hand on her mother’s arm.

“Mom, Tae wanted me to stay with you because she knows how much you miss me.” Tiffany said with a smile, “Tae actually really wanted us to come back home but I ignored the request. I should have gone home when Tae asked me too and we could have avoided all this.”

As the family stepped out of the house and walked to Taeyeon’s car, Tiffany’s mother had made her way to the nearest window. She slightly pulled the curtains and peeked through the window to witness the couple kiss gently on the lips then pulling apart. 

Taeyeon had bent into the car and placed Seohyun in the back seat. She got out of the car and smiled at Tiffany. She stepped to the side and held onto the back passenger door to let Tiffany get into the car. Taeyeon closed the door and walked around the car. She got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. The headlights were turned on and the car droved away. 

Tiffany’s mother lets out a deep sigh. 

She never knew why her older brother, Tiffany’s uncle, favored Taeyeon. Was it the fact that Taeyeon was very charming? She had always felt some sort of odd vibes towards Taeyeon. Never the less her Miyoung was married to Taeyeon. If Miyoung was happy then she was able to tolerate Taeyeon’s existence to a certain extent. 

Tiffany’s mother pulled the curtains back to its original spot. She yawned and turned away from the window. 

Taeyeon glanced at the rear view mirror. Seohyun had already fallen asleep and her head was leaning onto Tiffany’s arms. Tiffany was stroking the child’s hair and lovingly staring at Seohyun with a sweet smile. 

“Tiffany.” Taeyeon said as Tiffany titled her head up and looked at Taeyeon in front, “I’m…”

“Don’t” Tiffany said stopping Taeyeon from continuing, “We both should have seen this happening. Mom still has a bit of resentment over you stealing me away from her.”

They made eye contact via the rear view mirror and both smiled. 

Taeyeon had the perfect spouse. She felt as if she did not deserve Tiffany’s loyalty and devotion. She had cringe multiple times when ever her spouse had defended her from the mother-in-law. The greatest risk Taeyeon had ever taken was to pursue Tiffany. She had always felt guilty about hiding the truth about their marriage from the brunette. Taeyeon and Tiffany had gone through the “dating phase” before Taeyeon proposed. The marriage was not arranged – at least that was what Tiffany thought. The brunette knew nothing about the deal Taeyeon had made with Tiffany’s uncle. No one else knew about it except Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Yuri. 

Taeyeon was still confused about her feelings but she knew that she had unconsciously fallen attached to the figure sitting at the back passenger seat. 

Her lips formed a small grin. She had made the right and only choice in bringing her family home. 

==========================================

Chapter 27

While sitting in a parked car, Jessica was twirling Yoona’s red scarf around the child’s neck. She held onto the ends of the scarf and placed it neatly inside Yoona’s jumper. Jessica held onto the jacket and zipped up Yoona’s outside jacket. Yoona opened the car door and patiently stood on the foot path. 

Jessica stepped out from the driver’s seat and locked the car door. She stepped onto the footpath and smiled at the child. The blonde held out her hand and Yoona reached out to hold onto her omma’s hand. They slowly walked along the footpath towards the park. 

As they were walking, Yoona turned her head to look up at Jessica.

“Omma.” The child called out and moved her hand away from Jessica’s hand. 

Both mother and daughter had stopped walking. 

“Yes Yoong?” Jessica replied as she tilted her head down to take a look at Yoona.

The child held up her hand as if telling her mother that she wanted to be carried. Jessica bent down and lifted the child up. Yoona hugged onto Jessica and placed her head on the side of Jessica’s shoulder. Jessica lifted her right hand and gently stroked the child’s hair. 

“Omma.” Yoona quietly murmured.

“Yes Yoong?” Jessica replied as she carried Yoona while walking to the park. 

“Do you love appa?” Yoona asked as she removed her head from Jessica’s shoulder and looked at her mother. 

“Yes.” Jessica replied.

“Does appa love you?” Yoona asked while she held onto her mother’s shirt.

“Yes.” Jessica answered with a smile.

“How do you know?” the child asked. 

“Well. . .” Jessica said as she turned her head to the side to think of a reasonable answer for Yoona to understand, “You’re appa looks after you. Appa takes you to school and also pick you up from school. Appa loves you a lot.”

“You do that too.” The child replied. “You love me more than appa.”

Jessica raised her left eyebrow at the child’s response. 

“We both love you. Appa loves you the same amount that omma loves you.” Jessica said softly into Yoona’s ear. “Appa has never done anything to make you feel angry or sad.”

The child frowned. Jessica noticed and leaned in to kiss the child on the forehead. 

“We’re a family. Appa and omma loves Yoona. Appa loves Yoona and omma. Omma loves Yoona and because appa loves Yoona, omma loves appa. That’s why Yoona should love both appa and omma.”

Jessica lifted up her free hand and playfully tapped the child’s nose. 

“You love appa because appa is nice to Yoona?” the child asked curiously.

“Yes. Even though your appa may not be perfect, your appa takes good care of you and me.” Jessica said as the child in her arms attentively listened and nodded her head, “Lets hurry up and get to the park. Seohyun and aunt Tiffany might already be there.”

Yoona placed her arms around Jessica’s neck and rested her head on her mother’s shoulder. Her omma was right. Her appa would not do any thing to upset them. Yuri could do no wrong. Her appa loved her the most. The child was certain that Yuri would never do such thing. Yoona’s appa would never leave them.

Sooyoung held tightly onto her grocery bags as she steadily walks along the street. She had walked pass the nearby park and was making her way through another block of shops towards her parked car. 

Although it was cold, the sun was still shinning brightly. It made Sooyoung’s mood feel good. She hadn’t had the chance to take a casual walk along the store for quite a while. 

Whilst enjoying her down time, Sooyoung was preoccupied with keeping her sunglasses on. Oddly enough her sunglasses were slipping off the ridge of her nose. Sooyoung stopped walking and stood still. She lifted up her arm and tried to push her sunglasses back up using the back of her hand while holding on to her groceries. She tilted her head back up and started to walk away. 

While randomly glancing at different attractions around the street, Sooyoung was able to spot Victoria from a far distance. It felt weird to Sooyoung that she was able to miraculously feel and spot out Victoria when ever she was nearby. It seemed like they were never going to lose this type of psychic response. As she looked at Victoria, she couldn’t deny that there were no feelings. 

She slowly walked in the direction of where Victoria was at. Yet Sooyoung had halted in her step as a lean male figure stood next to Victoria and gestured for her to walk into a restaurant. Victoria smiled dreamily at the lean figure and happily followed the gesture. The man held out his hand and Victoria had willingly extended her arm to grab hold of his hand. 

Before walking into the restaurant, Victoria turned to look at Sooyoung’s direction. Surprised, Sooyoung had immediately tried to dodge from Victoria’s view. Sooyoung stood at the corner of a store entrance and peaked out from the side. As Victoria walked into the restaurant with the man Sooyoung walked into the side street, distancing herself from Victoria. 

Sooyoung continued to walk further away from Victoria. 

Yuri was right, Victoria really had moved on. She couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

She is happy for Victoria. She truly is happy for her but she couldn’t mask her own conscience. 

She felt hurt. It was her own fault and she deserves it. 

Tiffany and Jessica sat next to each other on a green coloured bench. The two mothers were each holding onto a regular size cup of coffee. Tiffany’s hands cupped onto the hot coffee and blew at the lid before tilting the coffee into her mouth. On the other hand Jessica had her coffee beside her on the green coloured bench. 

“When are you leaving to San Francisco?” Tiffany asked. 

“Next week.” Jessica replied as she kept her eyes on the two children playing at the playground. 

“Is Yuri coming along with the two of you?” Tiffany asked.

Jessica twirled her finger around her coffee and simply replied, “No”

The thought of San Francisco made Jessica feel unhappy. It would have been a new experience for Yoona to have both of her parents with her on a holiday. Yoona must have felt disappointed that Yuri was staying back because of work. She was disappointed in Yuri. She disliked how business orientated Yuri was. It was a habit that Jessica knew Yuri would never go because it was one of the reasons why they had separated. 

Tiffany placed her coffee on the green coloured bench and frowned. She would have thought that the family would not be separated after their reunion. 

“I’ve always wondered why the two of you separated.” Tiffany said. “I can see that you’re very much in love.”

“What do you mean?” Jessica twisted her head around look at Tiffany in confusion. “I don’t know. I guess we were young and immature. Thinking about my past with Yuri, I don’t think it was the right time to get married. I regret it. At that time we had many arguments and there was a lot of undeniable difference of views between the two of us. We both lost faith in each other.”

“Do you have faith in her now?” Tiffany asked as she took a glance at Jessica. 

“I don’t know.” Jessica replied. She chuckled about the possibility. “I can’t really give you a yes or no answer. I might still be sceptical but I know that Yoona has placed a lot of faith and adoration towards Yuri.”

“Jessi, doesn’t it hurt to say these things and to be in this situation?” Tiffany concern asked. She placed a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “It’s scaring me that you’re accepting everything she’s done to you.”

“I expect nothing from Yuri. It doesn’t matter whether if Yuri is faithful to me. Yuri just needs to be a good parent to Yoona.” Jessica said. “I’m not surprised that Yoona looks up to Yuri. Yoona’s personality is like a near split image of Yuri. I couldn’t deny something at was true. Yoona’s existence was a surprise. I never expected that a child would be the reason why I would come back. I never planned to let Yoona meet Yuri. I never expected Yuri to come knocking on my front door.”

“Are you regretting letting Yoona meet Yuri?” Tiffany asked in a worried tone.

“It wasn’t something that was planned. Even if I wanted to run away, Yuri’s stubborn personality won’t let that happen.” Jessica explained. “Enough about me, I heard that Taeyeon picked you and Seohyun up from your mother’s place. Tae seems to obey whatever command you give.” 

“I’m glad she still is.” Tiffany replied. 

She stood up from the bench and walked to a nearby rubbish bin. She dropped the cardboard cup into the bin and proceeded to walk back to the green coloured bench and sat down next to Jessica again.

“I’m surprised that Taeyeon follows every word you say without resistance.” Jessica stated. “You, seem to have the most loyal partner. Why is she so obedient?” 

“That’s a secret between Tae and me.” Tiffany replied with a bitter sweet smile, “I trust Taeyeon and in any marriage sometimes it’s better to act oblivious to things.”

“You love and put a lot of truth in Taeyeon.”

“If I didn’t trust her I wouldn’t be with her.” Tiffany said with a smile. “She caught me at my weakest moment and reassured me that everything was alright.”

Jessica nodded her head giving an understanding gesture. 

“I’ve learnt so much from Taeyeon.” Tiffany said, “Love such as ours can be rewarding yet it can also be painful.”

Tiffany had recognised that since Taeyeon are friends with Kwon Yuri and Sooyoung, that they must have had at least some things that were in common. The three of them must have some sort of secret that have kept them in contact for such along time. 

Tiffany was afraid. She was well aware of the various temptations that arise for the trio. There are plenty of greed, addictions, violence, and infidelities. It’s so easy for people, especially those who have the capability to venture out and get lost. She had always wondered how families and loved ones coped with these situations. 

She never really liked confrontations and she hated listening to rumours. She wouldn’t be confronting her partner about some undermining trivial rumour. Tiffany was never oblivious to her surroundings. But if she was put into anyone of those situations, being stupid, she’d be grateful that no one has approached and confront about what Taeyeon does outside. Like any other person she’d rather have her spouse never confess about what they have done. Then having to hear about their sin, she knew that being truthful is an important aspect of any relationship. Sometimes lying can be more forgiving because some sort of conscience is holding that person back from spilling the poisonous truth. Subconsciously, she knew, at least she hoped, that they care too much to hurt the closest people around them.

Tiffany never minded Taeyeon hanging around Yuri and Sooyoung. It was actually beneficial to Tiffany because it wasn’t too hard to track and know what Taeyeon does, especially when Taeyeon was with the infamous Yuri and popular Sooyoung. Their presence never goes unnoticed by random people. She knew that Taeyeon had a very lavish lifestyle before settling down. It was no surprise to find random ex-girlfriends randomly approaching and confronting Tiffany. With the existence of Seohyun Taeyeon had become more family orientated and Tiffany was grateful about Taeyeon’s change in lifestyle. 

Out of the trio, there was only one person left who was still single. Tiffany never understood why the most conscious and friendly person out of the three never hooked up with anyone. Tiffany had always assumed that Sooyoung was not fond of children. 

Seohyun and Yoona both sat on the swings beside each other. 

“Hyunnie how is Keroro?” Yoona asked while her foot was playing with the sand on the ground.

“Keroro is sick.” Seohyun replied. Yoona turned her head around to Seohyun with her eyes wide open. “Omma won’t let me take Keroro out from the house. Keroro missed you when we were away from home. I miss you too.”

Yoona reached out to hold onto Seohyun’s hand. The children both smiled.

“I miss you too Hyunnie!” Yoona stated.

Yoona reached out to hold onto Seohyun’s wrist. The younger child tilted her head to look at her Unnie. They both happily smiled as they were holding hands. 

“Was it fun visiting your Grandma?” Yoona asked and Seohyun nodded her head in response. “Hyunnie, guess what I did at home.”

Seohyun stared clueless at Yoona. 

“I drank appa’s coffee.” Yoona stated. “It was yucky.”

Yoona pulled out her tongue and made a funny face. 

“Appa drinks it everyday. How can appa drink something that’s yucky?” Seohyun questioned as her eyes grew bigger in astonishment.

“I don’t know.” Yoona answered as she shrugged her shoulders. “Omma says that only grown ups could drink it. I don’t know why grown ups want to drink coffee. I don’t like drinking it.”

Seohyun nodded her head. She turned her head around to take a look at her omma. Her omma was holding onto a drink. She remembered that the smell that came from one of those cups was quite nice. It couldn’t possibly taste yucky. 

”Want to know how high you can go on the swing?” Yoona asked the younger girl with excitement. “I was able to see pass the tree last time.”

Seohyun turned her head around to look in the direction Yoona was pointing at. She frowned and turned to look at Yoona.

“Unnie, show me.” the younger child demanded.

Yoona jumped off her swing and walked around behind Seohyun. 

“I want a kiss.” Yoona said as she placed a finger on her cheek. 

The younger child turned her head around and jolted backwards to kiss Yoona on the cheek. Yoona’s cheeks turned pink as she stood behind Seohyun. Her lips turned into a grin. The younger child sat on the swing patiently, waiting for Yoona to push her swing.

“Hold on tightly.” Yoona warned the younger child.

Seohyun tightens her hold on the chains and braced for Yoona’s push. The older child stood behind Seohyun and with her hands, she pushed.

Seohyun’s swing swung higher and higher. Not before long, she was able to see the buildings that were covered by the tall trees. 

Jessica and Tiffany were still sitting on the bench. They were keeping an eye on the two children who were playing in the playground.

“Seohyun seems to be very fond of Yoona.” Tiffany said.

“Yoona likes Seohyun too.” Jessica replied with out looking at Tiffany.

The two adults said quietly, keeping an eye on both Yoona and Seohyun. It was nice and heart warming to see their child playing happily and in such a carefree way. Tiffany raised an eyebrow when she witnessed Seohyun leaning near Yoona. The younger child held onto the swing’s chains and leaned in to give Yoona a kiss. Tiffany smiled and shook her head. At least Taeyeon was not here to witness the kiss. It would have provoked Taeyeon to the extreme. Seeing how determined Taeyeon was to separate the two children, Tiffany was definitely sure that Taeyeon would find some sort of reason to distance and stop Seohyun and Yoona’s play dates. 

“With the rate that they’re going, we might really end up becoming in-laws.” Tiffany happily stated as she clapped her hands.

Tiffany’s loud voice caught Jessica’s attention. The blonde turned to look at Tiffany and chuckled at Tiffany’s random outburst.

Yuri had a first aid kit opened on the kitchen bench. Its contents were scattered on the bench. Half opened band aids were found on the kitchen tiles. Yuri leaned over to look at the cut wound on Jessica’s middle finger. She had placed the hand under running water and dabbed the finger with antiseptic. She gently blew on the finger and lifted up her head to look at Jessica who had a tense expression on her face. 

She glanced at the finger and wrapped a bad aid around the wound. 

“Done.” Yuri exclaimed, “I hope you will be more careful next time.”

Jessica squint her eyes and glared at the taller figure. 

“Nothing would have happened if you didn’t try to hug me out of the blue.” Jessica replied. 

“Something would have happened even if I wasn’t here.” Yuri teasingly replied. 

Jessica sighed and expressed a defeated look. 

Yuri placed an arm around Jessica’s waist and smiled. She leaned in and kissed Jessica on the cheek. 

“I’m sorry.” Yuri said. 

Yuri reached out and held onto Jessica’s hands and the two of were locked together with their gaze. 

Seeing the blonde’s face made Yuri happy. 

Yuri would never sincerely admit to anyone that the person right in front of her had made an enormous impact in Yuri’s system. She wasn’t the person that everyone perceived her to be. She had to keep her boastful and arrogant image in tact. She had to make sure that her friends still see her as the same proud and spoiled Kwon Yuri like before she was married. She was being a fool but she couldn’t help it. 

Yuri was also selfish and too prideful. She hated things and people who had some sort of control over her. She had pretended that Jessica had no impact on her. It scared Yuri that Jessica made her change her habits without even trying. Yuri had decided to focus more on her work than towards her marriage. Yuri’s plan did work to help her feel less powerless. It also had distanced herself from the blonde. They had constantly argued and misconceptions had continuously risen. They unconsciously stopped communication and this had hurt their marriage. 

Yuri had felt guilty, yet she did nothing to correct the problems. She regretted her actions. She regrets loosing more than five years not being with Jessica. 

Yuri broke off the gaze and turned to clean up the scattered mess created by the first aid kit. 

Sooyoung had decided to visit Yuri on the Friday afternoon. Yoona was sitting across from Sooyoung and next to Yuri. The child was staring at the cup of coffee Sooyoung was holding onto. The child was still confused as to why adults liked drinking coffee. It tasted yucky, it looked like mud and the drink was always too hot. 

While sipping her coffee, Sooyoung had notice the child staring at her. She consciously glanced down at herself – nothing was wrong. She moved her coffee cup and became aware that the child’s eyes were following the cup’s direction.

“Want some?” Sooyoung asked as she held out her cup of coffee. 

Yoona shook her head and made a funny face.

“No thank you. Coffee doesn’t taste nice.” Yoona replied as she placed her hands out and shook them. 

“What’s wrong with it? Coffee is nice.” Sooyoung replied convincingly. 

“It’s yucky.” Yoona said.

Sooyoung widen eyes and opened her mouth in shock. There was no possible explanation to how fantastic coffee tasted. Sooyoung moved her attention to Yuri. She glared at the figure who had a defensive expression and was also shaking her head trying to keep hold of her laughter. 

“You shouldn’t drink coffee a lot.” Yoona said, “If you drink too much you will die. It’s the truth.”

The child looked blankly at Sooyoung. 

Sooyoung placed her cup down on the table. Sooyoung had no come back for Yoona’s statement.

“I dislike your kid.” Sooyoung stated and mumbled incoherent words as she turned to look at Yuri.

Yuri was bawling her eyes out and laughing at her child’s statement. 

Sooyoung stood in the kitchen. She grabbed hold of the handle and opened the dishwasher. She placed her cup in it and closed the dishwasher. 

“Do you really dislike kids?” a voice asked behind Sooyoung.

Sooyoung turned around and was greeted by Jessica with a smiled. 

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure.” Sooyoung replied as she shrugged her shoulders. 

Jessica nodded her head and turned around to the fridge. She took out two bottles of water. She placed a bottle on the kitchen bench and handed Sooyoung the other bottle. The taller figure smiled and nodded her thanks. 

After taking a gulp from the water bottle Sooyoung questioned Jessica. 

“Why did you suddenly ask?”

“It’s nothing, Tiffany and I just had one of out random conversations and some how it lead to you.” Jessica replied.

“Me?” Sooyoung asked while pointing her right finger at herself.

“Yeah.” Jessica replied while nodding, “We think you’ll be a great parent figure. It’s just some sort of impression you give.”

“I don’t think I’ll be any good.” Sooyoung said while laughing.

She sat back onto a near by chair and chuckled at the thought. She placed the lid back onto the water bottle and twisted it closed. 

“No, I think you’ll be a devoted parent. You’ll adapt well to it.” Jessica said, “Sooyoung, you might not think of parenthood with optimism right now but when the time comes you’ll be more than willing to step up to the challenge.”

Sooyoung grinned and nodded her head in response to Jessica’s comment. She glanced out side from one of the many windows in the kitchen. 

Chapter 28

Yuri glanced at Sooyoung who was also in the Kwon’s study room. She found it annoying that Sooyoung would come and visit in the morning. It meant that Yuri had less time to stay in bed. She had concluded that it had become Sooyoung’s habit to come check and annoy her whenever the taller figure had found out that Yuri was working at home for the day. 

“I met Victoria again a couple of days ago.” Yuri said trying to start a conversation as she readjusted a book on her bookshelf.

“Oh, really?” Sooyoung simply replied while leaning on the study room’s desk. 

“Do you know that - ” 

“I saw her while I was shopping.” Sooyoung butted in. 

“Oh.” Yuri exclaimed and turned to look at Sooyoung. “I guess you know the news that she’s been meeting up with a couple of suitors?”

Sooyoung raised an eyebrow as she listened to Yuri’s statement.

“Good.” Sooyoung said.

“Good?” Yuri questioned Sooyoung as she widens her eyes in disbelief. 

Sooyoung shrugged her shoulders and replied, “What do you expect me to say?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m happy for her.” Sooyoung claimed, “We were never in that sort of relationship so I don’t know why you’re trying to bring such topic up. Either way there’s things that can’t be forced and this is one of them.” 

Sooyoung was never enthusiastic of being in an intimate relationship. It scared her and it also made her feel uncomfortable. The idea made her coil within. It frightened her that there was the possibility that she would be like her father. 

Her father was a great social man. He was a man who society viewed at righteous and harmless. Sooyoung hated him. He was a savage jealous overbearing beast. 

He was the one who had forced her mother to stay and caused her death. His possessiveness and insistent towards her mother was unbearable. The abuse and threats made by the man had continuously haunted Sooyoung. Her mother did try to defend and protect Sooyoung and herself. Sooyoung had witness the inclination of sadism and violence the man had evoked to keep his wife. 

Her mother had never done anything wrong yet she had ended up committing suicide. 

She was left with her distraught father. 

She was abandoned by the man and was left with her maternal grandmother claiming that he had no relation to the child.

People have mentioned that her character was exactly as her father. She must admit, she was the split image of her father – from her appearance to her tone of voice to her actions. Violence and possessiveness ran through her blood. Yet she was afraid of following and repeating her family’s haunting history. 

She could never escape from being in the Choi family’s bloodline because everyone in this family line all end up fractured. 

Sooyoung was afraid of intimate relationships because it would bring a great deal of pain and suffering towards the one she loves. She knew that once her personality snaps, there was no chance of it stopping. 

Yuri was flicking through a couple of documents while Sooyoung was amusing herself with the cap of a pen. 

“Are you really staying behind to supervise the new contract?” Sooyoung asked.

Yuri nodded her head and replied, “Yeah.”

“I don’t think it’s wise to let Jessica and Yoona travel alone.” Sooyoung said. “You should be going with them.”

“I have commitments here. I can’t leave.” Yuri replied.

“Taeyeon and I could always take care of things here for a couple of weeks.” Sooyoung said as she crossed her legs while she sat on the chair. 

“You know I don’t like leaving things to other people.”

“Yuri, sometimes you should let other people help you.” Sooyoung stated. “It’s not like anyone of us are trying to take over your corporation.”

“I know you won’t but I like to get things in order before I decided to hand things over to someone and go on annual leave.” Yuri said. 

“Suit yourself; I’m fine with what ever you decided on doing.” Sooyoung said as she shrugged her shoulders, “Just remember that our offer and help are always available.” 

Yuri nodded her head. She watched as Sooyoung stood up and glided her fingers across the rows of books. 

The taller figure pulled out a novel and started to flick through its pages. 

Yuri smiled, crossed her arms and leaned onto the table. 

“Want to stay for lunch?” Yuri asked as she looked at Sooyoung.

“No thankyou, I’ve made plans already.” Sooyoung replied and closed the book. She placed it back neatly into the bookshelf. 

Her grandma had always placed emphasis on Sooyoung and her to maintain a close and loyal friendship. She cared about her cousin. She was worried about Sooyoung’s approach towards relationships. Sooyoung was also wary of Yuri’s too. There was no complaint and denial that they both relied heavily on each other. 

Maybe it was out of reluctance and obedience to Grandma Kwon’s words, that Yuri tried to whole heartily place her trust on Sooyoung. Sooyoung was the only other relative she had. There was no reason for her to doubt the taller figure. But mentally there was always uncertainty and lack of enthusiasm on her behalf to allow Sooyoung access to things that she had possession of especially when it involved the family business. 

They both grew up together. At times, she had to admit that they knew too much about each other’s personality and thoughts. She was watchful of Sooyoung. She knew that Sooyoung might have felt the same way towards herself. 

She trusted Sooyoung. Unfortunately, there’s a limited amount of confidence Yuri was willing to put out before looking like a fool. 

[flashback]

The 10 year old child stomped away from the pond in the garden and walked towards her grandmother. She was upset at the lack of response from the younger child who was sitting like an introvert near the pond. 

The child tapped her foot on the concrete ground to get the mature lady’s attention. Grandma Kwon closed her novel and placed it beside her on the swing. 

“Grandma.” The young child called out, “She doesn’t reply. I don’t want to play with someone who acts like a folding screen.” 

The child lifted up her hand to point at another younger child who was sitting near the pond in the garden. 

The mature lady lifted her right hand and patted Yuri’s head. She smiled and bent forward to look at Yuri. 

“Your cousin had just arrived here a couple of days ago.” Grandma Kwon said. “Sooyoung’s a bit shy. She doesn’t know anyone. You have to be tolerant of her behaviour. Why don’t you try and befriend her again.”

“Why?” The child asked, “People listen to me. I don’t want to play with someone who doesn’t listen.”

“My dear child, you can’t expect everyone to follow and do what you say.” Grandma Kwon said while Yuri frowned at the unpleasing statement. 

“Everyone listens to me.” Yuri replied with an overconfident tone.

“I’m sure everyone does. But before they listen to you, you have to be understanding towards them.”

“I am.” Yuri replied. 

“Sooyoung isn’t living with her family anymore. Do you remember how you acted when you came to live with Grandma? We’re her only family. I want Sooyoung and you to be good friends. There is no one you can trust more than your family. When you grow up both you and Sooyoung will depend on each other.” Grandma Kwon said as she placed her hand on Yuri’s right shoulder. 

“But my family is just you.” Yuri exclaimed in confusion and resentment towards the younger child.

“You, Sooyoung and I, the three of us are a family.” Grandma Kwon smiled and replied, “Promise me that you will be nice and tolerant of Sooyoung.”

The child glanced at Sooyoung and turned to look at her grandmother. Yuri hesitantly nodded her head. She looked up at Grandma Kwon for her pleasing approval. The mature lady was smiling and Yuri also did the same. Yuri’s grandmother placed a hand on the child’s head and gently pats her head.

The child turned away from her grandmother and began approaching the younger child.

Yuri stood in front of Sooyoung. The younger child was still ignoring Yuri. The older child placed her hands in her pocket. She wasn’t sure of what to do. She looked down at Sooyoung. Reluctantly, Yuri moved her right foot and gently nudged the younger child’s legs. It was one of the few actions Yuri had thought to be harmless. 

The younger child tilted her head up to look at Yuri. 

Yuri took a step back, away from Sooyoung. The younger child had an angry facial expression. Yuri placed her hands out and gently waved at the sitting child. 

“Hello.” Yuri said as she awkwardly smiled.

Sooyoung gave no reply. She turned her head away from Yuri and looked at the pond. Yuri took a deep breath and bent down to grab hold of Sooyoung’s left hand. 

Sooyoung turned her attention back to Yuri. The child frowned and tried to pull her hand away from Yuri’s grasp.

“Don’t pull your hand away.” Yuri bluntly demanded, “Let’s got eat, its lunch time.”

Yuri pulled the younger girl up. The older child could see the bitterness the younger child was holding in. She tightens her hold on Sooyoung’s hands. Both children knew that they disliked each other. Half-heartedly Yuri opened her mouth to talk. 

“Eating will make you feel better.” Yuri said and forcefully dragged Sooyoung inside the house.

She was only befriending the younger child because her Grandma had told her to.

[end of flashback]

Taeyeon leaned in to kiss the short hair brunette on the cheek. She wrapped her arms around the figure’s waist and rested her chin on the brunette’s shoulder. Slow deep breaths were heard coming from Taeyeon as her eyes began to close. 

“Tae, stop it.” Tiffany exclaimed as she raised her right hand and flicked Taeyeon’s forehead.

Taeyeon release her embrace around Tiffany and began to rub the area on her forehead that was inflicted with Tiffany’s violence. 

“I don’t think you need to stare at the mirror constantly. You look prefect.” Taeyeon said as Tiffany went back to analysing her eyes looking at the mirror. “You’re perfect just the way you are.”

Taeyeon grinned at her own good-humoured remark. 

Tiffany turned to face Taeyeon, she extended her arm and playfully slapped Taeyeon on the arm.

“I know I am.” Tiffany replied with a triumphant grin. She turned her attention back to the mirror. “I’m just having trouble with wearing the new contact lens.” 

Taeyeon stood behind Tiffany. She was looking at the mirror while hugging Tiffany. She liked the image that was presented in the mirror. She was getting use to Tiffany’s new short hairstyle. She didn’t mind it as much as she thought. The short hair complimented well with her partner’s other facial features, the brunette’s adorable nose, her pink-pinch-able cheeks and her luscious lips. She loved staring at the brunette’s crescent eyes. Taeyeon couldn’t deny how capturing the brunette’s physical features were. Yet, the thing that she treasured the most was her spouse’s personality and values.

Taeyeon unconsciously grinned as she kept her gaze on Tiffany. She lifted up her head and turned away from the mirror to look in Tiffany’s direction.

“I almost forgot what I was going to tell you.” Taeyeon said. 

“What is it?” Tiffany asked as she turned to face Taeyeon.

“I need to go to the office this afternoon to finish a couple of administrative stuff.” Taeyeon said.

She looked at Tiffany for a reply and the brunette nodded her head.

“Don’t tire yourself out.” Tiffany said. 

“I’ll try and get it done as fast as I can.” Taeyeon stated as she leaned in to kiss the brunette on the cheek.

As Taeyeon pulled away, a loud banging sound was heard from down stairs. Tiffany turned her attention to the noise.

“Must be Seohyun trying to get Keroro to fly again.” Tiffany said, “I’ll go check on her. Taeyeon take a rest before you go to work.”

Tiffany stepped into the lounge room and immediate noticed the child crying.

“I’m sorry.” Seohyun apologised as tears began to slide down her cheeks as she held onto Keroro’s right hand.

Tiffany made her way over to Seohyun. She bent down and carried the crying child. She placed a kiss on the child’s forehead. Tiffany moved her free hand and placed it on the child’s cheek. She extended her thumb and began to wipe the tears that where sliding down. 

“Sweetie, why are you crying?” Tiffany calmly asked.

“Omma, Seohyun is sorry.” Seohyun said while more tears came running down her cheeks. 

Tiffany steadily patted the child’s back and reassuringly hugged Seohyun. 

The child sniffles and stoped crying. Seohyun stretched out her arm and pointed at the object that had fallen down. Tiffany glanced at the item on the floor. She looked back at Seohyun to see the child staring at her. 

“It’s alright, the photo frame just fell down. Let omma pick it up and put it back on the stand.” Tiffany said as the child nodded her head and hugged tightly onto her mother. 

Tiffany stood and embraced the child. She whispered reassuring words to the child as Seohyun still held tightly onto Keroro’s hand.

With Seohyun still in her arms and Keroro in Seohyun’s grip, Tiffany walked towards the fallen object on the floor. She tightly hugged the child and bent down to grab hold of the fallen photo frame. 

Before she was able to bend down further enough to take hold of the object, another figure had beaten her and grabbed hold of the photo frame.

Taeyeon attentively examined the broken photo frame. Then placed it on the coffee table and turned to look at Seohyun.

“Seohyun-ah, you broke appa’s favourite photo frame that has appa’s favourite photo in it.”

The child frowned and was on the verge of crying again. Tiffany stroked the Seohyun’s back to calm her down.

Tiffany made a disapproving frown in the direction towards Taeyeon. 

“I’m sorry. Appa, don’t get angry.” the child said as she began to cry.

Taeyeon glanced and smiled. She extended her arm and patted the child’s head.

“We can always buy a new photo frame. Appa isn’t angry but you have to be careful.” Taeyeon said. “I’ll get angry and sad if you hurt yourself.”

Seohyun placed hand up and gently rubbed her eyes and nodded. Taeyeon turned around to take the broken photo frame and walked away.

Tiffany placed the child and Keroro on the sofa. She noticed Seohyun frowning. The child was staring at Keroro. 

“Omma.” Seohyun cried out.

She began to cry while tightening her grip on Keroro’s hand. Tiffany bent down and hugged the child.

“Don’t cry, tell omma what’s making Hyunnie sad.” Tiffany said as she stroked the child’s head. 

“Keroro.” Seohyun said as she pulled the soft toy towards her mother. 

Tiffany glanced down at the toy and noticed a small rip on Keroro’s leg. She chuckled and kissed Seohyun on the forehead.

“Keroro will be alright. Omma will stitch him up again.” Tiffany said with a smile, “I’ll go get the things to fix Keroro. Seohyun stay here and make sure Keroro doesn’t go anywhere.”

The child nodded her head and obediently sat on the sofa with Keroro while Tiffany walked away to get her sewing kit.

Seohyun frowned as she stared at Keroro’s stitches.

“Omma, Keroro is green.” Seohyun said as she looked at Keroro’s leg and then adverted to look at the sewing needle that was pinned on to the needle pouch.

“I know.” Tiffany replied, she glanced up to look at Seohyun and noticed that the child was staring at the sewing needle. “Omma only has pink colour string.”

Tiffany placed the sewing kit box in Seohyun’s view and opened the lid. The child took a peak inside the box and saw only the colour pink. 

Seohyun looked at her mother and said, “Ok.”

Tiffany giggled and playfully squeezed the child’s cheek. She placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out a pink fluoro coloured bandaid. She peeled the outside layer of the bandaid and a small hand abruptly stopped her from peeling the rest of the plastic off. 

Tiffany looked up to see Seohyun frowning. 

“Omma, I don’t have any scratches.” Seohyun said while she shook her hand.

“I know.” Tiffany replies, “I think Keroro might want a bandaid.” 

Seohyun removed her hand from Tiffany and nodded in realisation. 

“I think Keroro needs a bandaid.” Seohyun replied.

Tiffany removed the rest of the plastic strip and covered the pink stiches with the pink fluoro bandaid. 

“Thank you omma.”

“You’re welcome.” Tiffany said as she bent over to ruffle the child’s hair. “No more crying. Can you tell Keroro to stop trying to fly in the house?”

The child hugged Keroro tightly and nodded in compliance. 

“Hey.” Taeyeon casually greeted Tiffany in the kitchen.

Tiffany smiled and walked towards the storage cupboard and placed the sewing kit in the corner.

Taeyeon gestured to Tiffany to take a piece of sliced fruit on her plate. Tiffany shook her head. She leaned in on the bench and rested her chin on her palm as she stood opposite from Taeyeon.

“Taeyeon-ah.” Tiffany said and Taeyeon diverted her attention away from her plate of fruit to Tiffany. “I’m going to bring Seohyun to visit my mother tomorrow.”

Taeyeon stared blankly at Tiffany and then proceeded to nod her head, showing her approval. Her attention went back to the plate of fruit.

“Since Seohyun will be at my mother’s place for the whole day, I was thinking of visiting my uncle.” Tiffany said as she waited for Taeyeon’s reply.

“You’re going to see him again?” Taeyeon asked without much interest. 

Tiffany frowned at Taeyeon’s attitude.

“Taeyeon, stop this nonsense. What do you have against me visiting my uncle?” Tiffany snapped back at Taeyeon’s discourteous attitude. 

Even though the man had already passed away, Taeyeon had disliked how much he was still involved in her family. She respected him. Yet, she loathed the man’s ability to restrain her from doing things. She disliked the fact that Tiffany was too attached to the dead man’s grave. It gave her shivers. 

“There’s nothing wrong about visiting your deceased uncle.” Taeyeon replied. “But do you really have to visit him weekly?”

Tiffany frowned at Taeyeon’s question.

“You’ve never mentioned about it. Why are you being up tight about it now?” Tiffany said in a frustrated tone.

Taeyeon shrugged her shoulders and replied, “The place is creepy and deserted. I don’t like you going there so often.” 

“It’s the cemetery. The driver and security guards are always with me.” Tiffany said as she placed her hands on her hips.

Taeyeon knew that she was in a ridiculous argument. She was paranoid. Her gut feeling was saying that even though the old man was dead, there might be something that would miraculously emerge and attack the peacefulness of her family and her relationship with Tiffany.

“You’re not going and this is final.” Taeyeon said as she leaned on the kitchen bench.

A loud bang was heard from the other room along the hallway.

Tiffany glanced at Taeyeon and turned to walk back into the hallway to investigate the nose. 

Taeyeon placed her hand on the kitchen bench. She turned her head to the side and stared out from the window. She loudly exhaled.

The brunette turned to look at Taeyeon before walking out from the kitchen. 

“Taeyeon.” 

Taeyeon lifted her head and tilted to glance at her spouse.

“Whether you like it or not, he’s still my uncle and I’m going to visit him.” Tiffany said with much authority. 

Taeyeon lets out a sound of disapproval.

As Tiffany walked away into the hallway, Taeyeon sighed. She raised her left hand up into the air and slammed it down onto the kitchen bench in frustration. 

No words escaped from Taeyeon’s mouth as she listened to the echo created by the slam. 

Jessica sat in the lounge room with Yoona who was playing with Elmo. The blonde was quite amused how her child never got bored playing with the toy. As she kept her attention towards Yoona, her eyes began to feel heavy. Slowly, Jessica fell asleep on the sofa while hugging onto a cushion. 

The child stood up and walked towards her mother as she held onto Elmo’s hand. She smiled as she realised that her mother was asleep. She grinned as each of her hands held onto Elmo’s hands. She placed Elmo’s hand on Jessica’s cheek and began squishing the blonde’s cheeks.

“Wake up.” Yoona playfully said with a weird accent. 

Yet, the child’s mother did not budge from her sleep. Yoona began to tap Jessica’s cheek and embarked on a poking mission.

“Omma.”Yoona called out as she held onto Elmo.

“Yes Yoong.” Jessica sleepily replied. 

She sat up and stretched her arms. 

“How come Elmo isn’t pink?” Yoona asked as she stood in front of Jessica.

“eh?” Jessica replied with her eyes wide open.

“I want Elmo to be pink.” The child said.

Jessica wasn’t sure on how to reply to Yoona’s demand. She stared blankly at the child for a moment and decided to place the child on her lap. 

“Yoong, Elmo has always been red.” Jessica replied in amusement.

“Seohyun’s Elmo is pink.” the child exclaimed, “I want Elmo to be pink.”

The child frowned and placed Elmo in front of Jessica’s face.

“I can’t possibly make your Elmo pink.” Jessica said as she tapped lightly on Yoona’s nose.

“Seohyun said that Aunt Tiffany had put Elmo in water and Elmo became pink.” The child explained. “Can’t you do that?”

“Yoong, omma can’t possibly do something like that. That’s something Aunt Tiffany specialises in.”

“Aunt Tiffany said that she didn’t know how to.” Yoona exclaimed.

“Sorry sweetie, omma is not going to make Elmo turn pink.” Jessica said in a clam tone.

Jessica had an assumption that if Elmo did turn pink, the rest of yoona’s soft toys would end up turning pink too. By the look of things, Yoona was just going through a phase where she wanted everything to be similar to her best friend. The phase would eventually die down – at least that was what she presumed.

Yoona pouted and got off Jessica’s lap. She was disappointed and sad that Elmo could not be pink. She had decided that maybe Seohyun and her needed to try and put Elmo in more water. She frowned at the thought.

“What’s with the frown?” Yuri asked as she playfully messed Yoona’s hair. 

The child looked up at Yuri and smiled. Yuri bent down and carried the child in her embrace. Yoona also tagged Elmo along. 

“Frowning makes you become older.” Yuri teased and kissed Yoona on her cheeks. The child giggled at the funny statement. “Smiling makes Yoona look the prettiest.”

The child giggled and turned to look at her mother. 

“Prettier than Omma?” Yoona asked and she pointed at her mother.

Yuri glanced at Jessica and grinned. She nodded her head at Yoona’s reply. Yoona widen her eyes and covered her mouth. 

“You’re going to get in trouble.” Yoona exclaimed. “Omma won’t like you anymore.”

“Why?” Yuri asked while Yoona was still in her arms.

“You just said Omma is ugly.” Yoona replied.

Yuri showed a confused look as Jessica looked at them in astonishment. 

“I said that you and Omma are both pretty.” Yuri tried to explain.

Yoona shook her head in disagreement.

“You can only use the word pretty for one person. You can’t say it to two people.” Yoona said as she indicated with her fingers. “Omma is pretty. Yoona is cute.”

Yoona grinned as she looked at Yuri. Jessica began laughing at the child’s comment. Yuri sheepishly smiled.

“I need to go the company.” Yuri said as she looked at Jessica.

The blonde nodded in reply. The child in Yuri’s embrace tugged Yuri’s collar to get her parent’s attention.

“Can I come too?” Yoona asked as she dangled Elmo in the air. 

Yuri smiled and glanced at Jessica before looking at Yoona.

“You have to ask omma.” Yuri whispered in Yoona’s ear.

The child nodded in realisation. She turned to look at Jessica. 

“Omma, can I go with Appa?” Yoona asked fully expecting the answer that she wanted.

“Yes.” Jessica replied while she nodded with approval.

“Yoong.” Yuri said.

“Yes Appa?” Yoona said as she tilted her head to look at Yuri.

“Elmo has to stay at home.” Yuri said.

The child reluctantly looked at Elmo. She glanced at Yuri then at her mother.

“Omma didn’t say that Elmo can’t go.” Yoona stated and grinned.

Chapter 29

In a high rise building Yoona sat quietly on a sofa in a large office while looking at Yuri who was at her desk. 

Yuri was absorbed in her work and had not noticed Yoona sitting in her office. At her desk, she placed her pen down onto the table and closed the blue manila folder. She raised her arms and stretched while her eyes were closed. She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock. 

By then, she had taken notice of the child who sat quietly on the sofa. 

“Yoona.” Yuri called out.

“Yes?” The child replied while staring at Yuri.

“How did you come in without me noticing?” Yuri asked as she smiled. She placed her elbows on the desk and leaned forward. 

“I knocked on the door but you didn’t hear me.” Yoona innocently replied as she dangled her legs from the edge of the seat.

Yuri nodded her head. She lifted her left arm and used her hand to wave for the child to come towards her. 

Yoona took noticed of the gesture and slid herself off the sofa. She steadily made her way towards the desk. She stood behind the desk, next to Yuri, who was sitting on the chair. The child held her arms up as Yuri bent over to carry the child up onto her lap.

“I don’t like you sitting quietly in one spot.” Yuri said as she hugged her child who was on her lap, “You can wonder around the office, talk to the people I work with, turn on the television to watch Keroro and you can even use the phone to call omma.”

“I can?” the child asked as she turned to look at Yuri for approval.

“I don’t mind as long as you don’t disturb or cause problems for people who work for us.” Yuri said, “It’s perfectly fine to wonder about.”

The child nodded her head.

“Does Mr. Kim know that you are here?” Yuri asked as she began to frown. “It’s not nice to leave and not tell the person who is looking after you where you are going.”

“I told him.” The child replied looking slightly unhappy.

Yuri took noticed of the child’s sudden change in expression as asked, “Is something wrong? Do you not like Mr. Kim?”

“No, I like him. He really likes to follow Yoona.” The child replied as she shook her head, “Yoona told him that Yoona can walk back to your office alone. He followed me until I opened your door and walked in.”

Yuri looked at her child and made an oh expression before nodding her head. She lifted up her hand and patted the child’s head.

“I asked him to keep an eye on you whenever you wonder around in the building. He was just making sure that if you needed anything, he would be there to help you.” Yuri explained. She leaned down closer to the child’s ear and whispered, “I think Mr. Kim is still afraid that you’ll get lost.”

Yoona sat on Yuri’s lap for a little while as Yuri completed the necessary administration tasks for the afternoon. The child sat quietly and kept her hands from touching Yuri’s desk. There were a lot of sheets of paper scattered on the desk. Yoona did not want to get in trouble for touching them. As the child observed Yuri’s desk, Yuri had an arm wrapped around the child while the other arm was placed on the desk.

“Appa.” Yoona called out as she turned her head to look at Yuri

“Yes Yoona.” Yuri replied to the child as she glanced down.

“I like sitting here.” the child stated as she turned to the desk and placed both her hands on it. “I want to sit here when I grow up, just like you.”

Yuri glanced at the child and smiled. 

Yuri had decided that it would be a good treat for Yoona and herself to visit a near by pastry and cake café. Although the outside appearance of the place was not pleasing to the eyes, it was actually quite popular and was also a comfortable place to visit. 

Yoona and Yuri were sitting across from each other at a table near the windows. They were able to see the beautiful trimmed landscape and the man-made stream running along aligned with the windows.

A waitress had made her way towards Yuri and Yoona carrying a tray with two cups and two plates of sliced cake. She stood in front of the table in between the parent and daughter and placed the items on to the table. She bowed and quietly walked back to the registers.

Yuri reached out and held onto her cup and took a sip.

“I don’t like coffee.” The child stated as she stared at the cup Yuri was holding. She leaned over to look at the cup.

Yuri glanced at her cup and sheepishly replied, “It’s not coffee, its vanilla latte.”

“It smells like coffee.” Yoona replied as she proceeded to pinch her nose with her right hand. 

Yuri laughed and replied, “You might not like it now but one day you’ll learn to love coffee.”

Yoona shook her head, disagreeing with her appa’s statement.

“Yoona likes cheese cake just like Keroro who likes green cheese cake.” The child said.

She held onto her silver spoon with her right hand and took a spoonful of cheese cake. Yoona placed the spoonful in her mouth and grinned.

Yuri chuckled at the child’s behavior. She continued to take another sip of her vanilla latte and a bite of her Cornish pasty. 

Yuri really enjoyed looking at the child. Yoona was oblivious of Yuri’s gaze. The child was busily consuming the slice of cheese cake, one spoonful at a time. 

A flash of light caught the corner of Yuri’s eye. Yuri advert her eyes to the find the source. There was nothing. She had rationalized that it might have just been a shinny car driving by. 

Yuri turned around to Yoona and smiled.

“Yoona.” Yuri said as she waited for the child to reply.

The child stopped staring at her cheese cake and lifted her head up to look at her appa. Yuri grabbed onto a clean napkin and leaned over to wipe the edge of Yoona’s lips. 

“You’re a bit of a dirty eater.” Yuri teasingly stated as she folded the dirty napkin and placed it on the table. 

Yoona pouted and shook her head in disagreement. The child placed her silver spoon on the plate. Her mother had never said such thing to her. 

“Omma said that I was a good eater.” The child exclaimed. “Yoona is a good girl because she eats everything on the plate.”

The child, who was still sitting on her seat, lifted up her hand and grabbed her spoon. She took a large scoop of the desert and placed it into her mouth. 

Yuri held onto her cup and drank the rest of her vanilla latte as she examined her child’s expression eating the desert. 

Standing near the display windows, Yoona turned to look at Yuri who was busy talking on the phone. They were waiting for the waitress to return some sort of card Yuri had handed over the register. 

The child reached out to grab onto the sleeve of Yuri’s shirt and tugged it. Yuri tilted her head and glanced at Yoona. 

“Can we buy that?” Yoona asked as she pointed at the display of custard tarts. 

Yuri glanced in the direction of where Yoona’s finger was pointing at. 

Yoona was impatiently looking for Yuri’s approval but her appa had yet to respond and was still on the phone.

“Omma likes custard tarts.” The child said loudly while waiting for an answer.

Yuri glanced at the child again and pulled her phone away from her ear. 

“Okay.” Yuri replied. She bent down and pats Yoona’s head. “Ask the lady to get it for you.”

The child beamed and nodded her head. Yoona turned to the register and called out to grab the waitress’ attention. Yuri had looked in Yoona’s direction to see the child ordering. Acknowledging that the child did not need help, Yuri got back to her phone conversation. 

They stood in front of the café. Yoona was holding onto Yuri’s hand. While her other hand was holding onto a little box with the custard tart inside. Yuri had noticed that Yoona had some sort of fondness towards the little box. 

While still on the phone, Yuri had glanced down at Yoona. She smiled at the child’s pickiness towards a specific custard tart that was near the window. She had felt sorry for the waitress who had bent down and removed everything else out of the way before being able to get the custard tart the child had pointed at. 

The child tugged her hand that was entwined with Yuri’s. 

“Can we go now?” Yoona asked as she looked at Yuri who still had her phone near her ear. 

“Yeah.” Yuri casually replied. 

Yuri looked at Yoona and nodded. She ended the phone conversation and placed it back into her jacket. Yuri had noticed a flash on the corner of her eye. She didn’t mind it much, she was quite use to the flashing lights following her around. Yet it bothered her that the person who was causing the flash was very close in proximity to her and Yoona. 

Yuri crouched down and smiled at Yoona. She bent down and placed her hand on Yoona’s head and playfully scuffle the child’s hair.

“Let’s go.”

The tiny man, who was holding onto an expensive camera, was confused as he tried to look around for the child and parent. He moved closer to where he had seen Yuri and Yoona. Yet he was still unable to find them. Feeling frustrated, he groaned in disappointment with his loss.

He stood in one spot, holding onto his camera and began to scroll through the photographs taken of Kwon Yuri and the child. While flicking through the images taken, his frown had turned into a smug expression. The photographs taken of the heir was good enough.

A hand grabbed onto the expensive camera. Shocked, the tiny man looked up to see the person he was following, Kwon Yuri.

“Taken enough photographs? I really hope they come out pretty.” Yuri said in a sarcastic tone, “I don’t like you stalking and snooping around my family. I want you to stay away from my family especially my child. I better not see any images of my family in the news or tabloids.”

Yuri shoved the photographer to the side and he stumbled backwards hitting the wall. Yuri was holding onto the expensive piece of technology as Yoona stood behind her. The child flinched at the sudden outburst but stood still next to Yuri. She tightened her grip on her box.

“Follow me all you like, I don’t really care. Don’t involve my family. Do you understand?” Yuri commanded.

Startled with Yuri’s temper, the man kept quite. Yuri’s hand curled into a fist. The child was quite scared.

“What were you going to do with these photos? Were you going to sell them off or try some sort of scheme creating defamatory articles about me?”

Yuri placed a hand on the tiny man’s shoulder and pushed him roughly onto the brick wall. 

“You have no life.” Yuri murmured in a daunting tone.

The man extended his arm to try and grab hold of his expensive camera. Yuri had again shoved him back onto the wall.

“I don’t think you need this.” Yuri said as she held up the expensive camera. “I’ll pay for this object. Is that alright with you?”

The man nervously nodded his head in compliance to Yuri’s demand. 

Yuri glanced at Yoona. She held out her hand as the child grasped onto it. Both child and parent walked passed the photographer towards the car park. Yuri turned her head around for the last time to give the man a demeaning glare. 

Before Yuri opened the door for Yoona to get in, she had crouched down to look at her child.

“Yoona, I’m sorry that you had to see what happen between me and that photographer.” Yuri stated.

The child nodded her head. Yuri could see the child’s confusion and she needed to explain her actions. 

“Uhm. There was nothing wrong with what I did.” Yuri said. “He shouldn’t be taking photos without asking us. We’ve done – I’ve done nothing wrong. There are people who find it fun and enjoyable to make people like us look bad.”

Yuri opened the passenger door and Yoona got into the car. Yuri leaned over and grabbed the seatbelt and buckled it. The small box was placed on Yoona’s lap.

“I’m sorry that I made you feel scared. It won’t happen again.” Yuri calmly said.

She closed the passenger door and made her way round to the driver’s side.

***

Jessica sat outside on a bench in the campus grounds. It was sunny and warm. She was sitting quietly with a novel in her hands as she absent mindlessly read the novel.

“I hope you like snacks.” A male voice cheerfully stated.

Jessica looked up from her novel and saw that it was Minho. 

He smiled brightly at her and greeted. Minho had both of his hands behind his back and Jessica was curious to what he was doing.

He stepped closer to the blonde. He pulled out a small bag and his other hand was holding a cardboard tray with two disposable cups. He sat down and placed the bag and try in between Jessica and himself. 

He reached out for one of the disposable cup and placed it on Jessica’s hand.

“Thanks.”

“um.”

Minho then commenced tearing the plastic bag. 

Jessica glanced down at the object in the bag and raised an eyebrow. It was quiet amusing. Minho had taken noticed of the blonde’s expression and sheepishly smiled.

“Yeah, red bean bread and a regular cup of vanilla latte might be an odd combination.” Minho said as he self consciously scratched the back of his head with his right hand. “But they taste well together.”

Jessica looked at Minho and smiled. 

“Thank you Minho, you’re very thoughtful but I think you should stop this.” Jessica said.

“I insist.” He pleaded as he gently pushed the food back towards Jessica. “My intention is pure. I like us to be friends. I hope you accept my friendship.”

“We’re already friends.” The blonde stated. 

In fact, Minho had made it impossible for her to reject his offer. He was sweet and thoughtful. He was respectful yet unrelenting. 

“Good.” Minho excitedly said, “Then there’s no problem with accepting food.”

He looked at Jessica and showed his boyish grin.

***

After taking a long stroll at the park, Sooyoung had decided on taking a detour from her usual walking route to go back home. She wasn’t sure where the detour would lead her. Yet it didn’t surprise Sooyoung when she had realized where she was walking pass. 

She chuckled as she stood across the street from Victoria’s house. 

Sooyoung stood quietly on a small flight of stairs that led to the front door of the familiar house. The entrance was so familiar that she was able to visualize it without much thought. 

Yet Sooyoung was oblivious to what was inside the house. 

While standing in front of the entrance, she had realized how stupid her actions and thoughts were. She was a fool. Even someone unyielding and egotistic as Yuri was able to reignite and maintain her relationship. Yet Sooyoung couldn’t do that to her own. She was disappointed at herself. 

She hated how Yuri had tried to provoke her. She disliked every time Taeyeon and Yuri mocked her about her supposed reluctance towards her feelings for Victoria. What right did they have to do such things?

She could taste her bitterness towards the duo as she lifted up her hand and knocked on the door.

She waited for the door to open.

Sooyoung clenched her fist. Both of her hands and body were shaking. As she stood waiting for the door to open her confidence was diminishing. Doubtful thoughts were running through her mind.

Who does she think she is being able to barge into Victoria’s life?

Why was she even standing at the front door?

When was the last time that she had any sort of civil conversation with the other person?

What was she going to say once the door opens?

How would Victoria react once she sees who was at the door?

Where the hell did her confidence suddenly arise from?

It was disheartening. 

The anxiety Sooyoung had felt was overwhelming. The pressure was building inside her and she could not do anything to suppress it. She sucked in a deep breath and unclenched her fist. She took a step back and turned her back towards the front door. 

She did the most natural thing – she fled. Sooyoung had run away from Victoria again.

Once again the entrance of Victoria’s house was left deserted.

The front door opened. Victoria did not find anyone standing outside her house. She scrunched her eyebrows. Maybe the knock was just her imagination. She must be exhausted from overworking, yes, that must be the reason for such an irrational situation.

Victoria shook her head and yawned.

“Nice timing.” A deep voice yelled out. 

Victoria glanced at the figure that was getting out from his car. He closed his car door and walked towards Victoria. He swung his bag over his broad shoulders and walked towards the house.

“It’s nice to see the owner of the house waiting for me at her front door.” The man said as he smiled.

Victoria smiled and gestured for the man to walk in.

“Hey Victoria.” The man greeted with a big smile.

“Hi Nick.” 

“Where’s that sink and tap that you wanted me to take a look at?” The man asked as he pulled the strap of his bag.

Once Victoria had directed him where to go with her fingers, he walked into the house and made his way to the kitchen.

Victoria turned around to look outside her house again before closing the front door. 

Sooyoung stood two blocks away and breathed heavily. For a moment, she had thought that there was slight chance of seeing Victoria. She was frustrated with herself. She should have some how cemented her foot onto the ground.

Sooyoung and Victoria would have finally faced each other. 

If only Victoria had managed to open the door earlier. 

If only Sooyoung had not fled.

Chapter 30

It was a wonder how a couple of days had made Sooyoung feel less guilty from running away. She hadn’t placed much thought into any of her worries. She had concluded that her incident in front of Victoria’s house was just a spontaneous moment due to her resentment towards Yuri’s constant taunts. 

Sooyoung was in the local supermarket and was holding onto a shopping basket while aimlessly walking around the store. She didn’t really need anything. The atmosphere was just much more entertaining than having to lie around at home. 

As Sooyoung passed the shelf of magazines and newspapers, she halted in her steps as a cover of a glossy magazine caught her eyes. She reached out to the magazine and intently stared at it. She raised an eyebrow in amusement. It was funny how Yuri never seems to be away from the spot light.

It was also not a surprise to see photos of Yuri with an apparent mistress. The front cover had a picture of Yuri and GaIn who were looking intimate. Sooyoung had thought their supposed relationship was taken cared of after the model’s constant attempt to contact Yuri. Flicking through the next couple of pages, there was a long and detailed article of Yuri’s string of romantic ventures with the model, a descriptive confrontation with a photographer and the possible rumor of Yuri abandoning her lovechild, Yoona, due to the model’s request. 

Although the information and photographs printed out looked believable, Sooyoung knew better than to accept it as the truth. Yuri has never had the habit of going back to her previous lovers and affairs – the only exception was the blonde who was supposedly still Yuri’s spouse. The idea of Yuri abandoning her family was outrageous. But she wondered if Yuri really did try to harass and attack the photographer. 

Sooyoung pulled out her phone from her jacket and dialed for her oh-so-infamous-cousin. 

“Hello?” the voice on the other line said.

“Have you seen this week’s magazine cover?” Sooyoung asked as she flicked through the publication. 

“Which one?” 

“Ha! Off course the one with you on the front cover, when has it ever been me on the front cover?” Sooyoung replied in a sarcastic tone, “I don’t think I even exist, well, there’s an exception for business magazines.” 

“Okay, so you’re nonexistent. There’s nothing I can do in regards to you not being in those kinds of magazines. What’s with the magazine? Seriously why did you call me?” Yuri asked with a bit of annoyance.

“You haven’t seen the headline Kwon Casanova?” Sooyoung asked with a hint of teasing.

“Excuse me?”

“K-Corp monarch the two-timer caught, abandoning family? - quoting from the magazine I’m holding.” Sooyoung read out in an exaggerated tone. 

“Hm. Well, I haven’t seen this magazine yet.”

“It’s not whether or not you’ve seen it. You don’t really matter at all. Do you know it your beloved spouse has discovered it or not?” Sooyoung casually asked as she started to skim through the cooking section in the publication.

“I don’t know.” Yuri answered and Sooyoung frowned.

There was a silent pause in their phone conversation. Sooyoung heard Yuri sigh through the phone.

“I guess I have to bring it up when I see her.”

“That sounds fun. Glad to hear that you will be doing that.” Sooyoung stated. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’ve never done anything stupid.”

“Yeah, okay. Just make sure you don’t try to punch any stalking photographers.” Sooyoung said and before they ended the phone conversation Sooyoung just had to ask to clarify any misunderstanding, “Yuri.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s true?” Sooyoung asked. 

Sooyoung knew that the gossip was not true but it would make her feel relieved if the denial about it came out from Yuri.

“About what the magazine article had written about me? I haven’t read it.” Yuri asked and she replied, “I might have frightened that photographer.” 

Sooyoung chuckled at Yuri’s response and replied, “Good to know that, talk to you soon.”

“Yeah, bye Sooyoung.”

Sooyoung ended the phone conversation. She stood in front of the magazine shelf and stared blankly at the device for a while. She held tightly onto the phone and placed it back into her pocket.

She placed the magazine back into the shelf and bent down to grab hold of her shopping basket. She looked in the basket. Maybe avocado with fillet buttered in dressing would be nice for dinner, a similar recipe to the magazine cooking section. 

Sooyoung was still looking at the magazine on the stand.

Without looking to see what was in front of her, Sooyoung began to move and unfortunately had bumped into something or rather someone. She turned her head away from the magazine shelf to see what or who she had bumped. She frowned; there was nothing in her line of sight. She slowly lowered her eyes and tiled her head. The lower the level of her vision the more she had noticed the crown of somebody’s head.

She looked further down and saw a young and pretty, yet short female figure who was looking not quite pleased with the sudden body contact.

“I’m sorry.” Sooyoung apologize while she slightly bowed.

“That’s alright.” The short pretty blonde said, “With those killer heels you’re wearing, I wouldn’t be surprised if you tend to ignore anything or anybody who’s shorter than your shoulders.”

Sooyoung looked down at her heels and back at the figure in front of her. She compared the short blonde’s height to her own shoulders. Truth be told, there was a fair bit of vertical distance to reach Sooyoung’s shoulders. It didn’t really help that Sooyoung was wearing her killer heels while the pretty figure had sandals on. 

“I’m sorry about bumping into you.” Sooyoung apologize again and stepped to the side and walked around the pretty lady. 

***

Taeyeon sat at the dining table across from Tiffany. Seohyun was visiting Tiffany’s mother. It was Taeyeon’s day off and Tiffany was unchained with her own work. Taeyeon stared at Tiffany, who was peeling her tangerine at a snail's pace. 

It was irritating to Taeyeon that Tiffany could just ignore her and acted as if she was nonexistent despite sitting across from Tiffany. 

Taeyeon coughed to get Tiffany’s attention. There was no response.

Taeyeon tapped her fingers on the table in an annoying rhythm, but there was still no response. She waited for a while and then faked a cough again. Yet Taeyeon was ignored for the third time.

She sighed and placed both her hands on the table.

“This is childish. Stop ignoring me!” Taeyeon said, demanding for attention.

Taeyeon stared intently at Tiffany for a response. There wasn’t any. Annoyed with the lack of reaction Taeyeon leaned across the table. She extended her arm and grabbed hold of the tangerine in front of Tiffany. 

Tiffany looked at Taeyeon.

“I’m not the one acting unreasonable.” Tiffany replied in a calm yet seemingly upset manner.

Taeyeon sat back down onto her chair while holding the tangerine. 

“Get those ideas of wanting to constantly visit your uncle out of your system; it’s weird to be frequently told by others that they see my spouse at the cemetery.” 

Tiffany gave Taeyeon a sharp stern look. Tiffany’s spouse shrugged her shoulders and widens her eyes in defense to show her innocence. Taeyeon started to peel the tangerine and popped one in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed.

“Taeyeon, you’re being ignorant.” Tiffany said.

Taeyeon stood up and held onto the half eaten tangerine.

“Like what I’ve said before, you’re not going and that’s final. We don’t need rumors floating around about this family.”

“When have we ever cared about what strangers think?” Tiffany asked. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She was angry and she knew that Taeyeon would continue to voice her own opinion without much thought. 

“We don’t but both our families care.” Taeyeon replied. She placed another piece of the tangerine in her mouth. “Furthermore, I’m the jealous type. I resent anything that involves you to detour your attention from me or spend a lot of time with.”

“I don’t stop you from going out. You should show a bit more respect. I have never done anything to make you feel jealous. Your jealousy is overbearing. I don’t know what to say about your weird demand either.” Tiffany said, “I’m very upset about this. At this moment, I don’t think I want to talk to you anymore.”

Tiffany stood up and gathered the skin of the tangerine and walked to the rubbish bin in the kitchen. Taeyeon was being a kid and she was not going to put up with the attitude. 

Taeyeon stared at her spouse. If Tiffany was mad then Taeyeon would just have to give her partner some space for the short haired brunette to cool down. 

Taeyeon popped another piece of tangerine into her mouth. She walked to the kitchen door and turned to look at Tiffany.

“I’m going out for a bit.” Taeyeon said, “I think I need a breather and you need to retract your claws from my neck.”

***

A sleek blue sports car was parked on the side of a street. Yuri was in a dazed state of mind. She snapped back to reality and turned to the passenger side in her car. She stared down at the magazine that was on the leather seat. The magazine was another copy of what Sooyoung had read out over the phone. She wasn’t sure of what to do.

She wouldn’t be surprised if the blonde had already found out about it. Even if it was the case, she was still going to talk about it. It felt as if it was an obligation that she was required to fulfill even if it might hurt. 

Yuri rested her arm on the side windscreen and chuckled. It bothered her that something that she had once found trivial had become a matter of bother and concern for her now. She knew that she needed to explain. She needed to rebut those allegation made against her. She needed to affirm to the blonde about her commitment and new lifestyle with her family. 

Showing Jessica the magazine was not a problem. The dilemma that was running through her thoughts was in regards to how she would approach the blonde and begin the most awkward talk 

Yuri leaned back onto the driver’s seat and sighed. She glanced out from her car. The expression of worry on her face had turned into a frown. The remorse and whatever guilt she had begun to diminish as she spotted a very familiar blonde figure happily walking into a café with a male companion.

She could feel the green troll making its way out from her body. Her hands gripped tightly onto the steering wheel. She needed to be rational. Maybe she shouldn’t be quick to judge. Yuri took deep breaths to calm her nerves. She was surprised by how long it had taken her to compose her emotion. While still in her car, Yuri had been staring debatably at her phone. She had somehow rationalized that it wasn’t wrong to call Jessica. After a moment’s glance she had grabbed her phone and dialed. 

“Hello?”

“Jessica, when do you finish class today?” Yuri asked as she loosens her grip on the steering wheel.

“I finish this afternoon. Why?”

“Driver Kim won’t be able to work this afternoon. I’ll go pick you up.” Yuri said. She had managed to sound less angry then what she had felt.

“Okay. Call me when you’re on your way here.”

“Alright I’ll give you a call. It’s nearly noon, have you had lunch yet?” Yuri asked. It was the chance Yuri was willing to give the blonde to confess about the male companion. 

“I’m having lunch at a nearby cafe close to campus.”

“Are you eating by yourself?” Yuri asked as she hoped for an answer that would rationalize her troll. 

“No, I’m with friends.”

“Friends or a friend.” Yuri carefully asked. 

“With friends.” 

Yuri could feel the muscles surrounding her jaw tighten as she listened to Jessica’s answer. She stopped herself from asking anymore questions.

“Hmm, enjoy lunch.”

Without saying good bye, Yuri had ended the call and chucked her phone into her bag. She needed to cool down and get away from the dishonest scene. She grunted and unpleasantly wore her sunglasses. There was definitely no need for Yuri to explain about what was printed out on the magazine. Yuri had assumed that the blonde was preoccupied to even take notice. The blonde seemed to enjoy the man’s presence to not even be bothered about a stupid tabloid. 

The engine of the car roared and indicators were signaled. Her hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel. Jessica Jung was a big fat liar and Yuri had lost the intention to explain anything to the blonde. Yuri stepped hard on the accelerator and the blue sports car drove out from the curb. 

***

Sooyoung had spent nearly the whole morning at the super market. But she had stepped out from the super market not carrying any grocery bags. The only two things she had bought was a chocolate bar, that she had already ripped open, and a fashion magazine. 

She was going to make use of the rest of her free day by going window shopping. As she strolled along the street Sooyoung had accidentally knocked into somebody. 

“I’m sorry.” Sooyoung immediately said and bowed. She bent down to grab the book that had fallen from the strangers grasp. 

“It’s okay.” The person replied. “Sooyoung?”

Sooyoung looked at the figure she had bumped and to her surprise it was Victoria. 

“Hello Victoria.” Sooyoung said in a surprised tone. “It’s nice to see you.”

Sooyoung handed the book over to Victoria and the girl happily accepted. She looked at Victoria and smiled, perhaps her clumsy morning wasn’t that bad after all. While she stared at Victoria, she was also mentally fighting for her feet to stay put and not run off. 

“It’s nice to see you too.”

Sooyoung nodded. She stared at Victoria with a dazed expression. It had been a long time since she was able to examine Victoria up close. They haven’t had a real conversation ever since she arrived back. She wasn’t sure of what to say. She should have a made a reasonable excuse to flee from Victoria the moment they greeted each other. But she didn’t. The fact that she felt the urge to stay and chat with Victoria gave her goosebumps. She could feel the little invisible strands of hair on her arms stand up as they both stood in the middle of the footpath, blocking people walking by. Sooyoung was some what proud of herself. She wasn’t a coward.

They felt out of their depth as they stood in the middle of the footpath. Sooyoung involuntarily started to tap her foot while Victoria began to tighten her hold on her book. 

“Are you busy?” Victoria asked after debating whether or not to ask. 

“No I’m not.” Sooyoung answered. She felt the awkward atmosphere surround their strained conversation. “What about you?”

“Same as you, I have no schedules for today.” 

Sooyoung nodded her head and smiled. 

“Have you had lunch?” Sooyoung asked in hopes for the desired response –“no I haven’t.”

“No, but I see that you’ve eaten already.” Victoria said as she pointed at the chocolate bar Sooyoung was holding. 

Sooyoung looked down at the chocolate bar in her hand. She mentally cursed her stupid urge for something sweet. It was making her happy, while she was chewing on it, but it was going to cause her the loss of having lunch with Victoria. 

“Let’s go grab a cup of coffee instead. There’s a place nearby with a nice atmosphere.” Sooyoung stated. 

Her ears were red and her hands were beginning to sweat as she waited for Victoria’s response. 

Chapter 31

a/n: Flashback

The afternoon went by quickly and Jessica was now sitting in Yuri’s blue sports car. Both driver and passenger were silent. Even though Yuri and Jessica had little to talk about, the blonde had a hunch of when something felt wrong. She turned her head to take a glance at Yuri. She was unable to decipher what her partner had in her mind. Yet, the blonde was able to sense some sort of bitterness aura coming from Yuri.

“How’s your day been?” Jessica asked.

“Good.” Yuri simply replied without taking a glance at the passenger.

The blonde knew Yuri’s attitude and the word “good” in this case was sure something of an opposite connotation. There was no denial that their attraction was still present and both found no need to hide it. Yet there was still a sense of distance. They have not had a decent heart-to-heart conversation privately and there was little effort made when it came to expressing what was on their mind. 

“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked.

“Nothing,” Yuri replied, “I just had a long day at work.”

While Yuri looked into the distance, Jessica’s attention was focused on Yuri. She hated to admit that she was able to sense the uneasiness aura emitting from Yuri. 

“Oh, okay then.” Jessica said as she accepted the fact that Yuri had no intention of expressing out what was wrong. 

Yuri grunted and took a deep breath. She had spent the afternoon finding ways to stop her growing annoyance igniting. She was upset about the phone conversation and had the intention of not explaining about the scandal that had erupted because of an imperceptive magazine. But with the blonde’s presence, there was a stupendous amount of conscience for her to confront the blonde about the scandal. Yuri could feel the muscles surrounding her jaw tighten. She was never good at timing her speeches. Maybe now would be the only chance she would get to be able to show Jessica the magazine.

She abruptly pulled over to the emergency lane. She turned off the engine and turned in Jessica’s direction. Due to the sudden swerve of the car, out of instinct, Jessica had clenched tightly onto her seat. Jessica turned to look towards the diver with her horrified expression at the sudden dangerous driving. 

“What the hell was that?” Jessica blurted out, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Yuri stated, “It’s just that . . . well, there’s something that has been bothering me. . .you know what? I’m just going to show you it.”

Yuri leaned over and opened the little storage area in front of the passenger side and pulled out the magazine to Jessica’s view. The magazine was in Jessica’s hands and Yuri was scrutinizing the blonde’s expression.

“Oh.” 

Yuri frowned at the few words that had come out from Jessica’s mouth. The blonde had not even shown any signs of being affected. 

“Are you upset?” Yuri asked and Jessica replied by shaking her head. 

She couldn’t believe the blonde’s reaction. She felt somewhat disgruntled as she sat and stared at the blonde. Although the scandal was something that was negative, she wanted some sort of emotion expressed by the blonde. 

“What’s there to be upset about?” Jessica questioned. “It doesn’t matter what’s been written, you’re the only one who knows what’s real and what isn’t.”

She had already known about the scandal. It wasn’t very hard to avoid when everything related to Yuri had seemed to be shoved down her throat. It was something of the gossip of the moment. Jessica did not need an explanation. The most important thing about her relationship with Yuri was their child, Yoona. Nothing was more important than taking responsibility for Yoona. Jessica trusted that Yuri would take care of Yoona. After all, Yuri was not stupid enough to lose an heir. It had been very difficult for Yuri to have a child and there was definitely no intention of abandoning Yoona. 

On the other hand, their relationship was like a rollercoaster. There was no doubt that Jessica still held great affection for Yuri. Yet, Jessica couldn’t bring herself to put much expectation towards Yuri’s actions and thoughts. The hardest thing Jessica had done was to show no emotion when it involved Yuri’s love. She had accepted their physical affection with not much-feeling-attached. Yet her mental declaration was just another protective detachment of her feelings. Even if Yuri had true feelings for her, Jessica had learnt to not expect much. 

“Hmm. You’re right. I don’t want you to be upset with such rumors. I guess I was just over thinking about it.” Yuri stated. She had accepted the implication that Jessica did not want nor need an explanation. Yuri reached out and held Jessica’s hand. “Jessica, you know, you’re the only other person who realize what the truth is. I have a responsibility towards Yoona and you. I won’t settle with the idea of abandoning my family.”

Yuri slipped her hand away from Jessica’s and gripped onto the steering wheel. The car got back onto the road and silence had emerged in their atmosphere yet again. Jessica moved to lean her head onto the side window and looked away from the driver. She felt the mood become colder in the car. She crossed her arms in a protective manner and closed her eyes. Yuri could not inflict anymore pain on Jessica because the truth was that Jessica had already been deeply hurt prior to any scandalous rumor.

-A few of days later-

Sooyoung was happy. She was content with her progression with Victoria. It was amazing how coffee and couple of phone calls that were from latter these pass few days had some how bonded her back with Victoria. 

They were friends once again, just like when they were younger. Sooyoung smiled as she kept her glance at the figure who was a couple of steps in front of her. The clouds were covering the sun but Sooyoung was able to see a radiant light surrounding Victoria’s figure. Momentarily she glanced down at all the shopping bags in her right hand. Her palms were beginning to turn red. However, Sooyoung couldn’t feel the strain the bags were causing because it was worth every second in exchange for her glances at Victoria. 

The figure in front of Sooyoung halted in her path and Sooyoung hastily stopped in her track behind the figure. Victoria twirled around to face Sooyoung. The taller figure gave a questioning look towards Victoria. 

“Sooyoung, you’re such a slow walker.” Victoria exclaimed and reached out to hold Sooyoung’s hand. “Come on, keep up! There are a dozen more stores we’re going to.”

As Victoria pulled Sooyoung along the street, Sooyoung could not help but look at their entwined hands and smile. She didn’t mind being dragged at all. At least for once in her life, everything had some how seemed to be going along in her favor. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to do. She felt happy being next to Victoria. 

Taeyeon had never viewed their prideful exchange of words as arguing. However, their heated conversation had made Taeyeon feel less sufficient as a partner. Being prideful and impulsive, Taeyeon did the only natural thing that came to mind. She had ignored the short hair brunette’s ranting and took multiple steps away from her spouse. 

Taeyeon had finished work earlier than expected but was not heading home. She did go home at night. However it was painful to come home in the dark and wake up earlier than usual just to avoid slipping another one of her own impulsive spat of words toward Tiffany. She didn’t want to be the arsonist to Tiffany’s anger. Her spouse would pay no heed to Taeyeon’s presence. 

She sat silently on the floor in the middle of the living room at the apartment where she occasionally visited. There was no where else to go. Her mother lived 3 hours away, she didn’t like bothering her mother, and going to Tiffany’s residence was not suicidal but very close to the scene of self inflicting a bullet wound into her own foot. She was never in good terms with the beloved mother-in-law. The four walls in the premises of her in-laws would be the only thing to know what might happen if Taeyeon ever decide to step foot into the in-law’s house by herself. 

There was a lot of reluctance for Taeyeon to turn to her friends. She didn’t want to be an inconvenience for them. Yuri had her own family problems, Sooyoung seemed to always be preoccupied and Hyoyeon had out rightly refused to pick up the trio’s phone calls. 

Taeyeon sat with her legs crossed, alone on the floor. The apartment was an item of her past lifestyle before marriage. It was the place where she had confided her feelings and thoughts. She was able to reminisce about the past, the actions she had done, the problems she had caused and the people she had entangled with. 

Being married had made her realize how essential white lies were. Early on in her marriage Taeyeon had come to comprehend the need to reassure both sides of their families that everything was alright even if things weren’t. White lies had dissuaded her parents’ interfering in their problems. She didn’t see the possible harm it might have caused. Those white lies had stopped Tiffany’s uncle from restraining her lifestyle. Tiffany’s uncle had so much hold on her relationship with Tiffany that it had made Taeyeon feel strained. The man was a politician and it meant that unnecessary rumors and news were unwanted. He had a firm grip on Taeyeon and had made sure that he implemented every essential restrictions and threats. He was well aware of the negative perception of the Kim family. This meant that Taeyeon had to comply with most of his demands. 

Her parents were the type of people who Taeyeon would never let her young family get close to. To heart, they were lovely people to meet. Her mother, who was the most loveable lady, made the most delectable tiramisu. Her father was someone who was charming and easy going. Tiffany had wanted to meet them but Taeyeon had never given them the opportunity to do so. Her father was a man of trouble. There were many instances where Taeyeon was entangled with his affairs. Taeyeon’s father was the head of the courier industry and he was also a rumored arms dealer. He was more than an arms dealer. The Kim family was a line of filthy well off band of people who were capable of doing menacing things to accomplish their paid tasks. Her father was involved in extortions. He was also the figure to rely on when it came to smuggling. The Kim family was one of few people who were able to transport assets without leaving any traces of being detected. The family business had created lots of wealth and it also brought plenty of enemies and rivals. She was grateful that the Kim estate was a definite 3 hours away. The distance between them meant that less trouble aroused by the family that Taeyeon had to deal with. 

Taeyeon had double standards. She had prohibited Tiffany meeting her father, yet Yuri and Sooyoung were entangled with Taeyeon’s family. Due to that reason she never wanted them to know about her little spat with Tiffany. It was also an embarrassment for Taeyeon to let them know that she was incapable of dealing with her own family matters. 

There was undeniable competition between Yuri and Taeyeon. They were together since young and Taeyeon’s parents were also Yuri’s parents. Their families were close. Yuri’s father had asked Taeyeon’s parents to be Yuri’s God parents and without much thought needed, the Kim family had agreed. 

Yuri and Taeyeon had always been able to agitate each other. They were constantly able to poke at each other’s stubbornness and pride. They had never been able to settle their competitiveness but unlike Yuri, Taeyeon had become acquainted to being the more open minded one. For most of the time, Taeyeon would let Yuri’s childish competitive behavior win because it wasn’t worth the effort. There were many instances where Yuri was able to inflict much hurt onto Taeyeon’s pride. Yuri was also able to manipulate and expose the sinister side of Taeyeon for her own enjoyment. Yuri and Taeyeon were in fact, bad influences towards one another. 

Taeyeon and Yuri lazily sat on the sofa. It was the last year of high school. While students at their level were putting much effort for the final semester exams, Taeyeon and Yuri had felt no need to fork out the same level of commitment. Their education pathways were already mapped out by their respective families. They both knew that they were already guaranteed entrance to the university or college of their choice.

“What university are you going to?” Yuri asked while she held onto the television remote, flicking through the channels. 

“Why do you want to know?” Taeyeon asked as Yuri shrugged her shoulders, “You know very well that your grandmother would never allow you to go somewhere that’s far away from the Kwon estate.”

“It’s worth a try.” Yuri replied, “If I’m insistent enough, I can get your parents to compromise with grandmother.”

Yuri stood up and chucked the television remote onto the sofa and walked in the direction to the kitchen. Taeyeon sat alone on the sofa and lets out a sigh. At least when high school finishes, she’ll be a definite plane ride away from the Kim estate. Yuri would also not be with her as well. 

Taeyeon stood in the university apartment lobby looking shocked at the person near the reception desk. She couldn’t believe after more than a year of distancing from her family, Kwon Yuri was in front of her with a suit case. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Taeyeon exclaimed.

“Didn’t I tell you that I’ve transferred here? I sent you a message and you replied saying that you’ll be waiting for my arrival.” Yuri replied as she pointed at Taeyeon.

“You transferred all the way here? I thought you were joking.” Taeyeon stated. She was starting to feel a throbbing pain in her head as she glances at Yuri. 

“Well, mom and dad already said that they had arranged everything. So everything’s fine.”

“My parents allowed this to happen?” Taeyeon exclaimed, “Just when I thought I’d be away from you, you’re here in front of me.”

Taeyeon raised her hand and rubbed her temples. She couldn’t believe her luck. She was stuck with Kwon Yuri again. 

“Well, they did tell me to say in the family apartment, but living in dorms is much more amusing.”

“I hate that you’re here.” Taeyeon grumbled as she made her way towards the elevator. 

“I miss you too, my pervert of a friend.” Yuri replied and pulled her luggage through the long hallway. 

Taeyeon stood in disbelief. Sweat was running down the side of her face as her mind replayed the images of Yuri and another girl making out in the hot tub. Water was splashed on Taeyeon’s face and Taeyeon snapped out from her trance. Taeyeon frowned at Yuri. 

“Yuri, you’re grandmother is going to freak out when she finds out that you’re kissing girls.” Taeyeon voiced out her thoughts. 

Yuri sneered at Taeyeon’s comment and stretched out her arms to hug the figures next to her. 

“I don’t see anything wrong about it. I’m pretty sure she already knows.” Yuri replied, “There’s nothing wrong about enjoying what both sides are able to offer.”

Yuri turned to take at look at her friend, who was standing a couple of feet away. She grinned as she sees the site of Taeyeon looking uncomfortable.

“Come on, I know you’re curious about it too.” Yuri stated.

She gestured for a couple of figures who sat on the edge of the hot tub to pull Taeyeon in. They were met with resistance but had managed to pull Taeyeon into the hot tub. Taeyeon could feel her face turn red and her body became stiff as the figures sat intimately next to her. Taeyeon glanced at Yuri who was grinning in triumph. 

Yuri and Taeyeon both stood in the garage looking awestruck at the item in front of them. Yuri grinned as she shoves the black cover sheets to the side and glanced at Taeyeon.

“What do you think?” Yuri asked as she stood proudly looking at her new toy.

“Not bad.” Taeyeon replied. 

Taeyeon took a step towards the object. Her hand reached out and slid her hand across the nice shining metal and held onto the handle. She was astonished at how cool and polished the object was. Taeyeon turned her head to face Yuri and wondered if Yuri would let her try out the object.

Yuri caught Taeyeon’s look and said, “I’m not letting you try it. Get your own motor bike.”

Taeyeon scuffed at Yuri’s statement and rolled her eyes. 

Taeyeon raised her fist and punched Yuri on the cheek. The taller figure stumbled and grabbed hold of the rails. Yuri raised her hand to her face and touched her swollen cheek. She looked in Taeyeon’s direction and lets out a mocking chuckle. 

“Come on, punch me again.” Yuri mocked, “I’m disappointed. You’re not putting much effort into this fight, our fight.”

Taeyeon hissed her breath and tighten her right fist as she contemplated on giving Yuri another punch. She hated how Yuri had always maintained a sneering and overconfident expression when ever they argued. 

“Don’t hold back, give me another punch.” Yuri taunted.

“One punch is enough.” Taeyeon replied as she turned her back towards Yuri. 

Yuri had found Taeyeon’s reaction to be amusing. She had never gotten Taeyeon so irritated and worked up enough to be punched. It was more surprising that the fight was about stranger. Yuri frowned and took a step towards Taeyeon.

“I don’t understand why you’d punch me.” Yuri calmly said, “What happen to your philosophy in regards to sharing is caring?” 

“I can share and give up anything except who I intend to marry.” Taeyeon replied as she turned around to look at Yuri. 

“You’re marrying her?” Yuri asked in astonishment as Taeyeon flinched at Yuri’s question and looked away.

“Yes, I’m planning to marry.” Taeyeon answered. “I appreciate if you keep your hands away from her. I don’t want to touch something that you’ve already laid hands on.”

Yuri grinned and said, “I don’t think it really matters. You’ll still marry her regardless because she’s a benefit to you. You’ve stooped pretty low this time but I also have to pat you on the back. She’s a senator’s niece and a Hwang heir. The wealth and power is pleasing to your desires isn’t it? However, you still won’t surpass me.”

Yuri studied Taeyeon’s expression. Yet, she was unable to figure what was running through Taeyeon’s mind. Placing her hands in her pockets, Yuri walked pass Taeyeon and headed round the corner towards the elevators.

“Yuri,” Taeyeon called out to the walking figure.

“What?” 

“Don’t interfere with what I’m doing.” Taeyeon said as Yuri halts in her path and turned around. Yuri chuckled at Taeyeon’s request, shrugged her shoulders and walked away. 

Taeyeon stood and looked at Yuri who was leaning carelessly on the table across from her. They were both in a private penthouse party. The place was loud with music and crowded with people. Yuri had found it amusing to hang out with Taeyeon when she was not busy with her own business. Taeyeon had just realized that Yuri had been constantly dragging her to different places after knowing about Taeyeon’s little scuffle with Tiffany’s uncle. 

“Come on, have another drink.” Yuri said as she stretched her legs and hands Taeyeon another glass of alcohol. 

Taeyeon shook her head and replied, “I can’t.”

“Why are you so obedient?” Yuri asked as she shoved the glass of alcohol into Taeyeon’s hand. “Has her uncle scared you that much?”

Taeyeon frowned and grunted at Yuri’s question. 

“You’re such a wimp.” Yuri laughed.

Yuri extended her arm and grabbed hold of Taeyeon’s shoulder. She pushed Taeyeon in the direction of the stairs and pulled a reluctant Taeyeon up the stairs. They both entered a room and stood near the edge of a bed where a handful of half naked figures were on the bed.

Yuri placed a hand over Taeyeon’s shoulder. She could smell the alcohol coming from Taeyeon. She examined her friend’s flushed face and grinned.

“If she isn’t able to give you what you want, there are always others who are willing enough to fulfill it.” Yuri whispered into Taeyeon’s ears.

Taeyeon stood in her trance and Yuri decided to assist the helpless Taeyeon. Using both of her hands, Yuri had pushed Taeyeon onto the bed. Taeyeon bounced lightly on the bed and turned around to face Yuri who was still standing near the bed. Taeyeon turned her head to the left to look at whoever was there. The figures smiled and Taeyeon raised her hand to touch their faces. 

“Right?” Yuri asked and Taeyeon turned around and enlarged her eyes to look at Yuri.

Taeyeon turned to her right and the figure in her site looked blurry. Taeyeon squint her eyes to look a long hair lady who Taeyeon subconsciously admitted was similar to Tiffany. Taeyeon sniffed her hair and acknowledge that she was also wearing the same perfume as well.

“Yeah. Right.” Taeyeon replied as she nodded her head. The figure on Taeyeon’s right had cupped Taeyeon’s face and leaned in for a kiss.

Taeyeon sat in her office with Yuri sitting carelessly on a chair across from her desk. Taeyeon was bothered about her new rival in the company. Yuri and Taeyeon had been brainstorming ideas on how to lessen Taeyeon’s threat. After their long consolation, Yuri had brought up the idea of getting rid of the man in a villainous way, much to Taeyeon’s resentment. 

“I can’t do that to him.” Taeyeon exclaimed. “I just want him out of the way. I don’t want to destroy his career or life.” 

“Why can’t you? You’re going to destroy it either way. He’s in your way and you know very well what to do to get rid of the competitor.” Yuri clarified while she stretched her legs. 

Taeyeon shook her head in disagreement as Yuri rolled her eyes. 

“Trust me; you’re going to end up taking my suggestion.” Yuri stated with a grin. 

Taeyeon grunted and replied, “I don’t understand why I can’t get rid of you.”

Yuri laughed and shrugged her shoulders. She twirled her finger around the edges of her coffee cup in amusement with Taeyeon’s statement.

“You can’t do such absurd thing; we’re both bounded by the necessity of each other.”

They knew too much about each other for either of them to risk loosing contact. Yuri and Taeyeon were not the nicest people when business was involved. They were both ruthless and ambitious. With their alliance, Yuri and Taeyeon were able to exploit their advantages and cover their weaknesses. Yuri came from a dynasty of influential connection and it meant that they had regularly gotten away from trouble. It also meant that they were more willing to do and go beyond the absurd to accomplish their goals. 

After marriage, Taeyeon had become the head of the multimillion dollar leisure and travel organization that owned numerous holiday resorts, islands, and hotels. Taeyeon’s family was murmured to be the most organized faction in the business community in what outsiders deemed similar to that of a mafia family. The Kim family was intimidating to be in the same scene with and they were not the most pleasant when others block things that they were after. 

Both Yuri and Taeyeon had both enjoyed raking in the wealth from seizing businesses that they had both prior destroyed and then taken over. Yuri had the wealth and influence to venture into different paths. Taeyeon had the ability to forcibly impose for things to happen. With the help of Sooyoung they have been able to find themselves in a patch of grey in the eyes of the law. 

They were all entangled and it was impossible to escape from each other. 

Taeyeon held on to the door handle. It was already late at night. Seeing that there was no one in the living room, Taeyeon had gone to the main bedroom in search for Tiffany. However as she stepped into the bedroom in search for the eye smiling brunette, the room was also empty. She had concluded that the only other place Tiffany could be at this hour of the night was in Seohyun’s bedroom. 

She twisted the door handle and gently pushed the door open. Taking a look inside, Taeyeon had spotted Tiffany in bed comfortably hugging Seohyun. She quietly walked towards the bed. She stood on the side of the bed and glanced at the mother and child who were peacefully asleep. A small smile was forming on Taeyeon’s face. She placed a hand on Seohyun’s cheek and softly squeezed it. The child stirred in her sleep and Taeyeon immediately removed her hand from Seohyun’s cheek. 

Taeyeon’s gaze landed on Tiffany. She reached out towards Tiffany to smooth out the brunette’s fringe. 

Her marriage with Tiffany was supposed to merely be business. Tiffany was unaware about their situation. She was to marry her Tiffany to get Tiffany’s uncle to back the hotel business proposal. Taeyeon had owed a lot to Tiffany’s Uncle. The business proposal was just something the politician brought up to get Taeyeon to agree to the marriage. Taeyeon’s friends and family had thought that the marriage about business. But the truth was that Taeyeon would have unconditionally agreed to the man’s request to marry his niece. Her family, especially her father who had no clue about the politician’s involvement, had owed a lot to Tiffany’s uncle. Taeyeon was never sure why the politician had chosen her as the candidate for his niece. The Kim and Hwang families had never associated with one another. It was a surprise that the politician had kept the Kim family out of trouble and in exchange Taeyeon was to take care of his only blood related relative. This was an exchange Taeyeon was willing to give up her freedom for. 

Tiffany’s glistering wealth was a bonus. In the eyes of others, Taeyeon was a gold digger. Tiffany and she were not considered as a well matched pair. She married into a wealthier and more influential family. She had married wealth and power. She was self-interested and emotionless. Taeyeon never bothered about how society felt about her. She couldn’t help it. Taeyeon was similar to everybody else, she also needed to survive.

Taeyeon had planned to escape from Tiffany when the old man died. She wasn’t ready to be chained. Yet something had stopped her from separating from Tiffany – that something was Seohyun. 

She couldn’t leave Tiffany because there would never be anyone else who would whole heartily take care of Seohyun. Although her eye smiling brunette had become more nagging and overbearing, Taeyeon knew that at this moment there was no one else she wanted. There was no one else who could be Seohyun’s mother. 

Taeyeon slightly pulled the blanket up to lay down beside Tiffany. She covered herself with the blanket and wrapped a protective arm around the brunette. The brunette’s back was facing Taeyeon. Leaning forward, Taeyeon placed a kiss on Tiffany’s cheek and began to softly kiss down to the brunette’s shoulders. 

It was killing Taeyeon slowly that Tiffany had to live with the lies she made and the hurt that she had caused. Taeyeon realized that she needed to come clear about her intentions. Taeyeon tightly hugged Tiffany and leaned in to kiss the brunette’s cheek. 

She knew that in order for this marriage to progress she was going to have to be considerate. 

Taeyeon cuddled closer and closed her eyes. Tiffany wouldn’t have known if Taeyeon was sleeping next to her. Her Tiffany was a heavy sleeper. By crack of dawn, Taeyeon would have already left the house leaving Tiffany by herself.

It was an instinctive action that Taeyeon would always subconsciously come back to Tiffany. Nothing involving hostility would break Taeyeon’s routine. Her friends and family were still doubtful about Taeyeon’s feelings for her spouse. She didn’t need to show her love for Tiffany in front of her friends and family. Taeyeon had utterly fallen in love with Tiffany and without doubt, Tiffany knew how Taeyeon felt. 

Chapter 32

a/n:flashback

Special thanks to kommcha!

Taeyeon was asleep but she was experiencing a mental battle to wake up. The warmth that she had embraced had seemed too desirable to let go. She subconsciously wanted to inch closer to the body of heat. The unconscious thought had made her breath hitch. Her body responded by heavily exhaling. It was a losing battle as she sighed and involuntarily shifted closer to the radiating warmth. Her lips twitched as she regulates her breathing. Her body had managed to persuade her mind to stay asleep for a bit longer. Her mind had now returned back to darkness, and she began to fall deeper into her slumber. 

Abruptly, Taeyeon opened her eyes, her pupils dilated as her brain began to register the sudden change in lighting. Taeyeon shut her eyes tightly and opened them again. She took a look at Tiffany who she was embracing. She softly grazed her thumb over the brunette’s hand. Taeyeon moved her head and placed a kiss on the brunette’s shoulder.

“Good morning,” Taeyeon muttered to her sleeping spouse. 

She detached her arm around the brunette and quietly retreated away from the bed. As she placed the blanket back to cover Tiffany, Taeyeon observed Seohyun innocently asleep on Tiffany’s arm. She yawned and stretched her right arm. Taeyeon took a glance at the clock on the wall and walked out from the bed room. 

As the door quietly closed, the figure of warmth on the bed stirred. Tiffany lifted her arm up and rubbed her eyes. She sighed and turned her head to the door. Her hand griped tightly onto the blanket as she glanced up at the clock. It was 5:22. 

Taeyeon walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen. She frowned as she halted in her advancement to the fridge and stood perplexed at the kitchen door. Near the kitchen bench stood Tiffany who looked half asleep. On the kitchen table, there were slices of toast on a plate next to a steaming hot cup of coffee. The brunette lifted her head up and looked at Taeyeon.

“Morning,” Tiffany said and yawned as Taeyeon nodded her head. “Taeyeon, have breakfast before you leave.” 

Tiffany demandingly pointed at the kitchen table. Taeyeon lets out a grunt of obedience and made her way towards Tiffany. As she stood next to her spouse, Taeyeon turned and opened her mouth. She hesitated and closed her mouth. Her hand reached out for a slice of toast, and she took a bite. Tiffany quietly examined her spouse eating as she stood near by. 

“I’m going back to sleep.” Tiffany said as Taeyeon finished the slice of toast. 

She turned around and began to walk away. Taeyeon immediately swallowed her food and reached out to grab hold of the brunette’s wrist.

“Wait.”

Tiffany turned around as Taeyeon took a step towards her. The grip on Tiffany’s wrist was removed. They both silently stood in the awkward atmosphere. 

“I’m. . .” Taeyeon began to say as she tried to comprehend her sentences. “I . . . I’m, sorry. I’m sorry for being ignorant.”

Tiffany nodded her head. Taeyeon placed her palm on Tiffany’s cheek and began to slide her hand away as she opened her mouth again. 

“I don’t mean to be ignorant of your feelings. But whenever you mention about your uncle I can never prevent myself from being defensive because I can’t help but feel envious of the close relationship the two of you had.” 

“I understand,” Tiffany replied, “I don’t mean to stir up your resentment. I’ll be more wary of how you feel too.”

“Tiffany,” Taeyeon said as the brunette tilted her head to the voice, “I’m . . . I . . . um . . . I . . . I’m. . .” 

Taeyeon couldn’t comprehend why she had found it difficult to express her affection towards the brunette. It was easier to say things when she had insincere intentions. She had always thought that if she was able to be a hypocrite when it came to her verbal expression, then she would definitely have no problems being verbally sincere. Yet there she stood perplex in front of Tiffany. She was unable to find the right flow of words after apologizing. She stared into Tiffany’s eyes. The brunette had an anticipated expression as she waited for Taeyeon to continue her sentence. Taeyeon kept her mouth shut, bit her tongue and showed a toothless smile.

As they experience the silent atmosphere, Tiffany lowered her gaze. Taeyeon’s peculiar smile became neutral as she examined her spouse. She took a deep breath and consciously opened her mouth to talk. Yet nothing came out. Taeyeon tiled her head away from Tiffany. She didn’t like witnessing the brunette’s disheartening expression. She felt guilty. She took a quick glance at the brunette again and stepped forward. Tiffany had all of a suddenly moved towards Taeyeon with open arms and embraced Taeyeon’s waist.

“It’s alright. Saying sorry is enough,” Tiffany mumbled. 

She tightly embraced Taeyeon and closed her eyes. Taeyeon turned her head and placed a gentle kiss on her spouse’s cheek. 

Tiffany sighed, opened her eyes and whispered, “I love you too.” 

Taeyeon lingered closer to the brunette, and their lips inched closer together. As they kissed, Taeyeon had tightened her embrace around Tiffany. She felt the tingling sensation from her finger tips. It made no sense, but she didn’t mind the feeling. She hasn’t felt such sensation for a long time. 

A sleek black car was parked in front of one of the many entrances of a large shopping centre. It was not the most appropriate place for a car to be stationary but the driver was indifferent in regards to where the car was parked. Yuri took a glance at Jessica as she raised her hand to take off her sunglasses. In the back, Yoona had released herself from her seatbelt and moved her body closer to the car’s window. She placed her hands on the side window and looked out from the car. Yuri had made her way to the side door and opened the car door for Yoona to step out. The child popped her head out and grabbed hold of the car handle. She jumped out from the car and the car door closed. 

She turned her head towards Yuri’s direction and asked, “Can the car be parked here?” 

“Yes,” Yuri replied and held out her hand for the child to hold. Yoona grasped Yuri’s hand and looked back to the parked car. 

She commented, “There are no lines on the ground. Omma said that cars park in between lines or in rectangles.” 

Yuri grinned and looked in Jessica’s direction. She turned her attention back to Yoona and replied, “The security team will deal with it.” 

Yuri gestured towards the two parked cars behind theirs. The child turned around to look at the security guards who had constantly been by their side where ever they traveled. A member of the security team approached them and Yuri had handed him the keys to her car. Yoona looked up at Yuri and nodded her head

“We own this place.” 

“We do?” the child asked in astonishment as they began to walk through the entrance. 

“Have you visited this shopping centre before?” Yuri asked. 

The child nodded her head and replied, “Omma and Yoona had went here once.” 

Yuri stopped walking and looked at her child. “Omma bought Yoona shoes.” 

Yuri glanced at the blonde who was walking towards them. She bent down to look at the child. 

“Yoona, do you like shopping?” Yuri asked. 

The child shook her head and replied, “Yoona only likes Elmo and Keroro.” 

Yoona had misinterpreted Yuri’s question. Yuri chuckled at the child’s reply. Yuri placed her hand on the child’s cheek and smiled. Seeing that Yuri was smiling, the child had also smiled. Yoona turned her head around to look for her mother who was still walking towards them. 

“Omma,” the child called out to Jessica.

Yuri looked at the blonde who stood in front of them. 

“Let’s go,” Yuri said. 

Yuri held onto Yoona’s right hand while Jessica held onto the child’s left hand. With all the customer commotion about the sudden arrival of the Kwon family at the shopping centre, the family quietly made their way to the elevator which led them to the second floor. 

Yoona was sitting on a chair in a children’s shoe store. She turned to look at Yuri, who stood nearest to her. She looked at her mother who was with a sale assistant picking sandals. The child swung her legs back and fort looking around the store. The sale assistant, who was with Jessica, walked towards the child holding different styles of children sandals. The assistant placed the sandals on the floor next to Yoona’s chair. She moved her hand to take hold of the child’s foot and before she was able to remove the shoe that Yoona had worn, the child shifted her leg away from the sales assistant. 

“I don’t want your help,” Yoona said. 

The child slightly lifted her leg up and bent down in an attempt to remove her own shoe. 

“Yoong don’t behave like this,” Jessica said in a stern voice as she stood next to the sales assistant. 

Yuri turned towards the small crowd and made her way towards Yoona. Without much hesitation, Yuri gestured for the sales assistant to step aside. Standing in front of the child, she crouched down and knelt on one knee. Yuri took a look at the child and lowered her gaze to the shoes Yoona was wearing. Her hand held onto Yoona’s shoe as the parent and child began to competitively stare at each other. Without removing her gaze away from Yoona, Yuri had gently removed the child’s shoe and placed them to the side. She lifted up her arm and extended her hand demanding for the new shoe. The sales assistant had placed a pink style sandal on Yuri’s hand. Yuri moved the sandal towards Yoona’s feet but before the sandal could come into contact with Yoona, the child hand shifted her feet away.

“I don’t like the color,” the child said much to the sale assistant’s amusement. 

“What about white?” Jessica said as she held onto a pair of creamy white colored sandals. 

The child glanced at the shoes her mother was holding and gave a slight nod of approval. Yuri handed the pink sandals to the sale assistant and took the white creamy colored sandals from Jessica. Yuri helped Yoona put on the sandals and realized that it did not fit quite well.

“I don’t think this fits,” Yuri said as she lifted up her head to look at the child. 

Yoona frowned and shook her head in denial. The child replied, “It does.”

The child wiggled her toes to demonstrate that the sandals were fine. Yuri laughed quietly at the child’s antic and shook her head. 

“Should I get a pair that is a size larger?” the sale assistant asked Jessica and Yuri. 

“Yes, that would be a good idea. Thank you,” Jessica replied and Yuri nodded in agreement. 

While standing and observing Yuri helping Yoona wear her shoes, Jessica could not help but smile. She liked this persona of Kwon Yuri. The little bit of love she had consciously locked specifically for this Yuri was glowing in abundance. The thoughtful and caring persona was something that Jessica had initially categorized Yuri with. Although when they break up and separate, when Yuri unconsciously hurt her and even if when they lose the feeling of affection, Jessica could never make herself tear apart this specific quality of Yuri’s that she had placed upon her partner. 

As the family walked out from another store, Yuri was holding an extra bag in her hand. Yoona had entwined her fingers with her mother’s. The child glanced at Jessica and pouted. She turned her head around to look at Yuri who was a couple of steps behind them. Yoona looked at her mother again and decided to pull on their entwined hands. Not getting the attention she wanted, Yoona had pulled again. Jessica tilted her face towards Yoona and gave the child a questioning look.

“I’m hungry,” Yoona said with out much hesitation. 

Jessica smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgment. 

“We’ll go get something to eat, but we have to walk a bit more,” Jessica said and turned to look at Yuri, who nodded her head in agreement. 

As the family began making their way towards a small restaurant, Yoona suddenly stopped moving and stood in one spot. Jessica tugged the child’s hand and attempted to take a step forward. Unfortunately the child had refused to move along with her mother. Both Yuri and Jessica stood in front of Yoona. 

“I don’t want to walk anymore.” Yoona exclaimed and pouted. 

Jessica raised her eyebrow at the child’s lack of compliance. This was the first time that the child was being stubborn when it involved walking with Jessica. They had walked at a much longer distance before, and the child had never once complained. Jessica glanced at Yuri and back at Yoona. Sometimes, it felt as if the child was purposely asking for attention when Yuri was around. Jessica let out a sigh. She couldn’t really do anything about it. 

“Omma, you have to carry Yoona,” the child demanded. 

Yoona removed her hand from Jessica’s hand. The child held out her arms towards Jessica. She wanted to be carried. She stood on her tip toes and started to lightly jump. On the other hand, Jessica was not as enthusiastic about the idea.

“Yoong, I’ll carry you,” Yuri said as the child stopped jumping. 

The child beamed as she looked in Yuri’s direction. She turned to Yuri and held out her arms. Yuri bent down and carried the child up with her free hand. Yoona wrapped her arms around Yuri’s neck and the child embraced her parent. 

“I’ll hold onto the bags.” Jessica said as she reached for the bags in Yuri’s hand. 

Yuri had moved her hand away and replied, “It’s alright. They’re not even heavy.” 

With one hand carrying Yoona and the other hand holding onto the bags, Yuri had begun walking again. Jessica was trailing behind the two. Yoona rested her head on Yuri’s shoulder and looked at her mother. Yuri twisted her head around to look at Jessica. She slowed her pace and slightly bent her arm that had the shopping bags. She gestured for the blonde to hold onto her arm. Jessica complied with the request and slithered her hand towards Yuri’s arm. She held onto Yuri’s arm, and the family walked happily together. 

Before they were able to make their way towards the entrance of one of the many small restaurants, a voice called out and caught both Yuri and Jessica’s attention. Standing on the other side of the shops was some one who Jessica was familiar with.

“Hi Jessica.” The male voice said as he waved and walked towards the blonde. “I’m surprised to see you here.” 

Jessica removed her hand from Yuri’s arm and smiled at the man. Yuri turned to look at Jessica’s reaction and frowned. Without noticing Yuri’s glance, Jessica lifted up her hand and waved back at him. 

“Hi Minho.” 

The family and Minho sat at a table near a corner of the restaurant. Yoona, who sat next to her mother, was happily swinging her legs and using her fork to jab at her food. Yuri sat across from Yoona and next to Minho. She could sense that the man was constantly smiling as he took glances at the blonde. The scene irritated Yuri. The muscles surrounding her jaw felt tense as they continue to sit at the table. She needed to find a distraction. Yuri glanced down at her glass of orange juice. Without hesitating, Yuri held onto the glass and subconsciously gripped onto it. Her fingers began to turn red and the tips of her nails were becoming a pale shade of white. 

“You’re not drinking coffee?” Yoona asked Yuri as she pointed at the glass in Yuri’s hand. 

Yuri averted her attention to Yoona. She let go of her glass. Yuri shook her head and replied, “I like orange juice more than coffee.” 

She held onto her glass and raised it up to take a sip. 

“Me too,” Yoona said and smiled. “Keroro likes drinking orange juice!” 

Minho and Yuri sat quietly next to each other. There was a tense atmosphere at the table when Jessica and Yoona walked away to go to the restroom. They were both reluctant to be in each other’s presence, and Yuri had no intention in creating small talk with Minho. For the fifth time, Yuri extended her hand to grab hold of her glass of orange juice and began to slowly drink the rest of the content. 

“You’re quite fortunate,” Minho suddenly said. 

Yuri chuckled at the man’s statement. She was undeniably fortunate. She was successful, wealthy and influential. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Yuri was not surprised to hear such statement from Minho. She had to hypercritically point out that she had everything commoners desired for. 

“I’m astonished that they are still with you.” 

Yuri turned to her side and glared at the man. “Pardon?” 

“With all your indiscretions, it’s amazing that Jessica is enduring your selfishness,” Minho said as her turned to look at Yuri. 

“What does that have to do with you?” Yuri stated. The calmness surrounding Yuri’s aura was strained. 

“You are Kwon Yuri,” Minho replied with a clam tone. “Who do you think you are to say such derogatory things to me? What right do you have to voice out your accusation about me? How do you know whether or not such rumors are true?” Yuri argued as her fingers tightened around her fork. 

“Nothing,” Minho answered. Yuri sneered at his answer. “I’m just pointing out what is bluntly obvious,” Minho continued to explain, “Everyone has their limit. Jessica is very resilient but she can’t always be so. I admire her. She’s precious. Maybe not to you but to others she is.” 

“You’re challenging me for my wife’s affection?” Yuri exclaimed. Letting go of the fork, she accusingly pointed at Minho, “Don’t even think about such thing. This is absurd.”

“I didn’t claim such thing. I’m just telling you to not be surprise when someone else is able to lift Jessica off her feet and carry her away from you.” Yuri huffed and rolled her eyes at Minho. 

The tense atmosphere created by Yuri and Minho had dissipated once Yoona and Jessica arrived back. The child managed to sit on her chair with Jessica’s help and the blonde sat on her chair that was across from Minho. Yuri tilted her head to glance at a smiling Minho. The man was sure naive. Yuri rested her palm on the table and gently tapped her fingers. Did he really think that she would allow such situation to arise? Yuri would muster and proceed with whatever method to keep the blonde by her side. 

Yuri and Jessica stood in on the opposite side of Taeyeon and Tiffany’s kitchen. Yuri had snuck in to persuade the blonde to come back with her. Yet the blonde had refused and this situation started to agitate Yuri’s patience. 

“Tell me what to do,” Yuri said. 

She huffed and placed her hands on the kitchen table. It was unlike Yuri to ask such question but it was worth a try if it meant that Jessica would stay with her. 

“What do I have to do to keep you? What do you need?” Yuri repeated. 

“Nothing,” the blonde replied, “It has nothing to do with my needs.” 

“Are you sure?” Yuri asked as she raised her eyebrow. “There must be something.” 

“I’m definite,” Jessica replied, “But I’d like you to just treat Yoona well.”

Yuri turned to look away from Jessica. She was in disbelief at the blonde’s request. Wasn’t she treating the child in a proper manner? She frowned at the implied accusation. 

“I already am.”

“I know you are.” Jessica said. “I hope that you don’t just treat Yoona as merely a responsibility. Yoona is genetically related to you.”

“I’ve come to accept that fact.” Yuri said as she nodded her head, “I will treat my heir with the affection and manner that is deemed correct.” 

The comment Yuri made did not sound pleasant to any stranger’s ear. However Jessica had understood the underline meaning of Yuri’s promise. She knew that the taller figure had become accustom to the child. It meant that Yuri would make an effort to be a good parent. Jessica leaned on the kitchen sink and looked at Yuri, who had decided to sit on the kitchen stool. They became silent in each other’s presence. 

The blonde’s demand and Yuri’s verbal promise had become the mutual confirmation that they were tied together by their child. There was no other visible connection between the two. Yet Jessica was curious. Being separated from Yuri had give Jessica a lot of time to think about their relationship. She had questions, and she wanted answers from the taller figure.

“Why me?” Jessica asked as Yuri lifted her head to glance at the blonde. 

“What?” Yuri questioned with a confused expression. “Why did I pursued and married you?”

Jessica nodded her head.

“You’re a girl, and you happen to catch my attention,” Yuri replied. “With my situation, I’ve always preferred females. A guy behaves like an insolent and unfaithful ***** if he has to be with someone who is unable to bear him children. Females are more kindhearted.”

“You found out that you were unable to have children, and that was how I came into your life?” Jessica asked. She felt betrayed and used. She had the impression that the realization of Yuri’s infertility was subsequent to their marriage. 

“Yes.” Yuri said, “Unfortunately, things didn’t go as plan with us having a family. At that time I had become useless. I thought that we could use other means and methods to have a family but you declined. So it was time to let you go and find another.” 

Jessica turned her body around. She clenched her fist as she attempted to suppress the rising anger and resentment from the pit of her stomach. 

“When we were happily together, you said that you loved me. But was it just an excuse for me to stay?” Jessica asked in hopes for the answer she had always held fond expectation towards. 

“You know that I do care about you and I still do.”

“I know you too well that I’m skeptical about your intentions,” Jessica replied. 

Yuri’s answer was not the one she had high hopes for. She disliked the uncertain words used by Yuri. It was upsetting to know that Yuri’s implied answer about her feelings was not to the extent that Jessica had for the taller figure. She had managed to show no hurt expressions. However she was once again heartbroken. She wished that Yuri had tried to twist the truth. She wished Yuri had replied in a constructive manner. Unfortunately Yuri had always been blunt. Yuri had either told the truth or avoided and omitted certain sections about personal issues. Jessica disliked how she had confidently entrusted her hope upon Yuri. 

“Do you know what’s weird about this conversation?” Yuri asked, unaware of that the blonde was upset. 

“What?”

“We’re having one of the most private conversations in someone else’s house.” 

Jessica shook her head in annoyance at Yuri’s immature fascination. She took a step away from Yuri.

“So. . . it’s alright for us to be physically attached? Am I right?” Yuri asked. “We’re technically still married and being intimate is a natural occurrence.”

Ignoring the comment, Jessica walked out from the Kim family’s kitchen. 

“If you’re not replying then I’ll assume that you’re agreeing with what I’m suggesting.”

As the Kwon family began to stroll around the shopping centre after meeting Minho, Jessica had been worried about Yuri’s mood. She was wary of walking close to Yuri. She knew that Yuri had never liked having unexpected company especially those that Yuri had no connection to. Jessica took a deep breath and trailed behind Yuri and Yoona. 

Yuri turned to find Jessica. She showed the blonde a skeptical expression. Yuri didn’t understand the sudden space between the blonde and herself. The day started off quite well, yet the blonde was at least 5 feet away from her after meeting Minho. Did Minho have such an affect that Jessica wanted to keep a distance from her? Was the distance created just in case they met someone else while they strolled around? She was displeased with the sudden detachment from the blonde. 

Yuri waited for the blonde to walk closer. She extended her arm and had entwined their hands together. For now, Yuri had concluded that Minho was yet a potential threat. 

Victoria stood in her client’s studio arts room. She was looking at a man who was making his way down from the ladder. As he stood under the ladder, Nick release his working belt with his tools from his waist and gently placed it into his bag. 

“All the down lights are installed. I had to re-wire some of the lights. Besides that, everything is in perfect condition,” Nick explained to Victoria as he folded the ladder. 

Victoria held onto his bag and walked in front of him towards the entrance. She helped him open the door. 

“Thank you Nick, I really appreciate your help,” Victoria said while smiling. 

“No problem,” Nick replied with his toothy boyish grin. He awkwardly looked at her. “Victoria.” 

“Yes Nick?” Victoria said as they made eye contact.

“Are you free sometime next week?” he asked. 

Victoria’s face flushed as she answered his question, “I don’t know I have to check.” 

“Okay.” Nick said as he nodded his head, “If you are not busy, I hope you’ll go to dinner with me again.” 

Victoria smiled at Nick’s request. Nick placed his hand on his head and used his fingers to brush through his blonde hair. With his boyish grin, Nick turned away and hurriedly walked to his car. 

Sooyoung was walking at a steady pace towards the art studio Victoria was currently in charged of. Her had was holding a two cup coffee holder. While walking, Sooyoung made extra effort to be more attentive to not accidentally bump anyone in her path. Her lips formed a smile as she realized that she was nearly at Victoria’s work place. 

A blonde haired man who was carrying a bag had unintentionally bumped into Sooyoung. Fortunately Sooyoung was able to hold steadily onto the coffee holder. She lets out a huff and shook her head. She had also notice another blonde haired, short looking female walking out from the building Victoria was currently at. 

Before walking into the building, Sooyoung turned around for a last time and made her way to Victoria. 

“Why are there so many blondes?” Sooyoung mumbled, “I guess it’s a new trend.” 

Sooyoung quietly stood at the entrance of the studio as she looked at Victoria. The shorter figure was immersed in cleaning the glass table at the side of the studio. She had not noticed Sooyoung’s presence. Sooyoung smiled attentively at Victoria. She glanced at the coffee holder in which she was still holding onto. She decided to stop standing in the back ground and let the coffee become cold. Sooyoung silently made her way to Victoria and stood behind.

“Coffee?” Sooyoung said. 

Victoria stopped cleaning and turned around to the voice. She was stunned to see Sooyoung in front of her. 

“Coffee would be fabulous,” Victoria replied, and Sooyoung handed her the cup of coffee. 

Sooyoung grin as she observed Victoria sipping the coffee. Although the scent of coffee was strong, Sooyoung was able to smell the light fragrance Victoria had on even if they were a couple of steps away. She had liked the fact that Victoria had used the same fragrance ever since she could remember. The fragrance had bought back many familiarities to Sooyoung. She had to admit that she was very comfortable. Furthermore she was able to indiscreetly recognize the scent because the fragrance was a present Sooyoung had given Victoria a long time ago. 

“Let’s have lunch,” Victoria said and Sooyoung nodded her head. “I’ll just grab my jacket.” 

While waiting for Victoria, Sooyoung had walked to a window. She noticed that it was raining. She raised her hand to touch the cold glass.

“What’s wrong?” Victoria asked as she began to walk towards Sooyoung. 

Sooyoung turned her head to Victoria. She said nothing but smiled. The couple stared out into the street. People were hurriedly walking to shelter as the rain poured down heavier. 

“I guess we have to stay here until the rain passes by,” Sooyoung said as they both calmly continued to look out from the window. 

Yoona tugged Yuri. She looked down at the child and questioned. Yoona grabbed hold of Yuri and attempted to pull the adult down to her height. Yuri reluctantly crouched down to the child’s height. She wasn’t sure what the child wanted but had complied to the child’s gesture. The child placed her hands on Yuri’s shoulder and smiled. 

Yoona placed a kiss on Yuri’s cheek and quietly said, “I like shopping.”

Yuri nodded her head and grinned. The child turned around and began to run towards their parked car. The security guard followed attentively after the child as he held onto an umbrella to cover Yoona. Yuri tilted her head to look at the blonde.

“THERE’S LINES AROUND THE CAR,” the child excitingly exclaimed as she stood in front of their parked car.

Jessica raised an eye brow with curiosity. She turned to Yuri and asked, “I don’t remember seeing marked parking lines there.” 

Yuri chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. “Yoona said cars need to be parked in between parking lines,” Yuri replied, “I’m just following rules.”

Yuri and Jessica stared in glee at the site of Yoona jumping up and down at her discovery of the white and straight painted lines on the ground. Yuri chuckled and turned to look at the blonde. “I hope you enjoy today.” 

“I did,” Jessica said and looked at the taller figure with a content smile. “Thank you Yuri.” 

Yuri smiled at Jessica’s response. Before stepping out into the rain, Yuri turned to one of the security guards with umbrellas. The umbrellas opened and they walked out from the shopping centre. 

“Come,” Yuri said as she grabbed hold of the umbrella from one of her guards. Yuri wrapped a protective arm around the blonde’s shoulders, and they began walking towards their car. “I don’t want you to get wet in the rain.” 

Chapter 33

Yoona held onto Yuri’s hand as they stood outside the Kwon estate in front of a stationary car. Out stepped Sooyoung from the driver’s side. She walked over to Yuri and Yoona. The child had let go of Yuri’s hand and proceeded to the side of dark tinted car window. Yoona looked inside the window but couldn’t see anything. She placed both her hands on the window and pressed her face onto the tinted glass. The child pulled her face away and her mouth was wide open in astonishment. She frowned and pouted. Yoona proceeded to press her face onto the windows again. She was still unable to see the inside of the car.

The child turned around to face the adults who were casually talking.

“Appa I don’t see Seohyun,” the child exclaimed and pointed at Sooyoung, “You said that Hyunie was coming too!”

Sooyoung raised her eyebrows and gave Yuri a questioning look. She stepped closer to the upset child and reached out to open the door.

“I can’t possibly lose Seohyun when she really is in the car,” Sooyoung told Yoona and pulled the car door open. “Taeyeon would kill me. You probably would do the same thing too.” Sooyoung mumbled.

Yoona stepped towards the open car door and looked inside the car and found Seohyun strapped onto the car seat with a seatbelt.

“Unnie, you make funny faces. I like looking at them.” Seohyun exclaimed as she clapped her hands.

Yoona’s expression brightens. The child jumped into the car and sat next to her younger friend.

“Hyunie, I miss you!” Yoona said as she opened her arms to give Seohyun a hug as the younger child nodded her head.

“They’re so cute.” Sooyoung said as the two adults witness the scene in the car.

“Yeah, they are.” Yuri replied.

“I wonder how Taeyeon feels losing her princess to a Kwon.” Sooyoung chuckled as the thought.

Yuri raised her hand and smacked Sooyoung on the arm. Sooyoung had dropped her packet of cigarettes onto the pavement. She bent down to pick the packet up and shoved it into her pocket.

“That was uncalled for,” Sooyoung said to Yuri.

Yuri shrugged her shoulders and replied, “That’s one of Taeyeon’s reactions if you mention it in front of her.”

Sooyoung lets out a laugh and closed the door. She made her away around the driver’s side and got into the car.

Yuri leaned on the edge of an open window of Sooyoung’s grey shiny car. On the back passenger seat sat Yoona and Seohyun who were both holding baseball gloves and wore the LG Twins Baseball club’s jersey.

“Have fun watching baseball and I hope the team wins,” Yuri said as she bid them goodbye. “Sooyoung, don’t smoke in front of my kid.”

Sooyoung turned around to look at Yuri and rolled her eyes. She mumbled incoherent words and closed the car window.

Yuri stood near the window in the Kwon’s study room. It felt out of the norm for Yuri to not be in the office. She didn’t mind at all. It felt strangely different to when Yuri had not yet found Jessica and Yoona. It’s been very long since she had felt content with what she had.

The feelings of having a family were a new odd sensation. She liked having the presence of somebody to come home to. She liked the attention received when she opened the front door. She enjoyed and now anticipated the sudden acknowledgment of her child running through the hallway toward the front door to greet her. She had found it fascinating how Yoona was able to know whenever she had stepped into the Kwon estate, even when Yuri had tried to make as little noise as possible. It made her smile every time. Yuri now understood why Taeyeon had preferred to go home after work. Maybe what she had been experiencing were the similar feelings that Taeyeon had felt.

Yuri lifted up her hand and held onto a bit of the curtain. She stared out, up into the sky, and her eyes took notice of a boastful orange looking car parked on the curb outside of the Kwon estate. Yuri raised her eyebrow. It was a rare site to see a commoner’s vehicle blocking the driveway entrance of her family estate. She seriously couldn’t remember the last time anyone did such a thing. She wasn’t interested in the scene but the passenger door opened and out stepped a blonde, who Yuri recognized as Jessica.

The blonde figure stood on the footpath. Yuri assumed that the person was waiting for the driver to get out from the car. The driver stepped out from the car and made his way towards the blonde. He had the same body feature and hair style as the person Jessica had gone to lunch with. He stood in front of Jessica and moved his hand to reach out for Jessica’s hand. Jessica moved her arms and seemed to have gestured for them to hug.

Yuri’s face darkened at the site of their hands coming in contact and the close proximity. She squeezed whatever material of the curtain that was in her hand. Not being able to stand the site of their intimacy, Yuri had turned her face away from the window. She closed her eyes in displeasure. Yuri reassured herself that she had not given a damn about what Jessica had secretly hid from her. Yuri really didn’t care. But it was unacceptable for her spouse to show such intimate affection publicly and especially where passers-by were able to easily identify her and who she was associated too. Jessica Jung was still a gigantic flirt.

As Jessica made her way up the stairs and towards the main bedroom, she had heard a small cough and turned around in the direction of the noise.

“Oh, Yuri, you’re at home today?” Jessica said in surprise.

Yuri with a gloomy expression nodded her head and took a couple of steps towards the blonde.

“Why didn’t you call for the driver to pick you up?” Yuri questioned.

“There was no need,” Jessica replied and started to walk away.

The muscles surrounding the sides of Yuri’s jaw stiffened as she heard the Jessica’s reply. She had silently taken note about all the possible necessity the blonde required. She had given her spouse significant weekly allowances, a very comfortable place to live and paid for every expense imaginable. Jessica had a collection of cars and a driver at her disposal. Yuri had found it funny, in an appalling way, that Jessica found no need to use what was offered by Yuri but opted in taking a car ride with a stranger.

“You must really like him,” Yuri commented loud enough for the blonde to hear.

“Excuse me?” Jessica questioned as she tuned to look at Yuri.

As Yuri took a step toward Jessica, the shorter figure had taken a step back and ended up bumping her back onto the wall.

“You know very well what I’m talking about,” Yuri said softly. “I’m not happy with the relationship you have with him.”

She leaned into take a sniff at Jessica’s hair. It didn’t smell the same like the Jessica’s usual scent. She couldn’t believe that she was being played. Jessica was sure good at being deceptive.

“You’re jealous,” Jessica exclaimed.

“What? I’m not jealous. I feel no such thing,” Yuri replied as she turned her head to the side. It was impossible; she wasn’t jealous. She couldn’t stand looking at Jessica.

“Fine, you’re not jealous,” Jessica said, “Minho is a friend. We’re not in any sort relationship.”

Yuri angrily placed a hand on the wall next to Jessica’s face. She couldn’t believe that Jessica was lying to her face. Yuri was certain that there was something going on between them. She could smell some sort of faint male cologne as her head leaned closer to the blonde.

“Really?” Yuri questioned.

Jessica said nothing in reply and only nodded her head. Jessica wasn’t sure what Yuri was feeling but she was definite that Yuri had already made up her conclusion about something relating to her.

“Did you enjoy having lunch with him? I bet it wasn’t the first time being alone with him. Something interesting must have happened.”

“Nothing interesting happened. I just had lunch with friends. I didn’t go eat with him by myself,” Jessica replied as she looked at Yuri’s face in determination.

“I’m disappointed that you’re lying to me again,” Yuri confessed as Jessica frowned at the comment. “I’ve never regretted anything that I’ve done. I should have realized that you were falling in love with anyone but me. If I had one wish, I would wish that I didn’t go after you. I went after you like a blind dog, to a point where you couldn’t refuse. You are a fraudulent flirt.”

“That’s absurd,” Jessica said as she titled her head up to look into Yuri’s eyes. She held tightly onto her bag. “How could you say something like that?”

“You’ve always been pretty, but you’re the type of girl who can’t stop seducing others around you,” Yuri calmly said. “I guess my biggest flaw is that I’m not a guy. If I was actually a guy then you wouldn’t have distanced yourself from me. I’ve noticed that even until now, you easily get smitten by them. They flirt with you even though they know you are attached or know that you already have a child. Somehow I’m not angry at you; I’m annoyed with myself.”

“That’s not true! I’m not that type of person,” Jessica snapped at Yuri. “You know from the very start that I was never that kind! I’ve always shown you very clearly how devoted I am. You should question yourself whether or not you’ve ever had real feelings for me.”

“Huh,” Yuri sneered at Jessica’s statement. “I’ve always had feelings for you, but I’ve never seem to get a response from you. You’ve never demonstrated to me how much you loved me. You were so willing to initiate hugging him. However, I’ve always been the one to start any affectionate action.”

“Yeah, you’re right you’re always the one who initiates everything,” Jessica responded, “You’re the one who creates trouble and problems in this relationship. I’ve never done anything that would make me feel ashamed.”

Yuri tilted her head to the side of the blonde’s face. Jessica could feel herself stiffen.

“I’ll be damned if you did feel ashamed for something you’re so comfortable about,” Yuri murmured into the blonde’s ear. “Have you kissed him? How did it feel? Is it comparable to how we kiss?”

Jessica’s knuckles became white as she listened to Yuri. She was upset that Yuri thought of her that lowly. She definitely had no intimate relationship with Minho. It was a ridiculous accusation. While Jessica was distracted with her thoughts, Yuri had held onto held onto the Jessica’s shoulder and had a pistol grip on her chin. She was breathing heavily as she leaned into place her lips onto Jessica’s lips. Jessica began to struggle under Yuri’s hold and was successful enough to stop Yuri from kissing her. Yuri distanced her face away from Jessica.

Yuri grunted in irritation and secured her hold on the blonde. She leaned in once more to kiss. Jessica placed her hand up to stop Yuri’s advancement. With all her might, she had pushed Yuri away and removed herself from the wall.

“I’m tired and sick of your nonsense,” Jessica muttered, “Times like this, I question why I was ever with you. Even though we’re under the same roof you’ve never found the conscience to place your confidence in me. We’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs. I’m starting to think that it might have never been worth it at all. If you were willing enough to look pass your pride, you would have realized how messed up we are right now. The only reason why we’re living together is because of Yoona. I don’t care if you agree or not but that’s how I see it. I’m actually glad that Yoona and I are going to San Francisco because we’re better off away from you. At this point, I don’t want to see or be in your presence anymore."

By the time Jessica uttered her final word, she had come to realize that she was breathless. She gave a disappointed glance at Yuri and turned away. Yuri was still standing in one spot, not arguing nor was she trying to stop Jessica retreating. Jessica wanted Yuri to halt her path. She wanted Yuri to hold tightly onto her hand and apologize, yet the only thing she felt was emptiness. She knew that this time around, she had mistakenly placed too much expectation towards Yuri. Jessica had believed that Yuri would not think of her in such a negative demeanor. She felt disappointed. But she had to admit that being delusional was one of the few things that had stopped her from breaking down because somewhere inside of her, she knew; Yuri would never run after her. Yuri would never apologize. They were blinded by their own expectations and were too ignorant of each other’s feelings.

While still standing in the same spot, Yuri expressed her determination in keeping what was rightfully hers. She was angry and had impulsively shouted, “I’ll make sure he keeps a distance from you. You will not be going to San Francisco. I’ll do anything within my power to keep you in this country. You’re never going to step foot out of my site. I won’t let you take away my family.”

Yuri stood outside the bedroom door. She wanted to step into the room, but she rationalized that she didn’t need another spat with the blonde. Jessica had slammed the door as she retreated into the room, and Yuri felt reluctant to enter. Her hand was holding onto the door handle. Something felt wrong. It was déjà vu; their argument, Jessica retreating from the scene, Yuri being too egotistic to hold Jessica back, the door slamming and Jessica walking away for good.

Yuri slid her hand away from the door handle. She was going to let Jessica have her own space. She rationalized that at least this time; she had her family on the palm of her hands. Yuri clenched her fist and walked away from their bedroom. She was going to make sure that it would be difficult for them to escape.

Jessica had been staring out from the edge of one of the bedroom windows and saw Yuri’s sleek red sports car driving out from the Kwon estate. She let out a sigh and let go of her hold on the curtain. Yuri was always fast when it came to judging others. It seemed like the only thing that Yuri and her were good at was being willing to turn a blind eye and take off from their troubles and disappointments.

She had once doubted her decision on keeping Yoona. With the recent argument, Jessica had begun to have uncertain thoughts about her decision in having Yoona. If Yoona was nonexistent then nothing like this would have happen. Jessica would have been oceans away from Yuri, and they would have never crossed paths again. In a way, Yoona was the reason Jessica had created to keep Yuri. The child was a miracle and Jessica couldn’t bring herself to get rid of because their attempt for a family was a painful process. They were in love and Jessica still had such significant feelings for Yuri. She admitted that Yuri still cared about her, but the love and emotion from the past was not the same as now. Yuri had built up a resenting, possessive and controlling personality in regards towards Yoona and herself. Being with them was more of a feeling of pride for Yuri.

Chapter 34

Yoona, who was still wearing her baseball jersey and her baseball glove, had run upstairs to find her mother. The door creaked as the child peaked into her parents’ bedroom. Unable to see clearly inside, the child had opened the door wider to step in.

Yoona scrunched her eyebrows as she leaned in to look at her mother who was asleep.

“Omma,” The child called out.

Not getting a response, Yoona had used her finger to poke Jessica’s cheek. Yoona frowned and began to shake Jessica’s shoulder.

“Omma,” Yoona called out again.

Yoona placed her hand on Jessica’s cheek.

“Omma,” Yoona yelled out as she squeezed her mother’s cheek.

Jessica’s hand moved and held onto Yoona’s hand that was on her cheek. The child stopped squeezing her mother’s cheek and attempted to pull her hand away from Jessica’s grip. Jessica slowly sat up from her slumber and glanced at Yoona.

“Omma, why are your eyes red?” Yoona asked as she pointed at Jessica’s eyes.

“This is how adults look when we’re very tired,” Jessica simply replied as she made her eyes look bigger and pointed.

The child showed an astonished expression and nodded her head. She had never seen her mother in the current state. Her mother looked upset rather than being very tired, but she wasn’t going to further question her mother about it. Her mother was always right because as a child, Yoona didn’t know much about being an adult.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” Yoona asked.

The child climbed onto the bed and sat on her mother’s lap. Jessica smiled and wrapped an arm around her child. She leaned in to give Yoona a kiss on her forehead. Jessica glanced down at Yoona and raised an eyebrow.

“You have to go brush your teeth and wear your pajama.”

“I already did,” Yoona replied. “You can check.”

The child wiggled her legs to show Jessica her blue Cookie Monster pajama. Yoona opened her mouth wide and pointed for her mother to smell her breath. Jessica shook her head and gave Yoona a stern look.

“You’re not going to sleep in your baseball jersey.” Jessica said. She pointed at Yoona’s baseball glove. “This does not belong on the bed either.”

The child grinned and pulled off her baseball glove. Yoona leaned over to the bedside stand and placed the item there. She placed her arms around her mother’s neck and the child hugged her mother.

“I like wearing this,” Yoona said as she leaned her head on Jessica’s shoulder.

“Yoona,” Jessica said as she tried to pull Yoona away and get the shirt off the child.

Yoona refused to move away and tightened her arms around Jessica. She moved her legs and entangled her legs around Jessica’s waist.

“No!” Yoona said as she shook her head.

Jessica sighed at Yoona’s action. She raised her hand and lightly knocked Yoona’s forehead.

“You’re stubborn,” Jessica stated. “Come on, remove it. You’re not going to bed wearing your baseball jersey.”

Jessica turned her head around to take a look at Yoona and had found the child asleep. She signed and raised her hand to untangle the child’s arm around her neck.

“No,” Yoona mumbled.

The child tightened her hug. Knowing that she had lost the battle, Jessica decided to wait a while longer and try her luck again. She placed a hand on Yoona’s back and hugged the child. A tear slipped down Jessica’s face as she sat on the bed with Yoona in her arms.

Sooyoung sat next to Taeyeon at the bar in a popular night club. After leaving the Kwon’s residence, Sooyoung had received a call from Taeyeon.

As usual the two drinking buddies were preoccupied with their own thoughts to notice how long they’ve been sitting at the bar.

Taeyeon had cut her work short to meet up with Sooyoung for their occasional drinking session. It was one of the few things Tiffany had no control over. Tiffany never knew about Taeyeon’s drinking sessions. Their outings were a method to help her feel less stressed from pressure at work and from her family.

It was also her method to escape reality.

“I’m amazed that you’ve ditched work for this,” Sooyoung said after chugging down another glass of beer.

Taeyeon shrugged her shoulders. She stretched her arms and placed her hands on her flushed cheeks. The alcohol was getting to her head. She could feel herself loosening up to the rowdy atmosphere in the club.

“Be quiet and drink,” Taeyeon said as she pointed at the glass of alcohol in front of Sooyoung.

Sooyoung laughed at Taeyeon’s demand. She glanced at the shorter figure turning off her phone.

“You should have chosen a quieter and less social place to meet up,” the taller figure replied, “but we’re here so you have to talk.”

Taeyeon scoffed at Sooyoung and rolled her eyes. She placed her phone back into her pocket.

“Fine,” Taeyeon replied. “How is your love life? When will you be brave enough to confess about your feelings to Victoria?”

On the corner of her eye, Taeyeon saw the taller figure tighten her hold on the glass of alcohol. A part of her spiteful personality was enjoying the scene.

“I’ve heard from Yuri that Victoria has moved on,” Taeyeon stated with a sly grin. “You should gather what courage you have left and confess to Victoria.”

“It’s none of my business,” Sooyoung said in a calm voice, “Even if she seeing someone, I’m happy for her.”

“Awww. . . it sucks beings just friends.”

Sooyoung turned around to take a look at the atmosphere in the club. Taeyeon let out an unnoticed sigh and shook her head. Sooyoung was surely dense in the head.

The duo sat quietly next to each other.

“How are you and Tiffany? I heard from Yuri that the two of you had a fight. She went back to her mother’s, and you had to go get her,” Sooyoung asked with curiosity. “I hope everything is alright.”

Taeyeon shrugged her shoulder and replied with much distaste, “That happened weeks ago. It was not a fight. We had another talk today about-”

“Call it whatever you like. It was definitely an argument, a fight. Was it about her uncle?” Sooyoung asked, cutting Taeyeon’s sentence short, “You never showed resentment when he was alive. Why are you acting like this when he’s already passed away?”

“You don’t understand,” Taeyeon reluctantly replied.

“Yeah, I don’t understand.” Sooyoung stated as she tapped her fingers on the rim of the glass. “How you react when she mentions about her uncle gives off a vibe that something is bothering you. You’re feeling guilty about something. Is it about business or marriage?”

Sooyoung took a glance at Taeyeon’s stiff reaction. She quietly grinned at her own game of interrogation.

“She knows about that,” Taeyeon replied in a flat tone.

“Really?” Sooyoung asked as she raised her eyebrow with interest.

She was stabbing on Taeyeon’s guilt, and she was unconsciously bemused by the reaction.

“Yes she knew that our relationship was an arrange marriage. Why are you being so nosy all of a sudden?” Taeyeon said while convincingly nodding her head in hopes of Sooyoung not perusing about the topic. Yet within Taeyeon’s conscience, she knew that her reply was another white lie – Tiffany doesn’t know. Heaven forbid that she would ever disclose about such thing to her mushroom. She could imagine the hurt Tiffany would feel about the deceptions Taeyeon had made.

“Oh, that’s good. I’ve always had this at the back of my mind,” Sooyoung stated as she shrugged her shoulders, “It’ll save us feeling guilty if anyone of us slips it out accidentally.”

She took hold of the glass of alcohol and moved it near her lips. Her face turned to the side to take a glance at Sooyoung.

“You’re the only one who would pick a fight and truthfully confesses about random things when you’re drunk,” Taeyeon said. She had made a mental note to keep a drunken Sooyoung at a good distance away from Tiffany.

“Isn’t it good to tell the truth? Your mind and conscience becomes lighter,” Sooyoung softly claimed.

Taeyeon sneered at Sooyoung’s ironic statement.

“At least I’m not the one who can’t hold her liquor,” Sooyoung said, “If you don’t watch out, next time when you pass out, someone might try to stir trouble.”

Taeyeon was never going to verbally admit that Sooyoung and Yuri were a threat. Both of then had the ability to work around situations. Sooyoung was one of the few who were able to guess Taeyeon’s thoughts and actions. The taller figure seemed to have known too much about Taeyeon’s personal life - more than what she’d like them to be known.

In Taeyeon’s eyes, Yuri was selfish. Yuri took every chance to be dominant in business and relationships. Being competitive was not the problem. Yuri seemed to have had the urge to grab onto anything that wasn’t hers; and for most of the time, Yuri gets what she wants. Taeyeon grinned at the thought of her confrontation towards Yuri in regards to Tiffany. Yuri must have found Taeyeon’s confession and expression of love about Tiffany quite amusing. This had happened while Taeyeon was dating Tiffany. She felt proud. It was the first time Taeyeon had ever confronted her friend. Yuri could have taken and demanded anything, but Taeyeon was determined to keep Tiffany.

Taeyeon was greedy. She didn’t like the feeling of losing to her best friend.

She was relieved as she was not stupid enough to formally introduce Tiffany to Yuri. Taeyeon had to make the first move before Yuri knew about Tiffany. She knew that once Yul had met the eye smiling brunette, there was no chance for her. Yuri’s charismatic personality made it difficult for people to resist. Being the flirt, Yuri was going to destroy Taeyeon’s initial motive towards Tiffany.

She was glad that she only had to keep Yuri away. Somehow, Taeyeon was grateful that Sooyoung was off escaping to some distant destination. Competing for Tiffany against those two would have been very difficult. The duo would have ruined a perfect combination.

Taeyeon placed her hand on her chest. She could still feel the rapid heart beat, like before, whenever there was competition. It reminded her about how it had felt like an adrenaline rush pursuing Tiffany. At first, she felt lust towards the eye smiling brunette. Then it became a contest as other opponents stepped in. She was content once they became a couple. Unconsciously she had slowly begun to accept and enjoy the mushroom’s presence. Unlike Yuri, who she believed to be in denial about her feelings for Jessica, Taeyeon was proud enough to admit to herself about her affection towards her spouse. Yet she hated bowing down to the thought of being controlled. She was selfish enough to put on a mask of lies in front of everybody. Taeyeon had to make the assertion to herself that Tiffany had no control over her. She was lying to herself. She didn’t mind that Tiffany took control, especially since it was the person Taeyeon was in love with.

Taeyeon’s fingers rhythmically tapped on the table as she was glancing at Sooyoung who was talking to the bartender. It was getting late, and Taeyeon knew that it was wise to leave. She was planning on finishing the rest of the content in her glass and leave afterward. Yet something stopped her from doing so.

A stranger tapped onto Taeyeon’s shoulder. Taeyeon turned around to look at the stranger. The stunning figure gestured for a dance, and Taeyeon willingly accepted. She held out her hand and the stunning figure smiled and held onto it. Taeyeon stood up and began to walk away from the bar.

Sooyoung snapped her head towards Taeyeon’s direction and frowned. She ignored the bartender’s questioning look and tried to grab hold of Taeyeon’s hand.

“Where are you going?” Sooyoung asked as she held tightly onto Taeyeon’s wrist.

“Dancing,” Taeyeon giddily said, “We’re here to have fun.”

Taeyeon tried pulling away from Sooyoung’s grasp. Her vision was becoming blurry.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sooyoung said as she held onto Taeyeon.

The smell of alcohol was reeking from Taeyeon’s direction.

“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Taeyeon grinned as she placed a finger on her own lips, indicating to Sooyoung to shut up.

While waiting for Sooyoung to let go of her wrist, Taeyeon had squinted her eyes to make sure that she wasn’t seeing two Sooyoung-s.

The taller figure shook her head. She took hold of her glass and gulped down the rest of the content. She placed the glass back on the table and released her hold on Taeyeon’s wrist.

Taeyeon and the stunning figure made their way into the crowd and Sooyoung lost site of the two. In Sooyoung’s perspective, Taeyeon could never get rid of her bad habits.

Sooyoung had never liked Yuri and Taeyeon’s method in perusing their love interest nor about their love equation.

She hated how Yuri could be charming yet very manipulative. She disliked Yuri’s perception of love as a game and the need to be dominant. She hated Taeyeon’s ignorant and deceptive personality. She despised Taeyeon’s idea that success was through connections. She’s disgusted of Taeyeon and Yuri’s approach, but the thing she hated the most was her own anxiety towards relationships, specifically her relationship with Victoria.

She was jealous of Yuri and Taeyeon.

She wanted to swipe the grin from Taeyeon’s face when ever the shorty talked about Tiffany. She could see the contentment in Taeyeon’s eyes when ever she mentioned about her family. She had to listen to Taeyeon cruel intentions towards the mushroom. She had witness Taeyeon’s unashamed lust and accounts of Taeyeon’s various experiences with the mushroom. She knew about Taeyeon’s motive to be with Tiffany. Taeyeon had always given Sooyoung mixed feelings about what Taeyeon felt towards Tiffany.

She knew that Yuri was too preoccupied with her mind game and dominance to even take notice of how privileged it is to have a family, a gorgeous spouse, and a very bright child. Yuri seemed to have everything favoring her. Sooyoung was unsure of how Yuri and Jessica had met. At that time, Sooyoung was too preoccupied with her own dilemma. She was running away from her reality. For that duration of her life, she was running away from Victoria – she still is, but not like before.

She learnt from Taeyeon and Hyoyeon that Yuri’s initial motive towards Jessica had no intention of attachment. Something must have happened. Yet, she was definitely sure that Yuri was not forced into marrying the blonde. Yuri must have felt something strong enough for her to decide to settle down – until the pitfall of their divorce. Something inside of Yuri must have irked her enough to persuade Sooyoung in revoking the divorce papers. Sooyoung was still regretting about her involvement between Jessica and Yuri.

Sooyoung waved for the bartender to come over. She paid for the drinks and stood up from her chair. Before walking away, Sooyoung turned around in search for Taeyeon. Without any luck, Sooyoung turned her back to the rowdy crowd and walked towards the exit.

The sky was dark and it was pretty late during the night. The main roads around the city and freeways that were usually congested with traffic seemed like abandoned stretches of pathways. The only noticeable vehicle was a roaring, sleek, red sports car gathering speed going through the stretches of empty roads. The windscreen wipers were moving non-stop to clear the car’s front view from all the water that was pouring down from the sky.

Yuri was frowning. Her hands were gripping tightly onto the steering wheel as she tried to focus on the road ahead. As Yuri breaths through her mouth, small clouds of condense air from her mouth was visible. She was upset at the blonde’s dishonesty and at her own sudden burst of emotions. She couldn’t deny the impact Jessica and Yoona had on her. Yuri had never coped well whenever she lost control with her surrounding. She was so use to being the dominant figure that was able to read and control everyone else. She hated how much ruling the blonde had over her actions. She couldn’t stand the feeling of losing to Jessica.

The side window was slightly rolled down, and Yuri could feel the wind brushing on the side of her face. The further she drove the more she felt that the wind and the drops of rain were slapping her face. Yuri gave a huff and closed the car window.

Yuri stepped harder onto the pedal and the rain seemed to pour down heavier. She had showed the blonde how much concern she had for her. She had taken the initiative to look over the many little details others would miss when it came to protecting and taking care of the person they loved. She didn’t need the acknowledgment. It had hurt her pride that Jessica was in some one else’s embrace but never hers. Yuri was always the one who had to initiate everything. What had she done wrong? Yuri hated how much she cared about Jessica. She had so much affection towards Jessica yet the blonde had never noticed.

The car accelerated as Yuri felt the thrill of being in the speeding vehicle. As Yuri drove along the deserted road, a beep was heard and Yuri lifted up a hand from the steering wheel to press onto the Bluetooth device on her right ear. She wasn’t expecting anyone to contact her at this hour of the night.

“Hello?” Yuri said as she answered the phone call.

With out a moment’s hesitation, Yuri had removed her foot from the pedal and gradually stepped on the car’s brakes. The tiers squeaked at the sudden friction. Yuri held tightly onto the steering wheel. The car swerved on the wet and slippery road and made a U-turn.

Loneliness engulfed Sooyoung as she walked along the footpath. She placed her palm out facing towards the night sky to feel small rain drops on her hand. It seemed like the rain was not going to stop anytime soon.

After her departure from Taeyeon at the club, Sooyoung had aimlessly walked around the streets. She wasn’t sure where her feet were taking her, but she knew that she didn’t want to go home yet.

With every step Sooyoung took, drops of rain gently fell on the foot path. At first she had not noticed the droplets of water. As the rain got heavier she had only become aware of how drenched her clothes were from noticing passers-by running away to find shelter from the rain.

Her feet trudged along the footpath. She didn’t care that the rain was getting heavier nor did she care about where she was at. She could feel nothing due to the affects of alcohol or so she presumed.

Sooyoung tilted her head upward to take a look at the few stars in the sky that was visible through the clouds. She sighed and raised her hand up to smooth out her wet short hair. Maybe it was time to go home after a late night.

Sooyoung turned around to walk back home. Before walking off, she glanced at the house to her right. She chuckled and shook her head. She rubbed her eyes with her right hand. She must be very drunk to be hallucinating. She couldn’t believe that her conscience had taken her to this house, to Victoria’s house.

She momentary looked up towards the sky and chuckled. Maybe it was a sign for her to confront her fear. Sooyoung shrugged off the idea and began to take a couple of steps away. She sneered at her own foolishness and halted in her path.

If the clouds really want her to face Victoria tonight, then she would do so. Sooyoung would toughen up and approach Victoria in her drunken state. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to Victoria.

Sooyoung stood in front of a white wooden front door. Her finger was on the door bell yet Sooyoung could not push herself to press the button. She wasn’t sure where her reluctance came from; was she too much of a coward or was it her past that had subconsciously inflicted her fear?

The front door slightly opened, and it snapped Sooyoung away from her thoughts. Did she just press the door bell? Sooyoung glance her finger. It was definitely on the button. The open angle of the door had slightly increased. Sooyoung placed her hand in between the open gap and tried to push the door open but her attempt to open the door was met with resistance.

“Victoria, it’s me.” Sooyoung said with a soft voice.

The resistance for the other side faded and the door opened wider. Sooyoung’s eyes gazed into Victoria. The owner of the house was in a daze. She was confused. She was afraid. Her hands were shaking. She had tried so hard to move on; yet when her attempt started to become successful, her obstacle came back.

The front door closed after Sooyoung had forcefully stepped in. Sooyoung grabbed hold of Victoria’s wrist and leaned forwards. Victoria could smell the alcohol from Sooyoung.

“Sooyoung, why are you here?” Victoria asked. “You’re drunk.”

Sooyoung placed her head on Victoria’s shoulder and embraced the lean figure.

“I wanted to see you for the last time before I let go,” Sooyoung murmured to the side of Victoria’s ear.

“You’re drunk. Let me call Yuri to take you home,” Victoria said as she tried to pull out from her embrace with Sooyoung.

“I’m not drunk,” Sooyoung said with a whisper. She tightened her hold around the lean figure’s waist. “Victoria, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. Don’t call Yuri.”

Victoria tried to pull her arm out from Sooyoung’s grip.

Sooyoung gently pushed Victoria to lean on the side wall. She pressed her forehead onto Victoria’s forehead. Victoria had her hands griping onto the front of Sooyoung’s shirt.

“I regret meeting you. I regret every single second when we’re together. I regret saying that we’re just friends. I regret leaving you. I hate myself for running away. I hate reminiscing about us. I hate everything that relates to us. I hate the fact that I love you,” Sooyoung said with deep breaths, “but I can’t blur out my feelings for you.”

Victoria turned her head to the side to avoid looking into Sooyoung’s gaze.

“I need you,” Sooyoung stated, “I don’t know if you believe what I say but this is something I would never lie about. Victoria, please look at me.”

Sooyoung placed her hand on Victoria’s cheek and gently tilted Victoria’s head to face her.

“Everyone can say that I didn’t try and presume that my love for you was not strong enough. I had doubted myself and convinced myself into believing that I wasn’t worthy enough. I guess I’m guilty for wanting you to have the best and believing that it would be for the good of both of us if we stayed apart from each other. I’m guilty for being a fool and for unconditionally loving you,” Sooyoung said. “I hate what we are right now. I don’t want to be label as the long lost friend.”

Victoria’s eyes started to water. She hated how Sooyoung was able to step into her fortress without much resistance. She hated how willing she was to let Sooyoung back into her imaginary barrier.

“You deserve more, much more than what I can give,” Sooyoung said. “but I’m going to be selfish. I don’t want to be lurking around in the background anymore. I don’t want to be just any friend.”

Sooyoung kissed Victoria on the lips. The owner of the house struggled to pull away as the kiss progressed. Sooyoung moved her right hand onto Victoria’s cheek. The kiss ended when Victoria clenched her fist and shoved Sooyoung away. Sooyoung stumbled away.

“Sooyoung, stop it. You’re drunk and being stupid. Don’t do something you’ll regret. Don’t say things that you won’t remember about,” Victoria said in a harsh tone. “I’m calling you a taxi.”

Victoria started to walk away from the front door to the telephone in the living room. She wasn’t able to walk too far. Sooyoung had reached out and grabbed hold of Victoria’s wrist. She twirled the figure around with determination.

“I won’t leave you,” Sooyoung said as she held onto Victoria’s wrist.

The room was silent as they looked at each other. Victoria had finally made up her mind about her feelings for Sooyoung. Victoria attempted pull out from Sooyoung’s grasp again.

Sooyoung placed her thumb on Victoria’s lips, stopping her from speaking.

“I am in love you.”

Victoria felt the grip on her wrist loosen and instinctively pushed Sooyoung away as tears slid down her cheeks. Sooyoung stumbled back and hit the wall before sliding down.

She detested the sentence that came out from Sooyoung.

=================================

Chapter Thirty Six

It had been three days since Yuri’s nasty argument with Jessica. She had not gone home. Jessica had told Yoona that Yuri had gone to an important meeting that would require her to not be home for a few days. Yuri was angry that Jessica had made up an excuse that had temporarily stopped her from returning. Jessica must have awfully despised her. Why was Jessica attempting to separate Yoona from her? Yuri was unaware of the answer. She would rather not know. She was irritated in being mindlessly kicked out from her own home without much resistance.

On the other hand, Yuri was somewhat appreciative that Jessica had not bluntly told Yoona about their argument. The child might not have understood what was happening, but that would have played a pivotal role with the relationship between Yuri and Yoona. Yoona would have reacted negatively as she witnessed her mother’s upset state. Yet during their phone calls, Yoona had not mentioned anything about her mother’s behaviour. This had only meant that Jessica had not exposed Yoona to what was deemed as the truth about their current situation.

Yoona had constantly called Yuri these couple of days. Yuri was happy to receive those calls. It had confirmed that Yoona had still placed Yuri in high vicinity. In Yoona’s eyes, Yuri was still the parent that the child had wanted to become. Yuri had been doubtful of the child’s goal. Yet she couldn’t help but feel blissful at the child’s constant remark. Being seen as your own child’s role model was something that other people would be envious of. It had given Yuri a sense of great pride.

Being away from home and having to adapt to the change in scenery, Yuri had been more inclined to allow her thoughts to wonder. She had initially denied the constant thought of precedent feelings and the sudden acceptance of reality. She was surprised at her sudden unearthing of emotions. Her new sense of discovery had shown her how much she had missed her family. Yuri had thought that she would have spent these couple of days by herself in thought about methods to eliminate her competition. She knew that it would have been one of her side objective when she arrived back to the Kwon estate. Instead, Yuri had spent the time reminiscing and re-evaluating the relationship she had with her family.

She had acknowledged that Yoona and Jessica were a responsibility. If they weren’t, then Yuri would have never placed much thought or care into them. They were a burden. However, being burdened by one’s own family was a natural feeling. The burden was also a bittersweet reward. It was the standard guideline to how Yuri had cautiously approached her relationship with them. She had finally come to the conclusion that she could not deny the unresolved feelings kept for her partner. 

Yuri had always been fastidious to her environment and especially towards people who were in her surrounding. She was very good at keeping those of interest while disposing others who had lost touch to her overall scheme to power. Yuri stood near the window of the second highest level of K-Corp. She glanced down at all the individuals who were entering and exiting the main entrance. She lifted up her hand and placed it on the cold glass window. Yuri had taken a deep breath and sighed. She closed her eyes and retreated from the window. She had unwillingly found the answer to her doubts and she was determined to not lose her family.

Yoona and her mother were sitting in the living room. The child had her colouring books opened and her crayons were scattered everywhere on the coffee table. Jessica was holding a blue crayon and leaning towards the colouring book that Yoona was absorbed in. She was helping Yoona, much to the child’s insistence, to colour in the Sesame Street characters.

“Omma!” Yoona called out. “You’re not meant to colour cookie monster in that colour.”

Jessica stopped colouring and lifted her head up to look at Yoona. She wasn’t sure what the child meant by colouring Cookie monster in the wrong colour. She glanced down at the crayon that was held in her hand and it was surely a blue coloured crayon.

“Cookie monster is blue.” Jessica declared with much confusion.

Yoona nodded her head in agreement but frowned as she glanced at the crayon her mother was holding.

“You don’t colour Cookie monster in that colour,” Yoona exclaimed. The child held up another crayon and showed her mother. “You have to colour Cookie monster in this colour.”

“Yoong, they’re both the same colour.” 

Jessica held up the crayon that she was holding and compared it to the crayon Yoona was holding. The two crayons were almost identical.

The child shook her head and rebutted, “Omma, the colour you’re holding is wrong. This colour is right.”

Jessica looked at Yoona and sighed. There was not much difference between the two crayons. The crayon Jessica was using was a tiniest bit lighter than that of Yoona’s blue crayon.

“You have to colour Cookie monster in the right colour or else he’ll get mad,” Yoona explained. “Just like how we had coloured all my other friends. Keroro is green. Big Bird is yellow. Barney is purple. Tigger is orange and black. Mary Moo Cow is white with black spots.”

The child pouted and reached over to colour in Cookie monster in the correct colour. She grinned after finishing colouring. Yoona proceeded to colour in the rest of the page. Jessica shook her head in disbelief at the child obduracy.

Yoona dropped her crayon and stood up. Jessica did not take much thought into why the child had suddenly done such thing. At times, Yoona was a bit unpredictable with her actions. Jessica shook her head. She leaned over the table and began to gather up the crayons that were scattered around.

Victoria was standing on the step ladder in the studio. She held onto the frame of a painting while she adjusted it to the right angle. She was at work, but Victoria could not help but wonder her mind to something that had been bothering her endlessly these couple of days. It was not in regards to Sooyoung’s confession but just Sooyoung overall. She had always felt guilty being the one who wanted something to happen between them. She knew that Sooyoung was not verbal about her feelings. She was patient enough to wait for Sooyoung’s advancement. Yet not until a couple of weeks ago Sooyoung had kept a good distance away from her.

She had waited for a long time to hear Sooyoung’s confession. But, when it had finally happened, she felt bothered. The drunken kiss and confession from Sooyoung had made her upset. She was disappointed at herself and also at the confessor. Was Sooyoung over intimidated of her? She wasn’t able to comprehend why Sooyoung had approached in such drunken state. The confession she had wanted was to be romantic, it didn’t have to be, just not said in such a drunken and unmemorable state. She wasn’t even certain if Sooyoung had remembered what had happen. Victoria had begun to question the feelings they both harboured for each other. She had waited for Sooyoung to contact her, not immediately, but surely it did not require much effort to pick up the phone and dial her number. She had done enough advancements, it was Sooyoung who needed to take the next couple of steps. She wanted someone who was willing to be more approachable and decisive. Sooyoung seemed to have yet developed neither one of those qualities. Victoria was tired of waiting.

While in her trance, Victoria had guided her foot down from the top step of the ladder. She had misjudged her footing and had accidentally slipped her foot. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact with the hard wooden floor. She winched at the sudden contact. Victoria frowned, she didn’t feel hurt. There was no stinging rigid sensation felt by her body. She slowly opened her eyes and discovered herself being in the muscular arms of Nick’s.

“Are you alright?” Nick asked as he held onto her.

A rush of relief went through her body as Victoria nodded in reply.

“Be a bit more careful next time,” Nick commented as he placed her steadily off himself.

“Thank you,” Victoria said as she stood in front of the man.

“You always manage to land into my arms. I think you’re beginning to feel attached to me. Have you fallen for my charms?” Nick light heartedly joked with his boyish grin. “I’m not sure whether or not you have plans for tonight, but as payment for my heroic action just now, you have to go out to dinner with me.”

Victoria laughed and looked at Nick.

Yuri slammed her car door and walked around to the other side of the sleek red sports car. She tilted her head to look at the rear end of the car and stared down at the displeasing and painstakingly visible paint scratches on red sports car. She had not noticed until one of K-Corp’s parking security guard had asked about the eyesore. Yuri sighed and shook her head. She must have scraped the rear end of the car onto the metal barrier that night when Victoria had called her to pick up Sooyoung. She was certain that the car was inches away from the metal barrier. It must have just been bad luck.

Yuri walked away from the car towards the front door of her house. She turned to look at her car again and pulled out her keys. Butler Ahn was capable enough to take care of getting someone to fix the car’s blemishes. There were more pressing matters that Yuri needed to take care of.

The front door clicked and the door closed. Yuri removed her shoes and dropped her bag on the floor. She placed the keys in her pockets. Yuri closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She was finally back. 

“You’re home,” Yoona exclaimed as she appeared spontaneously in front of Yuri with Butler Ahn.

Yuri nodded her head. She leaned down and scooped the child up into her embrace. Butler Ahn bowed, and Yuri silently acknowledged his presence.

“I miss you,” Yoona said as she leaned her head on Yuri’s shoulder.

Yuri smiled and lifted her hand to stroke the child’s hair.

“Did you have a bath?”

“Yoona had a bath today,” the child stated. “I have a bath everyday. Appa, did you take baths when you where away for work?”

“Yes, but I don’t smell as nice as you do,” Yuri whispered and leaned in to take a sniff at the child’s hair.

The child giggled and moved her head away from Yuri’s shoulder.

“Omma makes Yoona smell nice. She makes me take a bath,” Yoona replied. “Appa, you don’t take baths a lot if you don’t smell as nice as Yoona.”

Yuri chuckled at the child’s remark and lifted up her hand to pat the child on the head.

“Where’s your omma?”

“Upstairs,” Yoona answered as she used her finger to point in the direction of the stairs.

Yuri carried her child up the stairs in search for Jessica while Bulter Ahn had followed behind.

“Omma,” the child yelled out, as Jessica turned her attention to Yoona. “Yoona found appa.”

“How can you find me? I’m not lost.” Yuri asked with a grin.

“Yoona found you at the front door!” the child cried out.

Yuri nodded her head in defeat.

“Have you been looking after Lala, Tinkywinky, Poh and Dipsy?”

“Yes,” Yoona confidently declared as she nodded her head.

“That’s very responsible of you,” Yuri praised.

Jessica tilted her head and gave Yuri a dubious momentary look before walking out from the bathroom and into the hallway. Yoona noticed that her mother had walked away. The child tugged Yuri and gestured for her to follow her mother. Obliging to the child’s demand, Yuri steadily walked after Jessica with Yoona in her arms.

“I haven’t fed the ducks dinner yet.” Yoona whispered into Yuri’s ear. “Butler Ahn.”

“Yes, Young master.” The man immediately replied.

“Do you think the ducks are hungry?” the child questioned as she gestured for Yuri to put her down onto the ground.

“Yes I think they are,” Butler Ahn answered, as he nodded his head.

“Do ducks eat fish?” Yoona had widen her eyes and exclaimed, “Lala, Tinkywinky, Poh and Dipsy are going to eat the fish in the pond.”

The child ran down the hallway with her new revelation of her duckling’s eating activity.

After allowing Yoona to go with Butler Ahn to feed the ducklings, Yuri trailed behind Jessica into their bedroom. Yuri stood afar and observed her. She wasn’t sure how to start a conversation with Jessica. Without much thought for the consequences, Yuri had opened her mouth to talk.

“I meant what I said,” Yuri stated. She mentally slapped herself for the sudden ambiguous statement.

“About what?” Jessica questioned as she turned around to look at Yuri.

“Keeping you away from all those home wreckers,” Yuri declared with much authority, “You’re too stubborn to tell them to back off. If you’re not able to do that then I will deal with them individually.”

“You’re telling me that I’m being stubborn, but you’re the one that has always been playing up,” Jessica retorted in frustration.

“I’m just trying to protect my family,” Yuri snapped.

“No you’re not; you’re only trying to be in control,” Jessica replied angrily. “The more you try to keep me in place, the more you’re pushing me away. You’re not protecting your family with what you’ve been doing.”

Jessica took a step towards the door. Yuri had immediately stood in front of the blonde’s path. She was blocking the exit. Her arms were extended, and Yuri moved her foot to kick the bedroom door closed. Yuri took a step towards Jessica as the door slammed. Jessica looked at Yuri in fright.

The taller figure was breathing heavily through her mouth. Her lips were becoming pale and her expression was full of resentment. She scrunched her eyebrows and grunted. Yuri clasped and raised her hand in anger. Sensing Yuri’s unstable emotions and her raised hand, Jessica had flinched. She leaned her body away from Yuri in an attempt to defend herself from Yuri’s violence.

Yuri looked at Jessica in confusion. She clenched her jaw. She took another glance at Jessica’s expression and altered her gaze to her raised hand. She glanced back at Jessica with an expressionless face. She placed her raised hand down by her side.

“You really thought I was going to hit you?” Yuri asked in disbelief.

Jessica tilted her head away from Yuri. She gazed towards the floor. Jessica had given Yuri an answer. The taller figure looked at Jessica in shock. Yuri felt her hands turn numb with the realisation of Jessica’s silent answer sinking in. As she looked at the blonde, who had her eyes closed, Yuri felt the sting of hurt arising from the pit of her stomach.

“I have never done such thing to you,” Yuri exclaimed. “Do you think of me that lowly? Am I a scum or another bully in your eyes?”

“I don’t know you. I can’t predict what you’re capable of,” Jessica confessed as she lifted her head up to look into Yuri’s eyes. “I know that it has been more than five years, but what happened to us? I admit that I missed you. It was hard to learn how to cope without you. Yet now that we’re back together, I realise how much I dislike having your presence around. You’ve become so resentful with everything and everyone. You don’t tell me how you feel. You refuse to listen to my explanations. We can’t even continue with our conversations without arguing. We’re both in our delusional bubble. We have both stepped back from civility. I don’t want to deal with every thing anymore.”

Jessica took a step around Yuri and reached out towards the door handle. As Jessica pulled the door handle, Yuri had forcefully pushed her hand on the door. The blonde figure sighed and turned to look at Yuri with a frown.

“Yuri, stop and let go. I wish this struggle between us would stop. The more you try to reinforce control, the more I detest you. It’s unfair for the both of us,” Jessica whispered, “I’ve been through enough.”

Yuri slipped her hand from the door. She wasn’t angry or upset. She felt disappointed. Jessica hesitated in opening the door. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Yuri with little expectation. She knew that Yuri would not push aside her pride. Jessica glanced down at the floor. She closed her eyes and involuntarily held her breath. She grasped tightly onto the door handle and opened the door.

As the door creaked, Yuri was kicked out from her trance. She became aware of her inner struggle of wanting to prevent Jessica from walking away. Yuri had realised that this was going to be her last chance. She needed to drastically prevent Jessica from leaving. She knew what Jessica was after. She was no fool. Jessica had wanted her to beg. She had never thought that she would plan to scoop so lowly from her pride. Yet, if it was the only way to keep her family, then Yuri would attempt it.

“Don’t. Go. Please. Jessica.”

Yuri stood behind Jessica. She was surprised at herself. She felt apprehensive while she waited for Jessica’s response. She was unsure if Jessica had heard what she had said. The blonde had not moved away. Yuri had realised that she was on the right track for the time being. She had managed to keep Jessica in the same room. 

“I can’t stop being unfair because I care too much about you. Everything that involves you makes me lack confidence. Isn’t it clear to you that I’ve always been vulnerable with you? You make me feel insecure. You make me feel jealous,” Yuri admitted. “Aren’t I allowed to feel jealous? But why am I confessing this to you? You don’t care. You always happen to have an eye out in search of other people.”

Jessica had slipped her hand from the door handle. She had not expected Yuri to admit such things. She could feel her lips tremble. She could hardly fathom what was happening.

“I’m not trying to change your mind. Just let me say that I’m sorry. I, Kwon Yuri, am sorry about everything.” Yuri confessed, “You say that it’s over and that it’s time to let go. But are you able to? I know I’m unable to let go. With all the things we’ve been through, I would never abandon you and Yoona. I don’t want to lose you again. I don’t want to be just apart of your past because you know that I’m more than that.”

As Jessica turned around, Yuri could sense that the blonde was angry. She could feel the dark aura that the blonde was emitting. Jessica glared at Yuri. Jessica felt herself heat up at Yuri’s confessed selfishness. She had to give Yuri credit for even being able to inconsiderately indicate what she had wanted within an apology.

“I’ve already surrendered my heart. I have already shown you how much I love you. But you’ve done nothing but shoved my feelings away,” Jessica murmured as her lips trembled, “I’m just someone you’ve used. You had everything planned out, from the procedure to choosing the perfect donor sperm. You just needed a surrogate. You’ve done nothing but make me feel uncomfortable and miserable.”

Yuri tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes. She had kept her lips shut tightly. She knew that if she hadn’t done so, unwanted and potential menacing words were bound to come out. She needed to find the right words.

“Being with you was not a part of my plans. I’m an awful person. I know you’re frustrated about my behaviour. I constantly show that I don’t care. I’m quick to judge. I’m irrational and controlling. I’m preoccupied with other things and I seem to abandon my family. I’m a menace to you. But I really don’t mean to be,” Yuri disclosed, “I am horrible because I’m unable to tell you the truth. It’s easy to lie and to hold things back. But I find that telling you how I feel is the hardest thing. Even attempting to show you my feelings makes my stomach churn.”

Yuri glanced to see if Jessica’s temper was defused. She tensed her jaw as she stared at the blonde’s pale lips.

“I come from a society where whatever I decide to venture into is never condemned as wrong. I can do the most menacing and illegal thing. Yet all I ever get are praises and admirations. I get what I want because my family is influential. They follow every whim of my demands without question. I had been placed on a pedestal, and I had forgotten about the fact that other people had feelings too. I had forgotten about the mutual feelings we once had. My pride had always been hurt whenever you decline every object I provide for you. I was angry at your rejection. You accepted gifts other people presented but never mine. You were stabbing my pride and rejecting the care I had for you.”

“I…” Jessica began to reply. Yuri pressed the door closed.

“You have always been too good for me. Who was I? I was just a girl who happened to have interest in you. I knew from the start that other people were more capable to take you way from me. Although you seem to be oblivious to their stare or just ignorant of your surroundings, I took notice of them. I was well aware of the intention of their stares. I had acted like a selfish fool, instead of confronting my fears. I unconsciously let myself become the bad person. I was never meant to do that. There were so many times I’ve tried to make you see how much you meant to me. Yet every time I miserably failed to show you my sincerity. I never wanted to push you away. Please believe me.”

Yuri stared into Jessica’s eyes. She was not yet finished with what she had to say. She had hoped that Jessica was not aggravated enough to walk away before she was to confess. Yuri gathered up her thoughts and took a deep breath. 

“Right now I’m risking all my pride to ask you for one last chance. I need you, I want you, and I have to have you in my life. Tell me what it takes to show you. Let me take your hand again and guide you through everything. I don’t want us to end in this way,”

There was silence between them. The silence stretched longer as seconds passed by. Yuri did not know what to do. She felt defeated. She was expecting some sort of response yet there was none. The only expression she saw was Jessica’s frown. Yuri’s fingers were fidgeting. What was she thinking when she had decided to confess to Jessica? She was once again been played as a fool in front of a person who had no attachment towards her.

“I’ve heard you say that you love me. But I somehow always felt that I was in the dark about the feelings you have for me. Maybe it was due to my insecurity. I would really appreciate if you help me apprehend your current thoughts. I’d like to know.” Yuri paused as she took in another deep breath. “Even if it’s not the one I’m after.”

Jessica took a look at Yuri’s lips. She had immediately noticed Yuri’s lips curving into an enduring and shattering smile. She could feel her fingers curl. Did she have that much of an effect on Yuri? She was in shock at the revelation. Yuri took a step back from Jessica. The taller figure turned around, and Jessica was left looking at Yuri’s retreating back.

“Yuri . . . I don’t want you to leave,” Jessica called out as she extended her arm to grab hold of Yuri’s hand. “I’m a fool to say this but you are right. We can’t end things this way. I also need you right now.”

Yuri had turned around to look at Jessica. She felt her body tremble and her breath hitch as she registered Jessica’s comment.

“Why did it take you this long? I hate you. I’m mad at you because you’ve hurt me, but I’m also in love with you. I’ve said it time and time again but you still felt threatened. It doesn’t make any sense, my feelings for you outweigh everything you’ve done to me,” Jessica proclaimed as she tried to stop herself from crying.

Yuri placed her arm around Jessica’s waist and brought her into an embrace. Her body quivered. She patted Jessica’s back in an attempt to calm her down.

“I should have probably told you before. You’re much more than a responsibility,” Yuri whispered into Jessica’s ear.

Yuri leaned her head onto Jessica’s and placed a gentle kiss on the blonde’s cheek. With an arm around Jessica’s waist, Yuri held onto one of Jessica’s hands and placed it on her own chest on the location of her heart.

“My hearts races when it’s associated with you and only you. Can you feel it? It rapidly beats when I see or hear you in the distance and whenever your fragrance swifts by me. Every time you’re next to me by my side. I feel it when you hold my hand. It happens when I gaze into your eyes. Whenever our lips meet. When I kiss your skin. Every time we make love it skips a beat but thumps harder instead,” Yuri whispered as she held onto Jessica’s hand. “Can you feel it thump right at this moment? Thump, thump. . . thump. . .”

Yuri leaned down and kissed Jessica’s shoulder. She closed her eyes and sighed in contempt. She placed her fingers on Jessica’s cheek, and she could feel her lips linger for Jessica’s. They stumbled back towards the door.

“I care about you,” Yuri whispered near Jessica’s ear. “I care for you so much that I’d never be able to let you go. If truth be told I’m terrified to lose you”

Yuri was going to make the most out of their situation, mentally and physically. Her lips curved into a smile. They were both alone, and Yuri was going to get her hands on as much as possible from their bitter sweet relationship. As long as Jessica stayed, Yuri still had her family.

Yoona was squatting down near the pond with butler Ahn next to her. The man was kneeling on his knees as he helped Yoona feed Lala, Tinkywinky, Poh and Dipsy.

“Butler Ahn.”

“Yes young master,” the man replied.

“Lala, Tinkywinky, Poh and Dipsy have grown so much,” the child exclaimed, “I’m very happy.”

Butler Ahn smiled at Yoona’s comment. He placed the rest of the seeds onto the plastic plate on the ground and dusted his hands. 

“You are a very good owner,” the man commented.

Yoona looked up at butler Ahn in confusion. She tilted her head and replied, “I’m their parent. Hyunnie and I are Lala, Tinkywinky, Poh and Dipsy’s parents.”

Butler Ahn chuckled.

“The both of you are very good parents,” Butler Ahn praised. He glanced at Yoona and then took a glance towards the house. He sighed and shook his head.

“Seohyun and Yoona are going to be just like appa and omma when we become grown ups,” Yoona declared with a wide beam.

The child’s attention was back towards her ducklings. She widened her eyes as she witnessed her duck’s attempt to sit on its siblings. Yoona extended her hand to grab hold of the duck.

“Dipsy, don’t sit on Lala.”

It was late at night. Seohyun was already tucked in bed. Tiffany had her eyes closed. She was beginning to fall asleep. The blanket was moved and Tiffany had felt the bed shift. An arm wrapped around her waist. The other person on the bed had inched closer to her. Tiffany could smell the minty toothpaste. Her spouse placed a leg over her own. She was embraced so possessively by Taeyeon. Somehow, it had made her feel protected. Taeyeon’s head was buried in between the slant of her neck and shoulder. Tiffany was able to listen to her spouse’s breathing. Taeyeon was making her ticklish. Tiffany could feel Taeyeon’s breath on her neck. She moved her arm around Taeyeon. She could hear Taeyeon sigh in contempt.

As they cuddled in bed, Tiffany felt Taeyeon’s fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. Being on the verge of falling asleep, Tiffany moved her hand to stop Taeyeon’s fingers. She heard her spouse grunt. Taeyeon’s fingers stopped moving. Tiffany placed her arm back onto Taeyeon.

Tiffany’s breathing was at a slow constant pace. She had begun to feel light headed as she drifts off to sleep. Unfortunately, Tiffany’s urge to sleep was not recognised by Taeyeon. The person that was half on top of Tiffany and had her head pressed on the perimeter of Tiffany’s neck, had started to lightly kiss Tiffany’s shoulder. Tiffany lets out a noise of irritation. Yet, Taeyeon continued with her soft kisses. Taeyeon tilted her head up. She sets off pecking Tiffany’s neck and the kisses had slowly ascended to Tiffany’s jaw line and onto her cheek.

Tiffany placed her hand on Taeyeon’s cheek and shoved her away.

Taeyeon sighed and stopped. She lifted herself up and stared down at Tiffany with a grin. Tiffany entangled her arms around Taeyeon’s shoulders. She started to draw invisible circles on Taeyeon’s neck.

The door had made a small sound, yet the sound was ignored.

Taeyeon attempted to press her lips onto Tiffany’s. She could hear Tiffany’s rasped breath as she initiated to undo the top half of Tiffany’s buttons. Tiffany moved her hand to stop Taeyeon’s attempt.

Taeyeon’s hand stopped and moved away. The figure beneath exhaled a sigh of relief. Taeyeon lifted herself up and knelt on the bed. She let out a laugh. She had already accomplished what she had planned.

“Reading time” Seohyun called out.

Taeyeon winched at the sudden voice. She turned around to see Seohyun standing by the door. She tilted her head to the side to take a glance at Tiffany. Her spouse still had her buttons undone. Taeyeon moved closer and attempted to cover Tiffany from Seohyun’s view.

“Seohyun it’s already late at night. Cells don’t grow if you’re not asleep,” Taeyeon said.

“What are cells?” the child asked in curiosity.

Taeyeon knew that Tiffany was muffling a failed attempt to hold in her laughter. The child looked at Taeyeon disbelievingly. The child turned her attend away from Taeyeon and turned towards Tiffany.

“Omma can we read a book?” Seohyun adorably asked as she held out her book to show her mother.

“Seohyun you should read books earlier during the day,” Taeyeon tried to persuade as she turned to glance at Tiffany.

“NO,” Seohyun refused most adoringly and stomped her foot.

Tiffany glared and Taeyeon whimpered away. Seohyun’s mother smiled and gently tried to calm down the child.

“Go back to your room first. Omma needs to brush her teeth again,” Tiffany said as she placed a hand on the child’s head.

Seohyun stared at her mother for a moment and nodded her head as Tiffany gave an expected look for the child’s obedience. Without saying goodnight to Taeyeon, Seohyun had walked out from her parents’ bedroom.

Taeyeon sighed in defeat as Tiffany got up from the bed and Taeyeon handed over her shorts.

“Seohyun has great timing,” Taeyeon begrudgingly commented.

“Don’t sulk. You shouldn’t be discouraging her from reading.”

Tiffany bent down to tie the strings of her shorts.

“What about me? What about my needs?” Taeyeon questioned with a mocked hurt expression.

She leaned towards Tiffany and knelt. Taeyeon moved her lips toward Tiffany’s. Disappointingly for Taeyeon, Tiffany had placed her fingers on Taeyeon’s lips to stop her advancement and pushed her away.

“What about your needs?” Tiffany rhetorically asked with a blank expression. “Taeyeon stop moping. Behave and when I come back, we might continue.”

Taeyeon slammed her body onto the bed and groan in frustration. Tiffany raised her eyebrow and chuckled. Taeyeon groaned again. She placed her hands on her head. To Taeyeon, this was the worst form of teasing. Taeyeon knew for sure that Tiffany was going to sleep in Seohyun’s bedroom tonight.