"Tzuyu!" Sana shouted then she woke up. She was startled when she felt an arm wrapping around her body.
"Shhh… I am right here," Tzuyu said in a sleepy voice. Sana turned around and saw the woman lying naked on the bed. Her flawless and muscular back in full display, only the lower part of her body was covered with her satin sheets.
Sana snuggled closer to Tzuyu's warm body and pulled the sheets up to cover them both. She felt Tzuyu's hand starting to feel her body, it went up from her waist to her left breast and it started to slowly knead it.
"Am I really holding you now? Tell me I am not dreaming, Sana," Tzuyu said to her ear. Her ear is one of the most sensitive parts of her body and surely Tzuyu knows what she's doing and how it is affecting her.
"Hmmm…" Sana softly moaned. But she stopped Tzuyu before things get any hotter. "I need to go," Sana said.
"You are still leaving?" Tzuyu asked dumbfounded.
"You can come with me. I am pretty sure you're never going to allow me to leave without you by my side," Sana said.
"Like hell I am allowing you after what happened last night! But do you really have to go?" Tzuyu asked Sana.
Sana turned around so they are face to face before answering her. "I am meeting with someone."
Tzuyu's eyebrows furrowed when she heard it. "Don't tell me you are already cheating on me?" She joked. Sana raised her eyebrow in return.
"I was just joking," Tzuyu smiled then leaned forward to plant a kiss on Sana's lips, but Sana faced the other way so her kiss landed on her cheek instead.
"You know I can be with anyone right now, I don't have to 'exclusively date' you," Sana said. It was Tzuyu's turn to be stunned when she heard it.
"Oh god! You should see your face!" Sana said while laughing.
"Geez, woman. I think I need to guard you 24/7 again," Tzuyu said. She trailed kisses down to the woman's cheek to her neck. "You think I can be your bodyguard again?" Tzuyu murmured before nipping Sana's shoulder blade.
"I do not date someone who works for me," Sana said while she was caressing Tzuyu's hair.
"Is that the reason why you never dated me?" Tzuyu asked her.
"Who knows... All I know is that you never asked me," Sana said.
"I know," Tzuyu agreed. She leaned up and used her elbow as support then looked at Sana's eyes. "We need to talk."
"I know," it was Sana's turn to agree. "But we can do that after I meet this person," Sana said.
"May I know who you are meeting with that you did not want to be accompanied by anyone?" Tzuyu asked her when she remembered Sana was very adamant she wanted to go alone yesterday.
"You will know when we get there," Sana said. She wrapped her arms around Tzuyu's shoulder then said, "right now, don't you think we need to catch up for the six years we lost?"
"Agreed," was all Tzuyu said before she welcomed the kiss the beauty in front of her is offering.
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"This is where you are meeting this mystery person?" Tzuyu asked Sana when they arrived at the address Sana saved on her GPS.
They are in a small private resort. Though she can understand Sana wanted to have privacy, but why in a resort?
"Yes. I told you, I had to think things through," Sana said while they are entering their room.
"But you do not have to do that now, do you?" Tzuyu asked her. She cannot hide the fact that she somehow feared Sana might change her mind.
Sana caressed her arm to soothe her worry away. "Of course not. However, I think I still need to talk to her," Sana assurer Tzuyu.
"Her? By any chance, is it Jihyo you're meeting now?" Tzuyu asked her.
Before Sana can answer her, they heard a soft knock on the door. It was Tzuyu who acted first and opened the door. She was surprised to see that yes, it was indeed Jihyo.
"Tzuyu?" Jihyo asked, she was surprised to see her here, same as Tzuyu.
"Hey, Jihyo," Tzuyu greeted her.
Jihyo leaned forward and hugged Tzuyu, which Tzuyu accepted in a tight embrace. The sight of the two did not sit well with Sana, but that is the reason why she wanted to talk to Jihyo.
Sana knew that if she wanted to know everything, all she had to do was to ask Tzuyu. However, she wanted to also know the other side of the story, so she can get the whole picture.
She cleared her throat to get the attention of the two.
"Tzuyu," Sana called Tzuyu's attention. "Can you give us a moment?" Sana requested.
"You want me to leave?" Tzuyu said.
"Yes, Tzuyu, that's what I'm saying," Sana said.
Tzuyu walked closer to Sana then hugged her. "I will just be outside. I love you," Tzuyu said.
Sana smiled in return before taking the initiative to plant a soft kiss on Tzuyu's lips.
Tzuyu left the room to give Sana and Jihyo the privacy they needed. The two women sat across from each other and it was Jihyo who broke the silence.
"Are you ready now to know what happened? I know you have a lot of questions on your mind, and I can sense you and Tzuyu haven't talked about those things yet?" Jihyo said.
"Yes, you are correct. I want to hear your side first before I ask Tzuyu," Sana took a deep breath before continuing. "Jihyo, you are my friend, and I don't want to lose our friendship. So, I want to hear the whole story. What happened when you left? How come you return here with Tzuyu, together with your son?" Sana asked the tall woman.
Jihyo reached for Sana's hands and squeezed them. "We are not going to lose our friendship, Sana, because there is no reason for that. However, I can only say the things I know and the things I was part of."
Jihyo took a deep breath to ready herself. Though Tzuyu knew everything that happened, they never really talked about how hurt she was and how she was still affected up to now.
"You remember when I left and said I need to search for my own purpose? I tried to do volunteer works in some rural areas here first. Surprisingly, I found peace in what I was doing. When my family learned about that, my father asked me if I wanted to join the next batch of medical volunteers he would be sending in the Democratic Republic of Congo."
Sana was surprised to learn the Jihyo was in Africa all these years, and so was Tzuyu.
"Of course, I said yes. And when I arrived there, it was weird, but I fell in love with the place. Its rainforest was a sight to behold, the people were nice and friendly, they were very welcoming. When I arrived at the area to do the volunteering job, that's where I saw Tzuyu. We were both surprised to see each other there, and I remembered how you were looking for her. When I told her about that, she said, at the time, she did not want to hear anything other than things happening in DRC, and I understood what she meant. I deeply apologize for not telling you that Tzuyu was there, but she requested it and I thought I have no right to get in between whatever was happening between the two of you," Jihyo explained.
"I understand, you do not have to apologize," Sana told her.
"I learned that Tzuyu was also doing volunteer work there and she'd been there for months already. She had already settled in the area, she had become friends with the people from the volunteering team and with the locals too. She looked very far from the Tzuyu I remembered when she was still working for you. And, that's where I also met my husband." Jihyo said.
"Your what? Husband?" Sana was surprised to learn that Jihyo has a husband.
And it's not Tzuyu.
She was both surprised and felt at peace when she heard it.
Jihyi softly chuckled at how surprised Sana looked right now.
"Silly of you to think Tzuyu and I have something going on between us," Jihyo said. "Well, they were both Taiwanese but grew up in Korea and it was Tzuyu who introduced me to him. I only wanted to help people then, who would have thought I would also meet my husband there?" Jihyo has this smile on her lips, but it did not reach her eyes, and Sana does not know if she wanted to hear the rest of the story. She does not like what she's feeling now.
It was her turn to squeeze the hand of the woman in front of her. "Jihyo, if you do not want to talk about it, it's fine, I understand," Sana said.
Jihyo tried to stop her tears from falling, but she can no longer control it. She has suppressed her emotion for so long because she needed to be strong for her son, but this is the first time she has someone to talk these things with, and she needed to say this story so she can release all the pain and finally move on from the nightmare.
"No, Sana, I need to do this, I need to get this out of my chest, so please, let me.." Jihyo said. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"He was an amazing guy, he was brilliant in what he was doing, and he was loved by the locals because of how he treated them. He was funny, but he knew when he needed to be serious, and that's what I love about him. When he was asked to return to Korea because his volunteer work was finished, he insisted on staying, and the company obliged. After months of being together, we got married in the DRC traditional way. Everything was perfect, and when Jay arrived, things got better, or so we thought."
"DRC is a rich country, but they don't know how to utilize their natural resources. Lack of help from the government? Probably. However, some powerful men wanted to take advantage of the situation. For so long, they wanted to control the area where the little village we were in is, but the people there did not want to leave. Until that uneventful night happened." More tears started to fall from Jihyo's eyes when she remembered that night.
"We were already sleeping, but then we woke up to the sound of screaming from the outside of our nipa hut. We initially thought there was a fire but then we started hearing gunshots. My husband was about to leave to check what was happening when men with guns went inside our hut and tried to take us."
"He tried to fight back but one man shot him, and that's when Tzuyu came to my view. She fought the three men that wanted to take us and killed them. She tried to save my husband but we knew it was already too late. In his dying breath, he asked Tzuyu to take us away from that place and to keep us safe, and Tzuyu did that. When those men left that night, all the volunteers decided it was safer to return. Tzuyu arranged everything, she used the connection of her agency to get things done faster.
"When you saw us the first time, she was helping me get Jay settled in the area, by always taking us out. She also helped me locate the relatives of my husband in Taiwan, and that's where we laid him to rest," Jihyo wiped her tears. "I know you were thinking Tzuyu and I are together, especially when you heard Jay called her 'mommy', but that's just how he called every woman from the volunteering team."
"I'm sorry, Jihyo, I did not know. I feel stupid now for thinking inappropriate things," Sana said.
"It's fine, I understand," Jihyo smiled.
"Your husband sounded amazing. I wish I could have met him," Sana said.
"I think you already met him?" Jihyo said. "You were with Tzuyu in Taiwan, right? She said she visited his grave."
Sana then remembered the other grave Tzuyu visited and offered the other flower she bought.
"I didn't know. I did not pay my respect," Sana said.
"It's all right, you do not have to say sorry for every little thing," the other woman said. "So, you and Tzuyu, are you ready now to listen to her side?" Jihyo asked her.
"Yes, I think it's time we talk about our own issues."