A Place We Call Home (Chapter 25)
The surrounding area told her nothing.
Nothing about their location. Nothing about their enemy. And certainly nothing about how to dispel the threat of another Grimm invasion.
She pressed on nonetheless, her wand tight in her grip and her mind ever-focused on attacking the next thing that moved even though nothing around her seemed to be gifted with life. It had been quiet all throughout this journey and her aura was spent more on combing through the darkness than fighting off threats.
She waved her wand at the web of vines in her way and they shriveled up toward their roots like window blinds being rolled up, granting her access to yet another clearing with nothing in sight. If it wasn’t for the trail of neatly set-aside branches, overgrown shrubs and vines, she could’ve sworn she had been to this spot before and that she she had been going in circles for days, lost to her fellow professors and the rest of Remnant.
There has to be something here... Somehow.
She approached the center and continued walking until she hit another blockade - a cliff this time, hidden behind a row of trees. She stopped at the edge and looked down. It didn’t surprise her that she found nothing but darkness that matched every inch of what was beyond the four kingdoms where she dared to venture. What is this place? I feel like I’ve fallen asleep and I’m stuck in a nightmare. What little light was present in her surroundings seemed to fall into the rift and it emptied itself as if to illuminate her way… until it disappeared and again there was nothing.
Or maybe I died and I just didn’t notice that I descended to hell itself.
She sighed and took a step back. There was a mission to accomplish and she didn’t have the luxury to wallow in these kinds of thoughts, which were probably brought about by exhaustion. She didn’t even have the luxury of being exhausted. She had to press on.
For the sake of Remnant, she had to press on.
She left the cliff and went back the way she came, picked another path that she hadn’t cleaned up yet and walked on. She encountered the same view: trees, overgrown shrubs, vines, darkness. Just like the recurring symptoms of an uncured patient.
If she had known what would happen next, she would’ve preferred the darkness to anything.
“So are you here to say no to my proposal? Or are you here to wave the white flag… Professor?”
She was about to flick her wrist to send a chunk of earth toward where the familiar voice came from, but she stopped herself and dropped her stance. Slow and steady… Steady… “It took me a while to find you, Sunny-ssi. It seems you’re still as clever as I remember.”
A slight laugh.
Sunny lowered herself to the ground from atop the Griffon and approached BoA whom she remembered was less haggard than she was now. She smiled to keep up with appearances. She said I was clever. I might as well try to live up to it. She held great respect for the huntress before her and with good reason. She knew how strong BoA was and how she would do anything to protect what needed to be protected. In a way, they were the same. Only she doesn’t think so. And she can kill me if she really wanted to. “I assume you’re not alone, professor,” she said, stalling.
“And neither are you, I see,” BoA replied, eyeing the Griffon. She shifted her eyes ever so slightly, trying to see if there were any more Grimm nearby.
“It’s easier to get around with one of these,” Sunny said as she ran a hand along the Griffon’s folded wing. “I can’t believe you’ve just been walking all this time. Impressive.”
“What’s impressive is that you managed to get mixed up in this mess without getting hurt. Us, on the other hand… Well, I’m sure you know the casualty count.”
“There have been some injuries, right? No deaths though. I would never allow that, just so you know. So you see? I made my proposal in good faith. I want peace. Please believe me.”
BoA couldn’t hold in a laugh. She was far too tired for that. “I don’t think you’re in a position to ask me for any favors, Sunny-ssi. You deceived all of us. Even your friends! And you threatened us with…” She moved her wand up and down while pointing at the Griffon, “with this. With another Grimm invasion! You don’t want peace. You want a war that you can control. And I acknowledge that you have the means to accomplish that. So I believe that between the two of us, I’m the one who’s in a better position to bargain. Please don’t do this, Sunny-ssi. You can still stop this. You can stop him! I know he’s controlling the Grimm, not you-”
“Oh but I control him. Sort of. Or maybe it’s more of a mutual arrangement.”
BoA took in a sharp breath then raised her wand as she exhaled. “You won’t reconsider then?”
Sunny raised her buckler in response and the Griffon by her side stood on its hind legs as if to taunt. “You’re the one with the choice to make, professor. Not me.”
BoA cursed under her breath and sent the chunk of earth she had been meaning to attack with earlier flying right toward Sunny. The Griffon shifted to stand in its way but she caught its movement and with a wave of her wand it was hurled toward the trees. It couldn’t flap its large wings fast enough to escape from the impact and it got stuck in between the branches before it fell to the ground when it struggled to get loose. She threw it against another tree before it could get back up and turned her attention to Sunny who was hiding the lower half of her face behind her buckler, safe without a scratch from the previous attack.
“We both know that you have more aura right now than I do, Sunny-ssi. So you’ll just defend until I run out. Like I said, you’re clever.”
“Not clever enough if you already know what I’m thinking.”
BoA smiled to herself, feeling a bit conceited. That is until the horde of Grimm descended from the skies and marched out of the shadows with their black eyes trained on her and and only her.
Her smile dwindled into a straight line across her face as she raised her wand and swung her arm upward, making Sunny’s buckler shoot up from her grip. She caught it and continued to attack. Each blow was absorbed before they reached Sunny’s person but she kept at it, determined to get through the seemingly impenetrable defense.
She paused from the task from time to time to ward off the approaching Grimm, flinging them against each other to make more time for herself to resume her assault on Sunny. She brought down the large nevermores and had them crash down on the rest of the land-based Grimm including Sunny who had to roll out of the way.
BoA flung a twisted mess of vines toward her as she was recovering, had them straighten out just enough to wrap around her limbs then had them return to being tight coils.
Sunny growled as she struggled to break free from the restraints, rolling from side to side. She could still hear the Grimm around her, rushing to come to her side only to be sent away somewhere. Flung away by BoA with ease, she guessed. She kept her defenses up, her aura steadily being depleted with every blow she took in. She could already feel some of the pain.
At times it felt like a punch to the face and at others it felt like something was drilling into her bones at the joints. She rarely felt pain but she had high tolerance for it so she bit down on her teeth and did whatever she could to get free. If I’m getting tired then so is she. She was right. I’ll just have to defend until she runs out of aura.
She tried to laugh, probably out of desperation, but a strained cough came out instead as her lungs struggled to expand against the tightness of the vines around her ribs. She must have looked pathetic, she thought. She felt just as bad too. She was out of aura and BoA knew it because the attacks kept coming…
Until an ursa major managed to reach her side and slashed through the vines but it wasn’t long before it disappeared like the others and in front of her was the tip of BoA’s wand.
“You still think you don’t have a choice to make?” BoA said, trying hard to keep her breathing in check despite utter exhaustion.
“Well, let me give you one. We can stop here and I’ll let you walk away to set things right or-”
Sunny coughed as she struggled to speak while holding her bruised side: “Or what? You’ll kill me?” Another strained laugh. “Go ahead. Bob wants what I want and he’ll keep wanting it even after I’m gone. So it’s still your choice, professor. Accept the proposal. Accept peace… Or have it shoved down all of your throats!”
BoA sensed the next wave of Grimm approaching. She had run out of time to bargain. And I’m out of aura… She drew her hand back and her wand with it. Sunny looked up at her with the most focused stare she had ever seen. Sunny was serious about dying for her so-called peace. And she knows I’m not nearly as serious enough to kill her for mine.
“I’ll see you soon then, professor,” Sunny said as she struggled to sit up. Everything hurt and she couldn’t hold every part of her bruised body with only two hands. She kept a firm grip on her side where the broken rib was. “Thanks for not hitting me again with your riding crop. Heh. And all this time I thought it was just wand.”
“Tch,” was all BoA could say. She threw Sunny’s buckler to the ground, next to its incapacitated owner.
“Better come with a cavalry next time. With your own horse and everything. Maybe then you’ll manage to stand a chance.”
Three Griffons swooped in and got in between the two, flapping their wings hard in BoA’s direction as a warning. She didn’t need a second one. She got the hint. She ran.
+
None of them thought they would ever be celebrating for this reason but next thing they knew, they already had one too many and they were chanting Tiffany’s name like they were worshipping a deity during offering season.
“Fany! Fany! Fany!” Sooyoung sang as she swayed from side to side. She bumped shoulders with Hyoyeon who was doing the same thing but with a raised empty glass in hand. “Ti-ffa-ny, Ti-ffa-ny, Ti-ffa-ny!” she said in between hiccups.
“Oh yuu guyss~ Shtap it~” Tiffany slurred. She clinked her glass against Hyoyeon’s and laughed when she heard the sound. Then she downed the contents of her glass in one go and exhaled through her mouth to somewhat relieve herself from the heat that coursed through her throat. Her glass landed hard on the table next to Taeyeon’s hand. “TaeTae! Another!!”
Taeyeon blinked, willing herself to see straight. She knew she was already a bit drunk but not drunk enough to ignore that Tiffany was already on the brink of earning herself a bad hangover. From drinking something she stole from her parents’ liquor stash of all places! For goodness’ sake… She pushed Tiffany’s empty glass back into Tiffany’s hand and shook her head. “I think we’ve all had enough. Let’s get some water.”
“Taeng… nuuuuu…” Hyoyeon said, tugging on Taeyeon’s sleeve. She stuck her lower lip out, exaggerating a pout. “Don’t be a killjoy today! We finally got Yuri and Sica to agree to go out on a date! A legit fucking date! We should celebrate some more!”
“Man, you guys are way too invested in those two,” Taeyeon said in a mumble. She stood up from their dorm room floor with the liquor bottle and wobbled toward the door. Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Tiffany tried to scramble after her but their coordination was shot and they tripped on each other instead.
When she opened the door she found Yoona leaning on the wall across from the doorway with a bottle of water in hand. She scanned the immediate area for Seohyun but didn’t find a trace of her. “You okay?” she asked.
Yoona nodded. “I’m just not used to this.”
“First time?” Taeyeon closed the door and leaned on it, paralleling Yoona’s position.
Yoona laughed and scratched the top of her head with her free hand. “I guess that’s obvious. I’m not a big fan of bitter things after all.”
“Right. You’re all about the sweets and being sweet.”
“Is that such a bad thing, unnie?”
“No… I guess not.”
Neither of them said anything for a while until Seohyun appeared with a bag of water bottles. Taeyeon hurriedly grabbed one for herself and finished it in one go. She thanked Seohyun afterwards and the latter smiled in response.
“Did I miss anything?”Seohyun asked. “You two looked like you were discussing something.”
Taeyeon met Yoona’s gaze and offered a slight smile. They had a bit of a moment and they both knew that that was rare whether they were sober or not. It was a slow pace but they were starting to get along even though they would only admit to tolerating each other for Seohyun’s sake.
“I was just teasing her because it’s her first time drinking,” Taeyeon said with a laugh, shaking the bottle of hard liquor in Yoona’s
face. “What a noob.”
“Who’re you calling a noob, shorty?!”Yoona’s voice was louder than she intended and it merited a frown from Seohyun.
“What’s my height got to do with anything, hm?”
“It means you probably can’t handle a lot of alcohol either. It has nowhere to go in that small body of yours!”
“Why you skinny little-”
“Guys, come on…” Seohyun placed herself between the two and sighed. She was used to them acting this way toward each other but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t appreciate a change. She grabbed the liquor bottle from Taeyeon’s grip and replaced it with another water bottle. “Unnie, I think you need to sober up some more.”
“You’re taking her side-”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. Both of you are acting like children. Now let’s all get inside and have everyone sober up. We’re already in a lot of trouble for sneaking the alcohol in and I will not allow another infraction to make this situation worse than it already is. A fight between you two out here is just the thing to make that happen so no. I will not allow it. Inside. Now.”
Seohyun opened the door and gestured for them to enter the room where they found their three friends collapsed on the floor next
to each other, already asleep by the looks of it.
“Unnie?” Seohyun shook Tiffany by the shoulder but there was no response. She turned to Yoona and Taeyeon who did the same thing to Sooyoung and Hyoyeon. They shrugged, signaling that they didn’t get a response either. “So… should we all just sleep here?”
Taeyeon and Yoona looked at each other, each of them asking the same question with their eyes: “Who’s sleeping where and next to whom?”
“I think it’s okay,” Yoona said and it overlapped with Taeyeon’s “No.”
“But Sooyoungunnie and Hyoyeon unnie can’t go back to their room like this. They’re out cold,” Seohyun said.
“Yoona can carry them back,” Taeyeon suggested as she turned to her dongsaeng. “Right Him Yoona?”
“Unnie,” Seohyun spoke before Yoona could say a word, “cut her some slack. She had a bit to drink too so let her rest. Please?”
“Tsk…” Taeyeon knew she was being inconsiderate but it was in her nature to still be protective of her best friend even though she
already told herself to be more accepting of this relationship with Yoona.
“No funny business. I promise,” Yoona said, raising her right hand in oath. “I know that’s what you’re worried about but come on…
I’m not gonna try anything with Hyunnie while you're in the room, okay? I won’t even sleep in Hyunnie’s bed just to prove it.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Seohyun said as she laced her fingers with Yoona’s and turned to Taeyeon. “Unnie, the least you can do
is try to grow up. I’m in a relationship with Yoona and I thought you already understood that.”
“Hyunnie, don’t-”
“No, she’s right.” Taeyeon nodded in Seohyun’s direction and tried to smile to show that there was no harm done even though it stung to admit that there was. “You’re absolutely right, Seohyun. I’m being a jerk. I’m sorry. Everyone can stay here for the night.
And they can sleep wherever they want.”
Seohyun knew how hard it was for Taeyeon to admit her mistakes, being a bit of a perfectionist herself, so she appreciated the effort all the more. “Thank you, unnie. Really.”
“I know. Anyway, I seriously have to pee so I better get to it before I pass out or something.”
Seohyun let Taeyeon go but not before giving her a quick hug. When Taeyeon got to the bathroom she relieved herself, washed up then went to the sink to splash some water on her face. The reflection that stared back at her was redder than a tomato and she almost laughed at how obviously drunk she looked even though she didn’t feel like it.
Then a real laugh came from behind her.
“Tippany?” she said to the reflection of the person behind her before turning around to face the person herself. “I thought you were passed out.”
“I thought so too!” Tiffany said with yet another laugh. She wobbled but she managed to grab the edge of the sink and steadied herself.
“You should lie back down. You don’t look so good.”
“Oh psh! I’m fine. I think I just need… I just need to…”
Taeyeon got a hold of Tiffany’s shoulders before she fell over. “What’s wrong? Do you need to throw up?”
Tiffany shook her head but the rest of her body said otherwise. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was already in front of the toilet with the seat up. She turned away from it in an instant. “TaeTae, I’m totally fine. I just need to-”
The sentence was cut off and Tiffany lost what she was about to say, her mind wandering instead toward the fact that whenever she tried to move her lips to speak, another pair got in the way, matching the movement. They’re so soft. They’re… She opened her eyes and saw a familiar shade of dark brown within the orbs that stared back at her, widened in similar surprise. She pulled away, leaving a gasp against Taeyeon’s lips in place of hers. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” It was only then that she realized that she had fallen on top of Taeyeon and somehow landed in the right position so their lips would collide.
Taeyeon pursed her lips and ran the tip of her tongue along the cracks that remained on the surface. One minute she was holding
Tiffany’s hair back so Tiffany wouldn’t get vomit on it and the next Tiffany was in a hurry to face away from the toilet, unaware of how her cloak was under her feet so she slipped on it. Taeyeon felt the weight that fell on top of her but it was almost imaginary compared to the gravity that kept Tiffany’s lips steady on hers.
And then there was that lip gloss. Strawberry, she guessed.
“Are you okay, Tippany?” she asked as she got up from the floor. Tiffany was steadying herself by the sink again.
“Uhm… yeah. I’m okay. I’m really, really sorry. I’m such a klutz! I didn’t mean to-”
“Hey, it’s okay. It was an accident. And you’re drunk so…”
Tiffany’s brows shot up and she felt a tingling on her cheeks. It might have been the alcohol that made her flush… or it could’ve been that kiss. “Yeah, you’re right. Totally an accident. But I’m not that drunk.”
“Huh?”
“I mean…” But Tiffany didn’t know what she meant. If she was drunk then she could chalk the kiss up to that. Nothing more than an accident. But if she wasn’t, then that was something else entirely. “Nothing. Never mind. I’m just really sorry. You were only trying to help and I did something stupid.”
“I said it’s okay. It was just an accident. It’s not like we wanted to do it, right?”
“Oh. Yeah, totally. Sure. You’re right.”
They stared at each other in silence, blinking twice as fast to cover up the fact that their gazes occasionally fell on each other’s lips and neither of them wanted to admit it.
+
A few days had passed since they had their talk in Emerald Forest and things were going pretty smoothly with regard to their relationship. There was no ‘funny business’ as Yoona instructed, which meant no torrid kisses and there was minimal contact except for the occasional hug and holding hands because that one was still a hard habit to break.
Yuri’s training with Jongkook resumed and she had to make up for yet another tardy appearance the morning after she and Jessica snuck off to have their talk. The General questioned her motivation at the time but she proved her commitment when she asked for an extended match.
The General hesitated not because he didn’t believe her but because he got an urgent call from Atlas. Or so he said. Their meeting ended at that and the following ones were also cut short whenever the General had to check on the deployment of the containment units of his Atlesian knights.
Yuri was a bit disappointed that she didn’t get as much training as she hoped to but missing a few hours of it so she could spend more time with Jessica was worth it. For one, she got the opportunity to be acquainted with 'Jessica the shopaholic' and she told herself that it was about time that she did.
“Yuri-yah, we don’t have to go shopping, you know? We can just eat out like we originally talked about.”
“No. I want to try this out with you. It’s something you enjoy doing and I didn’t even know about it until recently…” Yuri was unaware that she trailed off, her focus shifting to an ounce of jealousy that she still felt over Tiffany getting the chance to do this with Jessica before she did. Okay, fine. I’m more than just a tiny bit jealous. I’m oozing with green envy.
“Hey, you okay?” Jessica ran a hand down Yuri’s arm and it settled against Yuri’s hand at the end of the trail. “You spaced out for a bit there.”
Yuri laughed and squeezed Jessica’s hand in response. “Sorry. Uh, I just realized that we still have a lot to find out about each other.
I didn’t know that you liked sushi either so if we’re going to date for real, maybe this is something we can work on too.”
“Hm… makes sense. Okay then. Name something that you think I don’t know about you. You already know two of mine so now it’s your turn.” Her lips spread into a teasing grin. “Got any dirty little secrets?”
“I wouldn’t say dirty exactly…”
“That’s just a figure of speech. I don’t really mean that it has to be lewd-”
“I do yoga.”
Jessica blinked. She couldn’t have possibly heard ‘yoga.’ Could she? “Wait. Yoga as in meditation and calm breathing and
everything that isn’t what you actually do? You’re kidding…”
Yuri shook her head. “Nope. Totally serious. It calms me down. I haven’t done it in a while though.”
“Which explains why you were so easily pissed days ago.”
“Hey! That’s not fair. That was because…” Yuri turned away, trying to hide her quickly reddening cheeks. “Well, you know why.”
Jessica smiled to herself, her heartbeat quickening at the thought of Yuri almost losing her mind over her days ago. Not that she wasn’t feeling the same way at the time. “Yeah, I know why… you dork. So that’s one. Yoga. Name another one so we’ll be even.”
“Hm… Another one…”
Yuri started walking as she tried to think and Jessica followed, their hands still joined. They passed by a rack of dresses and Jessica idly stared at them while waiting for Yuri to come up with something.
“Ah. I have this nickname that not a lot of people know about,” Yuri said, grabbing Jessica’s attention once more.
“What is it? It’s not something that Soo and Hyo insult you with, is it? ‘Cause if it’s ‘idiot’ or ‘monkey’ then I think we all know those.
And honestly I don’t really agree with those nicknames anyway. You’re not an idiot and you're definitely not a monkey. You’re too…”Talented and beautiful. Jessica heard her voice in her head and it didn’t sound half-bad, but once she saw Yuri waiting for her to continue she almost choked trying to get the words out. “Uh… you’re just not those things at all. Definitely not.”
“Awww… thanks Sica. That means a lot. But this one isn’t from Soo and Hyo. I think it was- and don't even laugh about this. 'Cause
it was made up by a few secret admirers… ‘Black Pearl.’ That was way before I made it to Beacon though.”
“Secret admirers, huh?” Jessica let her eyes trail downward from Yuri’s face down to her feet and smirked, not even attempting to hide the fact. “Of course you had those. But ’Black Pearl?’ What is that supposed to mean?”
“It’s…” Yuri chewed on her lip, now regretting ever mentioning the accursed nickname. It wasn’t a bad one but admitting to the meaning behind it was embarrassing as fuck. “It’s not something everyone knows for a reason. Maybe you should just hear it from Soo and Hyo.”
“Well, okay.” Jessica shrugged then pulled her scroll out with her free hand and went through her contacts list. She tapped on one and placed the device next to her ear.
“Uh, what’re you doing?”
“Calling Hyo. She’s more likely to answer since Soo’s probably stuffing her face as usual. Or grooming her dogs or something.”
“Woah! Wait. When I said you should ask them, I didn’t mean now. That’d be too-”
“Hello? Hyo? I have a question.”
Yuri could only stand by, hoping Hyoyeon could read into the situation and refrain from saying anything too embarrassing. But out went Jessica’s laugh and all hope went down the drain. She closed an eye, bracing for the impact.
“So you’re the black pearl ‘cause you’re tanned, you have nice skin and you’re pretty, huh? Nice combination if you ask me,” Jessica said, grinning. “Why were you so scared to tell me?”
Yuri shifted her eyes to the ceiling. The way Jessica laughed made her think the worst. “I wasn’t scared exactly. It’s just that it’s weird when I say those things about myself. Besides, I only agree with the tanned part.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t buying it. “So would you rather they call you ‘tanned monkey?’ ‘Cause Hyo said she and
Sooyoung call you that because you’re closer to one.”
“Well…” Yuri admittedly wasn’t that fond of that other nickname but she didn’t want to sound vain by agreeing with the real meaning behind ‘Black Pearl’ either. While she was contemplating what to say, she felt Jessica squeeze her hand and the sensation brought her back to the conversation.
“Just so you know, I agree with what ‘Black Pearl’ stands for,” Jessica said, a bit embarrassed herself. She was still new to this since they didn’t do much talking while their kissing streak was still going on and she was still insecure about making mistakes, which included saying something wrong. She could only hope that this wasn’t one of those times. When Yuri still hadn’t replied, she started racking her brain for something else to talk about to salvage the conversation.
“Seriously?” Yuri finally replied.
Jessica saw that signature toothy grin and suddenly everything seemed okay. She smiled back and nodded. “Yeah. Seriously,” she said.
A few seconds passed with them just staring at each other with smiles plastered on their faces until two figures passed them by and greeted them.
“Unnies! What a coincidence!”
They both turned around and saw Krystal. Beside her was Yoona carrying a shopping basket.
“Oh hey. What’re you two doing here?” Jessica asked.
“Just looking around. You know, the usual. Shopping and... stuff,” Yoona answered with a shaky laugh. Krystal nudged her side and she tried not to cough from the impact. “Chill,” she heard Krystal mumble. She nodded slightly then forced a smile.
“I didn’t know that you liked shopping, Yoong,” Yuri said, narrowing her eyes at her dongsaeng. “Are you following us?”
“What? No! Of course not! Why would I even-Psh. That’s ridiculous. I would never!”
“Yeah!” Krystal chimed in. “I’m the one who likes shopping. Like older sister, like baby sister as they say. I just dragged Yoona unnie with me. She’s good for carrying stuff.”
Yuri and Jessica looked at each other and shrugged. What Krystal said did sort of make sense.
“Uh… so… are you two on the you-know-what?” Yoona asked, avoiding eye contact especially with Krystal who was already glaring at her too much like how Jessica usually does it.
“Oh. We, uh…” Jessica turned to Yuri for confirmation to answer the question and got a nod in response. “Well, there it is. Yes, we’re on the date. And because you asked that, you two are definitely following us.”
Krystal sighed as loudly as she could and nudged Yoona in the side again but this time harder and Yoona all but curled up on the floor from the pain. “Why, Yoona unnie? Just… why?”
Yuri laughed and so did Jessica seconds after. “Forgive her, Krystal. She’s not the most subtle person in the world but she always means well. You could’ve just asked us about it though. No need to sneak around or anything. Especially since you two helped us get to this point. Thanks again for that.”
“Since you put it that way, Yuri unnie, you’re welcome. My sister should definitely take you somewhere nice. You deserve it.”
“Hello? I’m right here,” Jessica said, waving a hand. “And just so you know, I do plan to take her somewhere really nice. A place she’s probably never been to before.”
“Oh really? Plan to steal an airship and take her to another continent, unnie?”
It took Jessica a moment to answer because as romantic as she thought her idea was, stealing an airship just to take Yuri out on an excursion was what movies and songs were about, the stuff of fantasies. She sort of wished she could’ve come up with it herself.
“Unnie? You okay?” Yoona asked after having recovered from Krystal’s hard nudge. She saw Jessica snap out of it so she added to
the question: “So where are you two going? Just in case it’s somewhere crazy and we need to save you guys.”
“Well…” Jessica felt the back of her neck with her free hand, a bit shy to put her idea out in the open. “It’s supposed to be a surprise so…”
“Oh god…” Krystal’s grin seemed to stretch for miles and she giggled to her heart’s delight. “That is the cutest thing ever! Okay, we’ll stop asking. You two have fun! Come on, Yoona unnie. Let’s leave them to their date.”
“But-”
“We’re going. Now.”
Yoona sighed then left her teammates a smile before she let Krystal drag her away.
“Funny how you two are alike,” Yuri commented, to which Jessica responded with a slight roll of her eyes. “So we’re not just going to get a bite to eat after this, huh? You have a surprise for me~?
Jessica could only smile, feeling a bit of encouragement from Yuri’s enthusiasm about the surprise. She renewed her grip on Yuri’s hand and started walking. They ended up not buying anything on their shopping trip but they had fun trying out a few clothes. They purposely avoided the intimate wear section because they were still well aware of the ‘no funny business’ rule and that area, from the name alone, was definitely a breeding ground for intimacy - a step in the relationship that they knew they would reach eventually once they figure out everything else that comes before it.
They grabbed a bite to eat afterwards like they initially planned and Yuri did foot the bill. They chose a pasta place this time. It was new so they decided to try it out. Then they had dessert at the bingsoo place thatYoona and Yuri went to before, where Jessica ate her caramel-flavored one like a child savoring the last piece of candy in the jar.
“We can get one more if you want,” Yuri said, amused by how Jessica took sparing bites. “Don’t worry about me paying, okay?”
Jessica looked up from the bowl and blinked. “How do you do that, Yuri-yah?”
“Hm? Do what?”
“You just come up with the sweetest things. I dunno. You’ve always been like this, even before. When we were just partners, I mean.”
“Really? I didn’t notice.”
And that just makes it more adorable. “That just means you’re a dork.”
Yuri flashed a smile and wiggled her eyebrows. “Your dork?”
Jessica laughed. She remembered hearing this one before. “Yeah, my dork. Hopefully.”
Without a word, Yuri reached for Jessica’s hand on the table and placed hers on top of it. She felt Jessica flinch slightly from the contact but not long after, Jessica flipped her hand so they would be palm to palm, fingers brushing against each other’s wrists.
They stayed like that and ate using their free hand, exchanging glances once in a while in between bites until they finished. Then they ordered another bowl and shared it.
+
She felt a steady breeze against her cheeks as she walked with her hand in Jessica’s. She could hear the rustling of the leaves and she could smell the dampness of the soil underneath her boots. She felt it too. How or why Emerald Forest seemed to be wet from rain, she didn’t know. She would’ve known if it did rain. She would’ve seen it happen even from the Academy. But she didn’t see anything of the sort, just like how she couldn’t see anything now with a handwrap wound around her head and over her eyes.
“Sica, are we there yet?” she asked. She noticed that Jessica had already slowed down.
“Just one more step. Come on.”
Yuri did as she was told and a gasp escaped her when she couldn’t feel the sole of her boot touch anything solid. She almost fell backwards when she stepped back toward safety but Jessica was still holding her hand and she was able to steady herself. Then she tore the handwrap off with her free hand, still in slight shock from almost falling. “What in the-Woah…”
It didn’t take long for her to figure out that the dampness she felt wasn’t from the rain. It was because they were standing by a lakefront.
Jessica tried to hide a laugh. She didn’t expect Yuri to react the way she did after being talked into taking that one step forward. It was only supposed to be a little joke, something to get Yuri a bit wet. And not in a naughty way.
“This… Wow. Sica, this is beautiful,” Yuri said, her eyes finally adjusting to the glistening surface of the lake.
“Yeah? I saw it when we went here to talk. We passed it by. I didn’t expect it to be like this in daylight though. It’s actually pretty cool.”
Jessica watched as Yuri crouched down and dipped a hand in the water. “How is it?”
“It’s not that cold,” Yuri replied. Then she unlaced her boots and took them off.
“What are you doing??”
“Taking my shoes off.”
“Yeah but-”
“Woooo!” Yuri jumped into the water still fully clothed and when she re-emerged she was already near the middle of the lake. “Hey Sica! The water’s great! Come join me!”
“No way! I don’t wanna get that wet. You have fun while I watch from here.” Jessica looked around for somewhere to sit and found shade under a tree. “Or maybe I’ll take a nap under the tree over there.”
“Awww! But Sica…” Yuri paddled closer to where Jessica stood and pouted.
Goddamn those puppy dog eyes. Jessica bit her lip. She considered joining Yuri in the water and then thought of how much she wanted that nap. She was stuffed after all. It was a perfect time to catch some Z’s. “You go on ahead. Wake me up when you’re done, okay?”
“Oh fine.” Yuri swam back to the center then she suddenly disappeared from view. When she resurfaced, she cried out: “Sica!!
Help!!”
“What’s wrong?!” Jessica craned her neck, trying to look for what was causing Yuri to flail her arms over her head. She saw Yuri disappear underwater only to pop back up to gasp for air. She’s drowning?! She froze part of the lake just as quickly as the thought came to her then ran along its length to get to Yuri in time. She dropped down on her front and extended a hand for Yuri to take. “I got you, don’t worry.”
Then out came that toothy grin.
“Nope. I got you.”
“What the hell-”
The next thing Jessica knew, she was hearing gurgling and she saw bubbles coming out of her mouth when she tried to speak. She was underwater and running out of air.
“Oh my god!!” She ran a hand down her face after she resurfaced and coughed out a little bit of water. “You did not just do that, Kwon Yuri!”
“I was just kidding! I just wanted to get you in here. The water’s great, isn’t it?”
“That’s not the point, you jerk! You scared me! Geez. Just the thought of…” Jessica turned around as she took a breath, the image of Yuri drowning still fresh on her mind. It sent a chill down her already-wet spine. “Just the thought of you getting hurt… And possibly losing you. I can’t even…”
Yuri brought herself closer to Jessica, making the ripples around them grow larger in size with every motion. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that Jessica was upset, but she wrapped her arms around the figure in front of her anyway and held her from behind. She felt Jessica’s wet hair stick to her cheeks but she didn’t mind, just as much as she didn’t notice their drenched uniforms making squishy sounds when they pressed against each other. “I’m sorry, Sica,” she said as she pulled Jessica even closer into the back hug.“I guess I went overboard. I promise not to do it again. I can’t promise that I’m not gonna get hurt one way or another. ‘Cause that’s always bound to happen to me. Somehow. But I think I can promise that you won’t lose me. At least not as long as I can help it.”
“You better keep that promise, Kwon Yuri,” Jessica replied in a mumble but Yuri still heard it. That was how close they had gotten.
“Well, just so you know, you can rest easy knowing that you won’t lose me to drowning. I happen to be a good swimmer! I’m so good that if I didn’t get into combat school for huntress training I would’ve made a living out of being a swimmer. Or maybe I could’ve been a lifeguard.”
“You’re that good?”
“Wanna race to the edge to find out?”
Jessica shook her head and leaned back onto Yuri’s chest. “I’d rather we stay like this for a while. You can tell me about your dancing though. Hyo mentioned that you got your secret admirers because you guys had a dance group or something. You and Hyo
I understand. But Soo? Dancing?” Jessica couldn’t hold in a laugh and her shoulders shook when it escaped her.
“Oh you’d be surprised.Soo’s pretty good. Don’t let that lanky body fool you.”
“I need to see that to believe it. It also wouldn’t hurt to see your moves. Uh, your dance moves, I mean. Not moves as in moves. Okay? I didn’t mean-”
Yuri let out a laugh and gave Jessica a squeeze. “No worries, Sica. I get it. I think Hyo has some videos. We can ask her when we get back if you want. Or…” She moved closer to Jessica’s ear and whispered: “I can dance for you?”
Jessica swallowed hard. Gosh that voice… “Uh… Sure. I think I’d like that.”
“Only if you dance with me afterwards though.”
A slight laugh. “Whatever you want.”
Jessica turned around a moment afterwards and hugged Yuri back, resting her head against Yuri’s shoulder. The frozen part of the lake broke off and they were once again surrounded by the entirety of its calm blue beauty, drenched from head to toe but warm in the shared embrace.
“Yuri-yah?”
“Yeah?”
“You were right. The water does feel nice.” Jessica nuzzled her nose against Yuri’s neck and smiled. The pair of arms around her inched closer together in response and she felt herself melting into the hug even more. “But this feels nicer. Way nicer.”
“We better make it a habit then,” Yuri replied. She pulled back slightly so their eyes would meet and she saw the blue water reflected in Jessica’s hazel eyes.“Is… Is that okay?”
Jessica responded with an even tighter hug, hoping that that was a good enough answer.
Nothing about their location. Nothing about their enemy. And certainly nothing about how to dispel the threat of another Grimm invasion.
She pressed on nonetheless, her wand tight in her grip and her mind ever-focused on attacking the next thing that moved even though nothing around her seemed to be gifted with life. It had been quiet all throughout this journey and her aura was spent more on combing through the darkness than fighting off threats.
She waved her wand at the web of vines in her way and they shriveled up toward their roots like window blinds being rolled up, granting her access to yet another clearing with nothing in sight. If it wasn’t for the trail of neatly set-aside branches, overgrown shrubs and vines, she could’ve sworn she had been to this spot before and that she she had been going in circles for days, lost to her fellow professors and the rest of Remnant.
There has to be something here... Somehow.
She approached the center and continued walking until she hit another blockade - a cliff this time, hidden behind a row of trees. She stopped at the edge and looked down. It didn’t surprise her that she found nothing but darkness that matched every inch of what was beyond the four kingdoms where she dared to venture. What is this place? I feel like I’ve fallen asleep and I’m stuck in a nightmare. What little light was present in her surroundings seemed to fall into the rift and it emptied itself as if to illuminate her way… until it disappeared and again there was nothing.
Or maybe I died and I just didn’t notice that I descended to hell itself.
She sighed and took a step back. There was a mission to accomplish and she didn’t have the luxury to wallow in these kinds of thoughts, which were probably brought about by exhaustion. She didn’t even have the luxury of being exhausted. She had to press on.
For the sake of Remnant, she had to press on.
She left the cliff and went back the way she came, picked another path that she hadn’t cleaned up yet and walked on. She encountered the same view: trees, overgrown shrubs, vines, darkness. Just like the recurring symptoms of an uncured patient.
If she had known what would happen next, she would’ve preferred the darkness to anything.
“So are you here to say no to my proposal? Or are you here to wave the white flag… Professor?”
She was about to flick her wrist to send a chunk of earth toward where the familiar voice came from, but she stopped herself and dropped her stance. Slow and steady… Steady… “It took me a while to find you, Sunny-ssi. It seems you’re still as clever as I remember.”
A slight laugh.
Sunny lowered herself to the ground from atop the Griffon and approached BoA whom she remembered was less haggard than she was now. She smiled to keep up with appearances. She said I was clever. I might as well try to live up to it. She held great respect for the huntress before her and with good reason. She knew how strong BoA was and how she would do anything to protect what needed to be protected. In a way, they were the same. Only she doesn’t think so. And she can kill me if she really wanted to. “I assume you’re not alone, professor,” she said, stalling.
“And neither are you, I see,” BoA replied, eyeing the Griffon. She shifted her eyes ever so slightly, trying to see if there were any more Grimm nearby.
“It’s easier to get around with one of these,” Sunny said as she ran a hand along the Griffon’s folded wing. “I can’t believe you’ve just been walking all this time. Impressive.”
“What’s impressive is that you managed to get mixed up in this mess without getting hurt. Us, on the other hand… Well, I’m sure you know the casualty count.”
“There have been some injuries, right? No deaths though. I would never allow that, just so you know. So you see? I made my proposal in good faith. I want peace. Please believe me.”
BoA couldn’t hold in a laugh. She was far too tired for that. “I don’t think you’re in a position to ask me for any favors, Sunny-ssi. You deceived all of us. Even your friends! And you threatened us with…” She moved her wand up and down while pointing at the Griffon, “with this. With another Grimm invasion! You don’t want peace. You want a war that you can control. And I acknowledge that you have the means to accomplish that. So I believe that between the two of us, I’m the one who’s in a better position to bargain. Please don’t do this, Sunny-ssi. You can still stop this. You can stop him! I know he’s controlling the Grimm, not you-”
“Oh but I control him. Sort of. Or maybe it’s more of a mutual arrangement.”
BoA took in a sharp breath then raised her wand as she exhaled. “You won’t reconsider then?”
Sunny raised her buckler in response and the Griffon by her side stood on its hind legs as if to taunt. “You’re the one with the choice to make, professor. Not me.”
BoA cursed under her breath and sent the chunk of earth she had been meaning to attack with earlier flying right toward Sunny. The Griffon shifted to stand in its way but she caught its movement and with a wave of her wand it was hurled toward the trees. It couldn’t flap its large wings fast enough to escape from the impact and it got stuck in between the branches before it fell to the ground when it struggled to get loose. She threw it against another tree before it could get back up and turned her attention to Sunny who was hiding the lower half of her face behind her buckler, safe without a scratch from the previous attack.
“We both know that you have more aura right now than I do, Sunny-ssi. So you’ll just defend until I run out. Like I said, you’re clever.”
“Not clever enough if you already know what I’m thinking.”
BoA smiled to herself, feeling a bit conceited. That is until the horde of Grimm descended from the skies and marched out of the shadows with their black eyes trained on her and and only her.
Her smile dwindled into a straight line across her face as she raised her wand and swung her arm upward, making Sunny’s buckler shoot up from her grip. She caught it and continued to attack. Each blow was absorbed before they reached Sunny’s person but she kept at it, determined to get through the seemingly impenetrable defense.
She paused from the task from time to time to ward off the approaching Grimm, flinging them against each other to make more time for herself to resume her assault on Sunny. She brought down the large nevermores and had them crash down on the rest of the land-based Grimm including Sunny who had to roll out of the way.
BoA flung a twisted mess of vines toward her as she was recovering, had them straighten out just enough to wrap around her limbs then had them return to being tight coils.
Sunny growled as she struggled to break free from the restraints, rolling from side to side. She could still hear the Grimm around her, rushing to come to her side only to be sent away somewhere. Flung away by BoA with ease, she guessed. She kept her defenses up, her aura steadily being depleted with every blow she took in. She could already feel some of the pain.
At times it felt like a punch to the face and at others it felt like something was drilling into her bones at the joints. She rarely felt pain but she had high tolerance for it so she bit down on her teeth and did whatever she could to get free. If I’m getting tired then so is she. She was right. I’ll just have to defend until she runs out of aura.
She tried to laugh, probably out of desperation, but a strained cough came out instead as her lungs struggled to expand against the tightness of the vines around her ribs. She must have looked pathetic, she thought. She felt just as bad too. She was out of aura and BoA knew it because the attacks kept coming…
Until an ursa major managed to reach her side and slashed through the vines but it wasn’t long before it disappeared like the others and in front of her was the tip of BoA’s wand.
“You still think you don’t have a choice to make?” BoA said, trying hard to keep her breathing in check despite utter exhaustion.
“Well, let me give you one. We can stop here and I’ll let you walk away to set things right or-”
Sunny coughed as she struggled to speak while holding her bruised side: “Or what? You’ll kill me?” Another strained laugh. “Go ahead. Bob wants what I want and he’ll keep wanting it even after I’m gone. So it’s still your choice, professor. Accept the proposal. Accept peace… Or have it shoved down all of your throats!”
BoA sensed the next wave of Grimm approaching. She had run out of time to bargain. And I’m out of aura… She drew her hand back and her wand with it. Sunny looked up at her with the most focused stare she had ever seen. Sunny was serious about dying for her so-called peace. And she knows I’m not nearly as serious enough to kill her for mine.
“I’ll see you soon then, professor,” Sunny said as she struggled to sit up. Everything hurt and she couldn’t hold every part of her bruised body with only two hands. She kept a firm grip on her side where the broken rib was. “Thanks for not hitting me again with your riding crop. Heh. And all this time I thought it was just wand.”
“Tch,” was all BoA could say. She threw Sunny’s buckler to the ground, next to its incapacitated owner.
“Better come with a cavalry next time. With your own horse and everything. Maybe then you’ll manage to stand a chance.”
Three Griffons swooped in and got in between the two, flapping their wings hard in BoA’s direction as a warning. She didn’t need a second one. She got the hint. She ran.
+
None of them thought they would ever be celebrating for this reason but next thing they knew, they already had one too many and they were chanting Tiffany’s name like they were worshipping a deity during offering season.
“Fany! Fany! Fany!” Sooyoung sang as she swayed from side to side. She bumped shoulders with Hyoyeon who was doing the same thing but with a raised empty glass in hand. “Ti-ffa-ny, Ti-ffa-ny, Ti-ffa-ny!” she said in between hiccups.
“Oh yuu guyss~ Shtap it~” Tiffany slurred. She clinked her glass against Hyoyeon’s and laughed when she heard the sound. Then she downed the contents of her glass in one go and exhaled through her mouth to somewhat relieve herself from the heat that coursed through her throat. Her glass landed hard on the table next to Taeyeon’s hand. “TaeTae! Another!!”
Taeyeon blinked, willing herself to see straight. She knew she was already a bit drunk but not drunk enough to ignore that Tiffany was already on the brink of earning herself a bad hangover. From drinking something she stole from her parents’ liquor stash of all places! For goodness’ sake… She pushed Tiffany’s empty glass back into Tiffany’s hand and shook her head. “I think we’ve all had enough. Let’s get some water.”
“Taeng… nuuuuu…” Hyoyeon said, tugging on Taeyeon’s sleeve. She stuck her lower lip out, exaggerating a pout. “Don’t be a killjoy today! We finally got Yuri and Sica to agree to go out on a date! A legit fucking date! We should celebrate some more!”
“Man, you guys are way too invested in those two,” Taeyeon said in a mumble. She stood up from their dorm room floor with the liquor bottle and wobbled toward the door. Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Tiffany tried to scramble after her but their coordination was shot and they tripped on each other instead.
When she opened the door she found Yoona leaning on the wall across from the doorway with a bottle of water in hand. She scanned the immediate area for Seohyun but didn’t find a trace of her. “You okay?” she asked.
Yoona nodded. “I’m just not used to this.”
“First time?” Taeyeon closed the door and leaned on it, paralleling Yoona’s position.
Yoona laughed and scratched the top of her head with her free hand. “I guess that’s obvious. I’m not a big fan of bitter things after all.”
“Right. You’re all about the sweets and being sweet.”
“Is that such a bad thing, unnie?”
“No… I guess not.”
Neither of them said anything for a while until Seohyun appeared with a bag of water bottles. Taeyeon hurriedly grabbed one for herself and finished it in one go. She thanked Seohyun afterwards and the latter smiled in response.
“Did I miss anything?”Seohyun asked. “You two looked like you were discussing something.”
Taeyeon met Yoona’s gaze and offered a slight smile. They had a bit of a moment and they both knew that that was rare whether they were sober or not. It was a slow pace but they were starting to get along even though they would only admit to tolerating each other for Seohyun’s sake.
“I was just teasing her because it’s her first time drinking,” Taeyeon said with a laugh, shaking the bottle of hard liquor in Yoona’s
face. “What a noob.”
“Who’re you calling a noob, shorty?!”Yoona’s voice was louder than she intended and it merited a frown from Seohyun.
“What’s my height got to do with anything, hm?”
“It means you probably can’t handle a lot of alcohol either. It has nowhere to go in that small body of yours!”
“Why you skinny little-”
“Guys, come on…” Seohyun placed herself between the two and sighed. She was used to them acting this way toward each other but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t appreciate a change. She grabbed the liquor bottle from Taeyeon’s grip and replaced it with another water bottle. “Unnie, I think you need to sober up some more.”
“You’re taking her side-”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. Both of you are acting like children. Now let’s all get inside and have everyone sober up. We’re already in a lot of trouble for sneaking the alcohol in and I will not allow another infraction to make this situation worse than it already is. A fight between you two out here is just the thing to make that happen so no. I will not allow it. Inside. Now.”
Seohyun opened the door and gestured for them to enter the room where they found their three friends collapsed on the floor next
to each other, already asleep by the looks of it.
“Unnie?” Seohyun shook Tiffany by the shoulder but there was no response. She turned to Yoona and Taeyeon who did the same thing to Sooyoung and Hyoyeon. They shrugged, signaling that they didn’t get a response either. “So… should we all just sleep here?”
Taeyeon and Yoona looked at each other, each of them asking the same question with their eyes: “Who’s sleeping where and next to whom?”
“I think it’s okay,” Yoona said and it overlapped with Taeyeon’s “No.”
“But Sooyoungunnie and Hyoyeon unnie can’t go back to their room like this. They’re out cold,” Seohyun said.
“Yoona can carry them back,” Taeyeon suggested as she turned to her dongsaeng. “Right Him Yoona?”
“Unnie,” Seohyun spoke before Yoona could say a word, “cut her some slack. She had a bit to drink too so let her rest. Please?”
“Tsk…” Taeyeon knew she was being inconsiderate but it was in her nature to still be protective of her best friend even though she
already told herself to be more accepting of this relationship with Yoona.
“No funny business. I promise,” Yoona said, raising her right hand in oath. “I know that’s what you’re worried about but come on…
I’m not gonna try anything with Hyunnie while you're in the room, okay? I won’t even sleep in Hyunnie’s bed just to prove it.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Seohyun said as she laced her fingers with Yoona’s and turned to Taeyeon. “Unnie, the least you can do
is try to grow up. I’m in a relationship with Yoona and I thought you already understood that.”
“Hyunnie, don’t-”
“No, she’s right.” Taeyeon nodded in Seohyun’s direction and tried to smile to show that there was no harm done even though it stung to admit that there was. “You’re absolutely right, Seohyun. I’m being a jerk. I’m sorry. Everyone can stay here for the night.
And they can sleep wherever they want.”
Seohyun knew how hard it was for Taeyeon to admit her mistakes, being a bit of a perfectionist herself, so she appreciated the effort all the more. “Thank you, unnie. Really.”
“I know. Anyway, I seriously have to pee so I better get to it before I pass out or something.”
Seohyun let Taeyeon go but not before giving her a quick hug. When Taeyeon got to the bathroom she relieved herself, washed up then went to the sink to splash some water on her face. The reflection that stared back at her was redder than a tomato and she almost laughed at how obviously drunk she looked even though she didn’t feel like it.
Then a real laugh came from behind her.
“Tippany?” she said to the reflection of the person behind her before turning around to face the person herself. “I thought you were passed out.”
“I thought so too!” Tiffany said with yet another laugh. She wobbled but she managed to grab the edge of the sink and steadied herself.
“You should lie back down. You don’t look so good.”
“Oh psh! I’m fine. I think I just need… I just need to…”
Taeyeon got a hold of Tiffany’s shoulders before she fell over. “What’s wrong? Do you need to throw up?”
Tiffany shook her head but the rest of her body said otherwise. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was already in front of the toilet with the seat up. She turned away from it in an instant. “TaeTae, I’m totally fine. I just need to-”
The sentence was cut off and Tiffany lost what she was about to say, her mind wandering instead toward the fact that whenever she tried to move her lips to speak, another pair got in the way, matching the movement. They’re so soft. They’re… She opened her eyes and saw a familiar shade of dark brown within the orbs that stared back at her, widened in similar surprise. She pulled away, leaving a gasp against Taeyeon’s lips in place of hers. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” It was only then that she realized that she had fallen on top of Taeyeon and somehow landed in the right position so their lips would collide.
Taeyeon pursed her lips and ran the tip of her tongue along the cracks that remained on the surface. One minute she was holding
Tiffany’s hair back so Tiffany wouldn’t get vomit on it and the next Tiffany was in a hurry to face away from the toilet, unaware of how her cloak was under her feet so she slipped on it. Taeyeon felt the weight that fell on top of her but it was almost imaginary compared to the gravity that kept Tiffany’s lips steady on hers.
And then there was that lip gloss. Strawberry, she guessed.
“Are you okay, Tippany?” she asked as she got up from the floor. Tiffany was steadying herself by the sink again.
“Uhm… yeah. I’m okay. I’m really, really sorry. I’m such a klutz! I didn’t mean to-”
“Hey, it’s okay. It was an accident. And you’re drunk so…”
Tiffany’s brows shot up and she felt a tingling on her cheeks. It might have been the alcohol that made her flush… or it could’ve been that kiss. “Yeah, you’re right. Totally an accident. But I’m not that drunk.”
“Huh?”
“I mean…” But Tiffany didn’t know what she meant. If she was drunk then she could chalk the kiss up to that. Nothing more than an accident. But if she wasn’t, then that was something else entirely. “Nothing. Never mind. I’m just really sorry. You were only trying to help and I did something stupid.”
“I said it’s okay. It was just an accident. It’s not like we wanted to do it, right?”
“Oh. Yeah, totally. Sure. You’re right.”
They stared at each other in silence, blinking twice as fast to cover up the fact that their gazes occasionally fell on each other’s lips and neither of them wanted to admit it.
+
A few days had passed since they had their talk in Emerald Forest and things were going pretty smoothly with regard to their relationship. There was no ‘funny business’ as Yoona instructed, which meant no torrid kisses and there was minimal contact except for the occasional hug and holding hands because that one was still a hard habit to break.
Yuri’s training with Jongkook resumed and she had to make up for yet another tardy appearance the morning after she and Jessica snuck off to have their talk. The General questioned her motivation at the time but she proved her commitment when she asked for an extended match.
The General hesitated not because he didn’t believe her but because he got an urgent call from Atlas. Or so he said. Their meeting ended at that and the following ones were also cut short whenever the General had to check on the deployment of the containment units of his Atlesian knights.
Yuri was a bit disappointed that she didn’t get as much training as she hoped to but missing a few hours of it so she could spend more time with Jessica was worth it. For one, she got the opportunity to be acquainted with 'Jessica the shopaholic' and she told herself that it was about time that she did.
“Yuri-yah, we don’t have to go shopping, you know? We can just eat out like we originally talked about.”
“No. I want to try this out with you. It’s something you enjoy doing and I didn’t even know about it until recently…” Yuri was unaware that she trailed off, her focus shifting to an ounce of jealousy that she still felt over Tiffany getting the chance to do this with Jessica before she did. Okay, fine. I’m more than just a tiny bit jealous. I’m oozing with green envy.
“Hey, you okay?” Jessica ran a hand down Yuri’s arm and it settled against Yuri’s hand at the end of the trail. “You spaced out for a bit there.”
Yuri laughed and squeezed Jessica’s hand in response. “Sorry. Uh, I just realized that we still have a lot to find out about each other.
I didn’t know that you liked sushi either so if we’re going to date for real, maybe this is something we can work on too.”
“Hm… makes sense. Okay then. Name something that you think I don’t know about you. You already know two of mine so now it’s your turn.” Her lips spread into a teasing grin. “Got any dirty little secrets?”
“I wouldn’t say dirty exactly…”
“That’s just a figure of speech. I don’t really mean that it has to be lewd-”
“I do yoga.”
Jessica blinked. She couldn’t have possibly heard ‘yoga.’ Could she? “Wait. Yoga as in meditation and calm breathing and
everything that isn’t what you actually do? You’re kidding…”
Yuri shook her head. “Nope. Totally serious. It calms me down. I haven’t done it in a while though.”
“Which explains why you were so easily pissed days ago.”
“Hey! That’s not fair. That was because…” Yuri turned away, trying to hide her quickly reddening cheeks. “Well, you know why.”
Jessica smiled to herself, her heartbeat quickening at the thought of Yuri almost losing her mind over her days ago. Not that she wasn’t feeling the same way at the time. “Yeah, I know why… you dork. So that’s one. Yoga. Name another one so we’ll be even.”
“Hm… Another one…”
Yuri started walking as she tried to think and Jessica followed, their hands still joined. They passed by a rack of dresses and Jessica idly stared at them while waiting for Yuri to come up with something.
“Ah. I have this nickname that not a lot of people know about,” Yuri said, grabbing Jessica’s attention once more.
“What is it? It’s not something that Soo and Hyo insult you with, is it? ‘Cause if it’s ‘idiot’ or ‘monkey’ then I think we all know those.
And honestly I don’t really agree with those nicknames anyway. You’re not an idiot and you're definitely not a monkey. You’re too…”Talented and beautiful. Jessica heard her voice in her head and it didn’t sound half-bad, but once she saw Yuri waiting for her to continue she almost choked trying to get the words out. “Uh… you’re just not those things at all. Definitely not.”
“Awww… thanks Sica. That means a lot. But this one isn’t from Soo and Hyo. I think it was- and don't even laugh about this. 'Cause
it was made up by a few secret admirers… ‘Black Pearl.’ That was way before I made it to Beacon though.”
“Secret admirers, huh?” Jessica let her eyes trail downward from Yuri’s face down to her feet and smirked, not even attempting to hide the fact. “Of course you had those. But ’Black Pearl?’ What is that supposed to mean?”
“It’s…” Yuri chewed on her lip, now regretting ever mentioning the accursed nickname. It wasn’t a bad one but admitting to the meaning behind it was embarrassing as fuck. “It’s not something everyone knows for a reason. Maybe you should just hear it from Soo and Hyo.”
“Well, okay.” Jessica shrugged then pulled her scroll out with her free hand and went through her contacts list. She tapped on one and placed the device next to her ear.
“Uh, what’re you doing?”
“Calling Hyo. She’s more likely to answer since Soo’s probably stuffing her face as usual. Or grooming her dogs or something.”
“Woah! Wait. When I said you should ask them, I didn’t mean now. That’d be too-”
“Hello? Hyo? I have a question.”
Yuri could only stand by, hoping Hyoyeon could read into the situation and refrain from saying anything too embarrassing. But out went Jessica’s laugh and all hope went down the drain. She closed an eye, bracing for the impact.
“So you’re the black pearl ‘cause you’re tanned, you have nice skin and you’re pretty, huh? Nice combination if you ask me,” Jessica said, grinning. “Why were you so scared to tell me?”
Yuri shifted her eyes to the ceiling. The way Jessica laughed made her think the worst. “I wasn’t scared exactly. It’s just that it’s weird when I say those things about myself. Besides, I only agree with the tanned part.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t buying it. “So would you rather they call you ‘tanned monkey?’ ‘Cause Hyo said she and
Sooyoung call you that because you’re closer to one.”
“Well…” Yuri admittedly wasn’t that fond of that other nickname but she didn’t want to sound vain by agreeing with the real meaning behind ‘Black Pearl’ either. While she was contemplating what to say, she felt Jessica squeeze her hand and the sensation brought her back to the conversation.
“Just so you know, I agree with what ‘Black Pearl’ stands for,” Jessica said, a bit embarrassed herself. She was still new to this since they didn’t do much talking while their kissing streak was still going on and she was still insecure about making mistakes, which included saying something wrong. She could only hope that this wasn’t one of those times. When Yuri still hadn’t replied, she started racking her brain for something else to talk about to salvage the conversation.
“Seriously?” Yuri finally replied.
Jessica saw that signature toothy grin and suddenly everything seemed okay. She smiled back and nodded. “Yeah. Seriously,” she said.
A few seconds passed with them just staring at each other with smiles plastered on their faces until two figures passed them by and greeted them.
“Unnies! What a coincidence!”
They both turned around and saw Krystal. Beside her was Yoona carrying a shopping basket.
“Oh hey. What’re you two doing here?” Jessica asked.
“Just looking around. You know, the usual. Shopping and... stuff,” Yoona answered with a shaky laugh. Krystal nudged her side and she tried not to cough from the impact. “Chill,” she heard Krystal mumble. She nodded slightly then forced a smile.
“I didn’t know that you liked shopping, Yoong,” Yuri said, narrowing her eyes at her dongsaeng. “Are you following us?”
“What? No! Of course not! Why would I even-Psh. That’s ridiculous. I would never!”
“Yeah!” Krystal chimed in. “I’m the one who likes shopping. Like older sister, like baby sister as they say. I just dragged Yoona unnie with me. She’s good for carrying stuff.”
Yuri and Jessica looked at each other and shrugged. What Krystal said did sort of make sense.
“Uh… so… are you two on the you-know-what?” Yoona asked, avoiding eye contact especially with Krystal who was already glaring at her too much like how Jessica usually does it.
“Oh. We, uh…” Jessica turned to Yuri for confirmation to answer the question and got a nod in response. “Well, there it is. Yes, we’re on the date. And because you asked that, you two are definitely following us.”
Krystal sighed as loudly as she could and nudged Yoona in the side again but this time harder and Yoona all but curled up on the floor from the pain. “Why, Yoona unnie? Just… why?”
Yuri laughed and so did Jessica seconds after. “Forgive her, Krystal. She’s not the most subtle person in the world but she always means well. You could’ve just asked us about it though. No need to sneak around or anything. Especially since you two helped us get to this point. Thanks again for that.”
“Since you put it that way, Yuri unnie, you’re welcome. My sister should definitely take you somewhere nice. You deserve it.”
“Hello? I’m right here,” Jessica said, waving a hand. “And just so you know, I do plan to take her somewhere really nice. A place she’s probably never been to before.”
“Oh really? Plan to steal an airship and take her to another continent, unnie?”
It took Jessica a moment to answer because as romantic as she thought her idea was, stealing an airship just to take Yuri out on an excursion was what movies and songs were about, the stuff of fantasies. She sort of wished she could’ve come up with it herself.
“Unnie? You okay?” Yoona asked after having recovered from Krystal’s hard nudge. She saw Jessica snap out of it so she added to
the question: “So where are you two going? Just in case it’s somewhere crazy and we need to save you guys.”
“Well…” Jessica felt the back of her neck with her free hand, a bit shy to put her idea out in the open. “It’s supposed to be a surprise so…”
“Oh god…” Krystal’s grin seemed to stretch for miles and she giggled to her heart’s delight. “That is the cutest thing ever! Okay, we’ll stop asking. You two have fun! Come on, Yoona unnie. Let’s leave them to their date.”
“But-”
“We’re going. Now.”
Yoona sighed then left her teammates a smile before she let Krystal drag her away.
“Funny how you two are alike,” Yuri commented, to which Jessica responded with a slight roll of her eyes. “So we’re not just going to get a bite to eat after this, huh? You have a surprise for me~?
Jessica could only smile, feeling a bit of encouragement from Yuri’s enthusiasm about the surprise. She renewed her grip on Yuri’s hand and started walking. They ended up not buying anything on their shopping trip but they had fun trying out a few clothes. They purposely avoided the intimate wear section because they were still well aware of the ‘no funny business’ rule and that area, from the name alone, was definitely a breeding ground for intimacy - a step in the relationship that they knew they would reach eventually once they figure out everything else that comes before it.
They grabbed a bite to eat afterwards like they initially planned and Yuri did foot the bill. They chose a pasta place this time. It was new so they decided to try it out. Then they had dessert at the bingsoo place thatYoona and Yuri went to before, where Jessica ate her caramel-flavored one like a child savoring the last piece of candy in the jar.
“We can get one more if you want,” Yuri said, amused by how Jessica took sparing bites. “Don’t worry about me paying, okay?”
Jessica looked up from the bowl and blinked. “How do you do that, Yuri-yah?”
“Hm? Do what?”
“You just come up with the sweetest things. I dunno. You’ve always been like this, even before. When we were just partners, I mean.”
“Really? I didn’t notice.”
And that just makes it more adorable. “That just means you’re a dork.”
Yuri flashed a smile and wiggled her eyebrows. “Your dork?”
Jessica laughed. She remembered hearing this one before. “Yeah, my dork. Hopefully.”
Without a word, Yuri reached for Jessica’s hand on the table and placed hers on top of it. She felt Jessica flinch slightly from the contact but not long after, Jessica flipped her hand so they would be palm to palm, fingers brushing against each other’s wrists.
They stayed like that and ate using their free hand, exchanging glances once in a while in between bites until they finished. Then they ordered another bowl and shared it.
+
She felt a steady breeze against her cheeks as she walked with her hand in Jessica’s. She could hear the rustling of the leaves and she could smell the dampness of the soil underneath her boots. She felt it too. How or why Emerald Forest seemed to be wet from rain, she didn’t know. She would’ve known if it did rain. She would’ve seen it happen even from the Academy. But she didn’t see anything of the sort, just like how she couldn’t see anything now with a handwrap wound around her head and over her eyes.
“Sica, are we there yet?” she asked. She noticed that Jessica had already slowed down.
“Just one more step. Come on.”
Yuri did as she was told and a gasp escaped her when she couldn’t feel the sole of her boot touch anything solid. She almost fell backwards when she stepped back toward safety but Jessica was still holding her hand and she was able to steady herself. Then she tore the handwrap off with her free hand, still in slight shock from almost falling. “What in the-Woah…”
It didn’t take long for her to figure out that the dampness she felt wasn’t from the rain. It was because they were standing by a lakefront.
Jessica tried to hide a laugh. She didn’t expect Yuri to react the way she did after being talked into taking that one step forward. It was only supposed to be a little joke, something to get Yuri a bit wet. And not in a naughty way.
“This… Wow. Sica, this is beautiful,” Yuri said, her eyes finally adjusting to the glistening surface of the lake.
“Yeah? I saw it when we went here to talk. We passed it by. I didn’t expect it to be like this in daylight though. It’s actually pretty cool.”
Jessica watched as Yuri crouched down and dipped a hand in the water. “How is it?”
“It’s not that cold,” Yuri replied. Then she unlaced her boots and took them off.
“What are you doing??”
“Taking my shoes off.”
“Yeah but-”
“Woooo!” Yuri jumped into the water still fully clothed and when she re-emerged she was already near the middle of the lake. “Hey Sica! The water’s great! Come join me!”
“No way! I don’t wanna get that wet. You have fun while I watch from here.” Jessica looked around for somewhere to sit and found shade under a tree. “Or maybe I’ll take a nap under the tree over there.”
“Awww! But Sica…” Yuri paddled closer to where Jessica stood and pouted.
Goddamn those puppy dog eyes. Jessica bit her lip. She considered joining Yuri in the water and then thought of how much she wanted that nap. She was stuffed after all. It was a perfect time to catch some Z’s. “You go on ahead. Wake me up when you’re done, okay?”
“Oh fine.” Yuri swam back to the center then she suddenly disappeared from view. When she resurfaced, she cried out: “Sica!!
Help!!”
“What’s wrong?!” Jessica craned her neck, trying to look for what was causing Yuri to flail her arms over her head. She saw Yuri disappear underwater only to pop back up to gasp for air. She’s drowning?! She froze part of the lake just as quickly as the thought came to her then ran along its length to get to Yuri in time. She dropped down on her front and extended a hand for Yuri to take. “I got you, don’t worry.”
Then out came that toothy grin.
“Nope. I got you.”
“What the hell-”
The next thing Jessica knew, she was hearing gurgling and she saw bubbles coming out of her mouth when she tried to speak. She was underwater and running out of air.
“Oh my god!!” She ran a hand down her face after she resurfaced and coughed out a little bit of water. “You did not just do that, Kwon Yuri!”
“I was just kidding! I just wanted to get you in here. The water’s great, isn’t it?”
“That’s not the point, you jerk! You scared me! Geez. Just the thought of…” Jessica turned around as she took a breath, the image of Yuri drowning still fresh on her mind. It sent a chill down her already-wet spine. “Just the thought of you getting hurt… And possibly losing you. I can’t even…”
Yuri brought herself closer to Jessica, making the ripples around them grow larger in size with every motion. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that Jessica was upset, but she wrapped her arms around the figure in front of her anyway and held her from behind. She felt Jessica’s wet hair stick to her cheeks but she didn’t mind, just as much as she didn’t notice their drenched uniforms making squishy sounds when they pressed against each other. “I’m sorry, Sica,” she said as she pulled Jessica even closer into the back hug.“I guess I went overboard. I promise not to do it again. I can’t promise that I’m not gonna get hurt one way or another. ‘Cause that’s always bound to happen to me. Somehow. But I think I can promise that you won’t lose me. At least not as long as I can help it.”
“You better keep that promise, Kwon Yuri,” Jessica replied in a mumble but Yuri still heard it. That was how close they had gotten.
“Well, just so you know, you can rest easy knowing that you won’t lose me to drowning. I happen to be a good swimmer! I’m so good that if I didn’t get into combat school for huntress training I would’ve made a living out of being a swimmer. Or maybe I could’ve been a lifeguard.”
“You’re that good?”
“Wanna race to the edge to find out?”
Jessica shook her head and leaned back onto Yuri’s chest. “I’d rather we stay like this for a while. You can tell me about your dancing though. Hyo mentioned that you got your secret admirers because you guys had a dance group or something. You and Hyo
I understand. But Soo? Dancing?” Jessica couldn’t hold in a laugh and her shoulders shook when it escaped her.
“Oh you’d be surprised.Soo’s pretty good. Don’t let that lanky body fool you.”
“I need to see that to believe it. It also wouldn’t hurt to see your moves. Uh, your dance moves, I mean. Not moves as in moves. Okay? I didn’t mean-”
Yuri let out a laugh and gave Jessica a squeeze. “No worries, Sica. I get it. I think Hyo has some videos. We can ask her when we get back if you want. Or…” She moved closer to Jessica’s ear and whispered: “I can dance for you?”
Jessica swallowed hard. Gosh that voice… “Uh… Sure. I think I’d like that.”
“Only if you dance with me afterwards though.”
A slight laugh. “Whatever you want.”
Jessica turned around a moment afterwards and hugged Yuri back, resting her head against Yuri’s shoulder. The frozen part of the lake broke off and they were once again surrounded by the entirety of its calm blue beauty, drenched from head to toe but warm in the shared embrace.
“Yuri-yah?”
“Yeah?”
“You were right. The water does feel nice.” Jessica nuzzled her nose against Yuri’s neck and smiled. The pair of arms around her inched closer together in response and she felt herself melting into the hug even more. “But this feels nicer. Way nicer.”
“We better make it a habit then,” Yuri replied. She pulled back slightly so their eyes would meet and she saw the blue water reflected in Jessica’s hazel eyes.“Is… Is that okay?”
Jessica responded with an even tighter hug, hoping that that was a good enough answer.