› A WEEK LATER:
Just as the girls had promised eachother, Minji has been going on missions alone while Yoohyeon stayed in the settlement so her ankle could heal. Though, the Icebreaker insisted that Yoohyeon shouldn't worry that much about her and focus more on resting, but the ignorant and stubborn brat the outcast was, she couldn't leave Minji alone even for a slight second. Yoohyeon had to be updated about every single thing that was happening.
Currently, Minji was on her last mission. The woman had her radio turned on at all times while Yoohyeon was impatiently laying down on the older's bed and listening to everything that was happening around Minji. It was hard for the girl to pay attention for long, since it was past midnight and Yoohyeon was feeling too sleepy, and it didn't go unnoticed by Minji.
"Pup, are you asleep?" Minji silently whispered, earning a very muffled hum from the latter. "No.. I'm still up. Is everything okay there?" Yoohyeon managed to word out along with a yawn. "Everything is okay and I got the magnet. You can go to sleep now." The woman said while examining the magnet, sighing when the younger hummed in disapproval.
"I'll wait for you so don't you dare disconnect, you hear me?" Yoohyeon threatened, but it sounded too cute for Minji that she couldn't hide her giggles. "Are you sure you'll manage to stay up for any longer with that sleepy voice of yours?" Minji questioned jokingly, earning a scoff from the younger. "I'm serious! I won't fall asleep without you!" The girl whined, making Minji smile to herself. "Okay Yooh, I won't disconnect." The Icebreaker assured, soon leaving the abandoned building she took the magnet from.
It took Minji around 30 minutes to get back to the settlement, but before she entered the main gates, she felt two eyes pierced onto her. The presence of the person staring at her was so strong that the woman had goosebumps all over her body. She had no choice, but to turn around.. and sigh in relief.
"Hayoung? What are you doing here?" Minji asked after seeing her roommate outside. "Oh! Hey Jiu, I was just taking a stroll outside. What about you though?" Hayoung hung onto Minji's arm, walking back to their dorm room with her. "I.. I went to look for missing people, but unfortunately found nothing.." Minji's lie managed to go past Hayoung, as the other woman didn't even question anything and went along with it.
"Ah, that's unfortunate indeed..- By the way, Yoohyeon was waiting for you but she fell asleep like five minutes ago." Hayoung informed, noticing the slight curve forming in her best friend's lips. "I knew she wouldn't manage to stay up." Minji slightly mumbled to herself, humming when Hayoung nudged her.
"You and Yoohyeon have known eachother for around 2 months or more now, right?" Hayoung asked, earning a nod from the latter.
"Yeah, why?" Minji curiously asked back, making Hayoung chuckle. "You guys know eachother pretty well now. Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two?" Hayoung cheekily questioned, making the other Icebreaker choke on saliva and spur out random excuses. "N-Nothing's going on between us. We're just pretty close and you know it! Nothing but.. close friends." Minji said with a weak smile, it not getting unnoticed by her roommate.
"Do you have any feelings for her?" Hayoung softly asked after noticing the slight flush forming on Minji's cheeks. "Not really.. I only see her as a very close friend.." Minji said, earning a sigh from the latter. "Both of you idiots are in denial, it's so annoying sometimes.." Hayoung whispered to herself, soon opening the door to the entrance of their dorm for Minji. "I'll go to Minjoon since Yooh will be sleeping here. Good night Jiu!" Hayoung informed, giving a quick hug to her best friend before leaving.
Minji sighed, smiling at the way how Yoohyeon had her mouth slightly opened while sleeping. The woman found the younger's sleeping habits too adorable. The Icebreaker changed into her nightwear clothes and washed herself up, walking back inside the bedroom. Minji crouched down, cuping the girl's cheek and pecking her nose.
"Hey puppy, I'm back." Minji silently whispered to Yoohyeon, waking her up. The girl scratched her eyes, smiling instantly when she saw the Icebreaker. Yoohyeon pulled Minji to lay down next to her and hugged the woman's stomach, resting her head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I fell asleep.. You were just too slow tonight." Yoohyeon teased, earning a little chuckle from the older.
"Sure, sure, whatever you say. You can sleep peacefully now, I'm here." Minji smiled, giving a quick peck on Yoohyeon's forehead and repositioning herself to get spoon-hugged by the younger. "Mhm.. Good night princess." The girl whispered, giving a quick peck to Minji's naked shoulder. "G-Good night pup.." Minji accidentally stuttered, pretty thankful that it wasn't heard by Yoohyeon or she would've gotten teased all day long tomorrow for it.
Minji closed her eyes, trying to stop her mind from having many thoughts, but nothing went as planned. She was thinking about Hayoung's questions for almost an hour. Minji did indeed answer her friend instantly, but even she herself didn't how just how honest she was with her answers..
› IN THE MEANTIME:
Hayoung was infront of Minjoon's dorm, about to knock on the door, but it got abruptly opened. The woman was a bit shocked, since she expected to be welcomed by Minjoon, but not someone else.
"Bora?" Hayoung asked while tilting her head, noticing the woman before her was just as shocked to see her. "Oh! H-Hey Hayoung! Are you here to sleep because the 'puppy' took your spot again?" Bora awkwardly asked, earning a nod from the Icebreaker. "Yup, that 'puppy' of Jiu's is always taking my spot.. They should be roommates at this point." Hayoung sighed, getting a thumbs up in return from Bora.
"I agree with you.. I swear to god there's something more going on between them." Bora whispered to Hayoung, widening the other woman's eyes and she nodded profusely. "Right!? Even you noticed just how close they are.. Do you think they're hiding something from us??" Hayoung frowned with a gasp, giggling when Bora gasped even louder than her. It was always fun to gossip around with the latter.
"Well, you definitely seem very surprised." Hayoung pointed out with a giggle.
"S-Sorry for that, it's just my first time ever seeing Yooh so.. happy with someone." Bora scratched her head, giggling along with Hayoung. "Yeah, it's my first time seeing Jiu so happy as well. It's crazy how all of this started because Yoohyeon stole a SYM magnet that Jiu's been trying to find for ages now." Hayoung shrugged with a chuckle, making Bora tilt her head.
"Minji has been looking for the SYM magnet? Why though?" Bora asked, making Hayoung sigh after remembering the time the Kim siblings mentioned her true hate towards SYM, especially Minji's despise towards them. "Jiu and Minjoon's parents got scammed by SYM scientists and that caused their death.. Because of that, she wants to find everyone connected to SYM and basically.. kill them all." Hayoung informed, slightly surprised when Bora gulped out of realization. The Icebreaker stared at the small woman for a second before widening her eyes, holding her shoulders in shock.
"You're not connected to SYM in any way.. right?" Hayoung nervously asked, sighing in relief when Bora shook her head. Though, Hayoung wasn't any less worried because the outcast was still undeniably anxious. "Bora, are you sure you're not connected to SYM?" Hayoung dared to ask again, pushing the woman inside Minjoon's dorm because someone might overhear them.
"Just don't be shocked, b-but.." Bora stuttered, making Hayoung impatient. "But what??" The Icebreaker whisper-shouted, not wanting to wake up Minjoon..
"I'm not connected to SYM, but.. Y-Yoohyeon is.."
Bora revealed the shocking truth, it widening Hayoung's eyes. "A-Are you serious..? You're not joking, right?" Hayoung nervously asked, biting her bottom lip out of fear because Bora looked down. "I'm.. not.."
"Shit- It's fine, that's fine.. it's okay.. Maybe Yoohyeon is like the cousin or daughter of some janitor that worked there, right?" Hayoung said out of desperation, almost falling down to the ground because of what Bora said afterwards.
"She's the daughter of Kim Yunseok.."
"You're lying.. There's no way.. She died!" Hayoung whisper-shouted, noticing Bora looked back up at her and tilted her head. "Where did you get that information from?" Bora asked, surprised when Hayoung pulled her to sit on the couch and look through Minjoon and Minji's private stash. "Hey, they might-"
"Shh! I'll show you something, but it's a secret." The Icebreaker interrupted Bora by shushing at her, soon pulling out a slightly burned picture of a family of three and sitting next to the outcast.
"Some years ago, they showed me this picture and said that the man there was the one that made the SYM vaccine and destroyed their life. But they also said that the whole family was dead.." Hayoung informed, giving the photo to the woman. Bora grabbed the picture, squinting her eyes to take a clearer look at the faces of the three people. She then hummed, recognizing all three of them thanks to Yoohyeon's past stories.
"The mother is Kim Wonjin, the father is Kim Yunseok and.. the child is indeed our Yoohyeon." Bora said, making Hayoung point at the kid in the picture. "How are you sure it's her? Where do you see the similarities when the photo is almost completely burned?" Hayoung asked in curiosity, getting a hum in return.
"It's easy to notice, look." Bora pointed at the very slightly visible part of the child's face. "Do you see the little dimple? Yoohyeon has the exact same one on the same spot." Bora said, making Hayoung look closer into the photo. "I-It's true that she does but.. A lot of people have dimples on their faces! Maybe it's just a coincidence?" The Icebreaker said with a weak smile, soon dropping it in an instant because she knew that wasn't the case.
Kim Yunseok's daughter was indeed.. Kim Yoohyeon.
"What do we do now.." Bora asked, surprised when Hayoung seemed very nervous to answer.
"Wait, you're not planning to tell Minji and Minjoon about this, right?" Bora whispered in shock, making Hayoung shake her head out of too many thoughts. "I don't know what to do.. I-I've never kept such secrets from them, especially if it's SYM related.. I know how much this means to them a-and I don't know what to do.." Hayoung weakly said, looking down. Bora sighed, patting her shoulder and being left in deep thought herself.
"Let's not say anything, okay? I know it might be hard, but it's for the better.. If we tell them, I'm sure Minji won't hold back and Yoohyeon might get hurt.. or possibly killed." Bora leaned her head on Hayoung's one, scared by the thought of her friend dying. Hayoung sighed, feeling just as scared as Bora after she mentioned Yoohyeon possibly getting killed. "Okay.. Let's keep it a secret and Yoohyeon might tell them herself someday. You know how big that mouth of hers is and she can't keep secrets well." Hayoung said with a slight smile, earning a little chuckle from Bora.
"She will tell Minjoon.. but probably not Minji." Bora whispered to herself, soon shaking her head and standing up. "I'm sorry, but I need to leave now since it's a bit late.. Good night Hayoung. See you tomorro-"
"Why were you in this dorm by the way?" Hayoung interrupted Bora, earning an awkward chuckle from her. That was what Bora wanted to escape from, but failed.
"W-Well.. We were just talking and stuff." Bora answered, bringing suspicion to the latter. "What stuff?" Hayoung fired back, crossing her arms and leaning back on the couch. "Y'know.. the basic stuff.. 'how was your day' and all.." Bora said, noticing Hayoung staring at her neck. The outcast put her hand on her nape and pretended to scratch it, realizing it didn't do anything since the Icebreaker woman already saw it.
"Is that.. a hickey?" Hayoung weakly asked, feeling a slight stabbing pain in her heart when Bora nodded. "I'm sorry you had to see this.." The outcast weakly apologized, feeling bad when she noticed how broken Hayoung looked. "Hey it's fine, there's nothing to apologize for." The general assured, standing up and sighing.
"I just didn't expect him to be like this with two women at once.." Hayoung sighed once more, making Bora tilt her head. "Huh?"
"It's all good Bora so don't apologize, okay? I won't be mad at you." The Icebreaker nudged Bora to make her feel better, but the outcast was still as confused. "Wait wait- Are you two..?" Bora curiously asked, gesturing it with her hands. Hayoung shyly scratched her arm, nodding in awkwardness.
"Y-Yeah.. We're friends with benefits, I guess.." Hayoung answered, gently pushing Bora out the dorm because she felt too embarrassed. "Well, that's all! H-Have a good night Bora!" The Icebreaker hugged the woman and closed the door, sighing in relief because she was getting too nervous with this topic. Hayoung looked down, letting her head hang low for a few seconds before looking back up with a determined expression on her face. She didn't have any plans to back down.
Hayoung gave herself a fist bump, walking over to Yoohyeon's bed and laying down while staring at the ceiling. "I won't lose to Bora.. I've liked him for too long so I'm sure I won't.. I hope I won't.." Hayoung said to herself with a sigh, then silently gasping when she hugged the pillow that was supposed to be Yoohyeon's.
"Oh my god, it's so soft!? I can't believe she prefers to sleep on our bed when her pillow is like a cloud!" Hayoung scoffed to herself, repositioning herself to a comfortable stance and slowly drifting off to sleep.
...
Though, Bora seemed a bit puzzled by the information she learned from Hayoung.
The woman felt like there could've been something between Minjoon and Hayoung on the day she first saw them near eachother, but she thought it was just her imagination. She hoped it was her imagination.
Bora opened the door to her dorm, sighing out of perplexity. All that she wanted was to sleep and forget about whatever happened earlier - not just the Hayoung and Minjoon thing, but the Yoohyeon and Minji one too.
The whole thing with Minji's hate towards SYM and the fact that Yoohyeon was the vaccine creator's daughter really didn't ease Bora's mind at all. This became way too messy in little to no time whatsoever..
"Bora? You good?" Yoobin silently asked from her side of the bed, not managing to ignore how her new roommate was sighing once in every few minutes. "Oh, I'm sorry Bin, did I wake you up?" Bora apologetically smiled, earning a little pat on the head by the younger Icebreaker. "You didn't, don't worry. I wasn't sleeping anyway. What's wrong though?" Yoobin asked, pouting when Bora turned around and faced the wall with a sigh.
"I.. I think Yoohyeon is making a mistake by getting too close to Minji.." Bora said sulkily, feeling bad for even thinking of keeping her best friend away from the person that made her ever so happy. "Wait what? Why do you think so?- You're not jealous of Jiu or something, right?" Yoobin joked, noticing Bora was being too serious about this. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Yeah.. I don't know if you'll understand, but Yoohyeon- her past is pretty messed up.." Bora weakly said, surprised when Yoobin hummed. "I know about her past, don't worry.. I also know about the other thing.. with the infected powers and stuff.. I'm sure you know it." Yoobin hesitantly informed, surprising the older outcast. Bora instantly turned around to face the latter, seeing the little gestures Yoobin did to give a few hints.
"How..?" Bora asked in shock, not expecting Yoohyeon to have told someone else other than the outcasts about this.
"It's a long story for some other time, but what matters right now is why you think it's bad that those two got closer." Yoobin switched back to the old topic, fixing her posture to properly face the older woman. Bora looked back towards the ceiling, showing her hands to the younger and gesturing everything like a child telling a story.
"Minji hates SYM, and Yoohyeon is literally the child of their best scientist. Not only that, but Yoohyeon was injected with some vaccine that most probably turned her into 'that' powerful thing after getting infected by her mother. Do you know what will happen if she ever loses control infront of Minji or if Minji finds out about the truth?" Bora said everything while motioning it with her hands, bringing her right hand towards her neck and doing a slicing motion.
"She'll get killed by Minji immediately.." Yoobin finished the sentence, earning a little nod from Bora. "Exactly."
"But.. Minji might react differently though? How are you sure that the opposite won't happen?" Yoobin asked back, noticing Bora wasn't exactly understanding her. "You can see how close they are now, literally everyone can. Maybe.. Minji would accept the fact that Yoohyeon is one of SYM and realize that not everyone is like how she portrayed them as?" Yoobin said hesitantly, sounding like she was questioning herself more than anything.
Bora just hummed, wondering if what the younger Icebreaker just said could be right. Maybe she really was too overprotective of Yoohyeon and was too scared of her tall best friend getting hurt. But the woman didn't know if she could trust Minji enough to believe everything would be okay between them after the truth comes out one day.
It was way too risky for Yoohyeon to spend so much time with Minji. The closer they become, the worse the outcome would be if the Icebreaker finds out. The chances of it ending nicely was almost completely zero.. Almost.
› TWO DAYS LATER:
Yoohyeon was stretching her limbs and fixing her pants' belt, soon hearing a little buzz coming from her radio. The girl connected to the call, smiling to herself the second she heard a voice she recognized.
"No matter what, you're not going to continue looking for the magnet if something unplanned happens. Got it?" Minji ordered fiercely, earning a slight chuckle from the younger. "I'm not a kid, pretty princess. I can take care of myself." Yoohyeon assured the older, finally taking off to the magnet's location.
"Like hell you can! If it wasn't for me, you would've been out cold and freezing by now." Minji pretended to be offended, secretly smiling to herself because of the nickname the girl used. Yoohyeon awkwardly sighed, knowing that the Icebreaker had a point there. If Minji hadn't noticed that Yoohyeon wasn't wearing thermal garments underneath, the girl would've frozen to death in these ice-cold temperatures.
"Alright fine, you got a point there I guess." Yoohyeon grumpily said, accepting defeat. "Just be careful, okay? I'm worried for you.." Minji quietly said, earning a little giggle from the younger. "I'll be careful Minji, I promise. You know I don't break my promises with my princess." Yoohyeon softly spoke, knowing that the woman was smiling to those words.
Minji sighed, feeling more nervous about the mission since Yoohyeon seemed too calm. But the reason why the girl was so calm was because she had a slight ulterior motive that the Icebreaker didn't know of. Yoohyeon wanted to collect the remaining magnets without letting Minji know she actually had them.
The outcast was planning to intrude the main SYM laboratory alone just so Minji wouldn't find out about her past. Yoohyeon knew it was risky, but she never backed down on any task, and she already had almost everything planned out.
Yoohyeon reached a little jewelry shop in the outskirts of the city, noticing a box in an instant already.
"Hey princess, I found the box." Yoohyeon slightly whispered, not wanting to alert any attention to herself. Minji on the other hand was uncontrollably smiling, knowing that there was just one magnet left. One more magnet and the truth would come out-
"Uh Minji.. there's nothing here.."
Yoohyeon suddenly said, hearing an exclaim of shock from the other side.
"What!? It's supposed to be there, are you sure??" Minji frowned in disbelief, not expecting her happiness to die off so quickly. "I'm pretty sure someone has already looted the box, because there's nothing here.. I'm sorry." Yoohyeon silently uttered, getting shushed at by the Icebreaker. "Don't be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong. You can come back here now and I'll make you something to eat, okay?" Minji said with a little hum, getting a very silent "Okay" from the younger.
"I'll disconnect for just a few minutes and I'll call you back in a bit so don't you dare do anything stupid." Minji sternly said, smiling when Yoohyeon whispered a chuckle. "I won't do anything. Till later, Minji." Yoohyeon said with a little frown, feeling bad for doing what she just did..
She just lied to her closest friend.
The younger was staring at the unopened box with the magnet, feeling guilty for lying to the Icebreaker that had her full trust on her. Yoohyeon sighed after Minji disconnected the call, shaking her head to get back on her feet and remember her plan. The girl had no choice but to lie to the older if it meant the safety of both.
"Alright now, let's get this bad boy as well." Yoohyeon spoke to herself, inserting her finger inside the area where she'd get stung. She flinched, then started at the box while waiting for the lights to turn green so she could be done with this already..
But the lights turned.. red.
"What's this about now? Is this thing broken?" Yoohyeon frowned, putting her other finger inside the hole and waiting for a different outcome.
But it was still the same, the lights turned to red again.
"The fuck? Is this a joke or something.." Yoohyeon scoffed, shaking the box a little. The girl didn't know what this was about, until she saw a screen that had a little text on it..
Access X. Reason: INFECTED
The girl frowned, thinking there must've been a mistake with the system. Yoohyeon tried to unlock the box by using all of her fingers, still not getting the outcome she wanted. Every attempt showed she was infected. That caused her to get agitated... a bit too much.
"Infected you say? I'll show you infected then." The girl sneered, feeling her eyes switch color in an instant. She smashed the box, finally getting the magnet by using violence. "Finally.. So fucking annoying.." Yoohyeon scoffed, suddenly realizing she lost her temper which wasn't something she would easily do. She shook her head, trying to get her eyes to their natural color.. But she failed.
Yoohyeon looked around, panicking because this wasn't something she couldn't control. She found a computer screen and looked at her reflection, shocked to see her right eye was completely blackened in goo while her other one was in its normal color.
"How is this even-"
*BUZZ*
Yoohyeon got startled by the buzz on her radio, gulping the second she saw Minji calling. The girl cursed under her breath, thinking of what to do, but in the end she picked up the call while feeling undeniably nervous.
"Hey pup, are you almost here?" Minji asked happily, confused when Yoohyeon took her time to answer. "Yeah.. I'm going to be there in some time." Yoohyeon answered, taking in deep breaths because her head seemed to be hurting all of a sudden. "Alright, that's good.. Also, Bora and Yoobin decided to visit and they were wondering where you were, so I told them you're out for a little walk." Minji said and muffled greetings from aside were heard, making Yoohyeon slightly chuckle while she was visibly struggling with something. She had the world to thank that no one could see her at that moment.
The girl then widened her eyes in shock, almost dropping her radio because of a sudden, stinging pain on her stomach. She glanced at her hand, seeing the amount of goo that was making it's way there from her stomach scar. Just what exactly was going on?
Yoohyeon tried hard not to make a suspicious sound, but she somehow managed to fake she stumbled on a rock and hit her foot as an excuse.
"Uh Minji.. C-Can you let me talk to Bora for a second?" Yoohyeon asked while wincing, holding her stomach and slightly punching it to make the greenish glow on her scar fade away. "Sure..? Is everything okay there?" Minji worriedly asked, sighing when Yoohyeon assured her with a chuckle that she was fine and just wanted to talk with Bora. Minji didn't say anything and handed the little radio to the requested woman.
"Hi Yoohy-"
"Bora, I'm close to turning."
Bora accidentally choked on her saliva after hearing that and widened her eyes, alerting Minji and Yoobin because of that.
"Is everything okay?" Minji asked with a frown, noticing how nervous Bora was to answer her. "Y-Yeah Minji, don't worry.. It's just.. Yoohyeon is planning some kind of a special surprise for you!" Bora spurred out, hearing a scoff from the other side of the line. "A special surprise? Really?" Yoohyeon frowned, scratching her head. "I'll take it as a 'thank you for not getting me in trouble'." Bora whispered to the radio, turning back to the two Icebreakers beside her with a forced smile.
"It's not much of a surprise now that you said it, is it? You're always worried for nothing Jiu, and now the surprise is probably ruined!" Yoobin sighed, scolding Minji for always being nosy whenever it was Yoohyeon related. "S-Sorry.." Minji awkwardly apologized, bowing down as an apology.
"I'll go talk in private to her. You two stay here or you'll get spoiled with the surprise!" Bora said, instantly running out the dorm room and going to a little secluded spot.
"Tell me what happened. Is it bad? Are you in pain? Where are you?" Bora nervously asked, feeling her heart pace out of panic when she heard Yoohyeon coughing. "Y-Yooh, you better not be turning now of all times.. I don't want the surprise to be your death because it'll be my death as well!" Bora whisper-shouted, cursing to herself when she didn't get a response from Yoohyeon.
"P-Please answer me.. Where are you?" Bora weakly asked, feeling her eyes and throat burn out of discomfort due to suppressing her voice and tears in.
"Yoohyeon please.."
Soon, Bora sighed in relief when she heard a gasp from Yoohyeon's side.
"You fucking rascal! Don't stay silent for so long, I almost thought something actually happened to you.."
"I'm sorry Bora.. B-But I can't come back tonight.." Yoohyeon said, surprising Bora by that claim. "What do you mean you can't??" The woman dared to ask, almost dropping the radio because of the latter's answer..
"I don't feel.. human.."
Bora had her mouth open, noticing Minji showing herself from the corner and waving to Bora. The outcast looked at the woman before her with a bit of a surprised look, awkwardly chuckling so she could alert Yoohyeon.
"I-I'm expecting the surprise to be amazing Y-Yooh! I can't wait to see you tomorrow with it!" Bora said loud enough so Minji could hear it as well, while Yoohyeon was completely confused. "Huh? What are you-"
"Minji is here, so try to act the part." Bora whispered to the radio before switching to acting. "I'm sad we won't see you tonight though.. I-Is the surprise that special that it'll take you a whole night to prepare?" Bora uttered, noticing Minji frowning and walking closer to take the radio and ask Yoohyeon herself about the 'surprise'.
"Yooh? Are you really not coming back tonight?" Minji asked, startling Yoohyeon because the girl didn't expect to hear the Icebreaker now of all times. "Y-Yeah! It's a very special surprise and.. I-I want to take my time preparing it." Yoohyeon managed to say without seeming like she was struggling too much to talk. Minji pouted, feeling sad because she thought Yoohyeon might've felt too bad for not managing to find the magnet.
"Okay pup.. Just please be safe and careful out there, okay..? I'll miss you.." Minji silently said, glaring at the teasing expression on Bora's face.
Yoohyeon felt her heart melt at those words and she instantly smiled, suddenly feeling slightly better. "I'll be careful.. And I'll miss you too. See you tomorrow, my princess." Yoohyeon spoke with a bright grin, knowing that Minji was probably smiling just as much as her. And she wasn't wrong. The Icebreaker was like a ray of pure sunshine.
"Bye puppy.." The older said back, disconnecting the call and chasing after Bora because the outcast didn't stop winking and teasingly wiggling her eyebrows the whole time.
Yoohyeon let her radio hang low while she was staring at the ceiling of the jewelry shop, smiling to herself. If she suddenly fully turned and lost everything that moment, at least she'd be gone with a bright smile on her face..
"This sucks.."
› THE NEXT MORNING:
"Is Yooh back?"
Minji opened the door to Minjoon's dorm, pouting when the younger girl wasn't there.
Minjoon looked at his sister worriedly while writing something on his laptop, tapping on the chair next to his' to invite her to sit down. Minji sat down, looking at the screen in curiosity and widening her eyes in an instant..
"Hold up.. Y-You do secret assassinations..?" Minji read the attached file that was on the screen, noticing Minjoon was writing a letter for forgiveness. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you.. I.. I'm trying to apologize to the Bluebirds' leaders for not finishing their task. Now Saeji will make fun of me for actually bailing out.. A-Are you mad?" Minjoon explained with a saddened expression, getting pat on the head in return.
"I'm not mad, just surprised. I thought you hated doing such things?" Minji asked, watching how Minjoon was finishing his letter and sending it to the Bluebirds. "I still do hate them, but the offer was a good one. I only needed to find a woman with this description and I would've gotten more info about SYM." The man informed, noticing the visible shock on his sister's face.
"Short woman, in her mid 20s and black haired? That's not exactly the best description ever, y'know.." Minji chuckled, trying to see if she'd manage to get a better grasp of the woman in the description. "I know, but apparently that woman stole supplies and killed people from the Bluebirds and now they're on her ass." Minjoon added, getting a hum as a response.
"It could be anyone. Literally so many people are short and black haired." The woman scoffed, hearing her brother chuckle. "Yeah.. I almost killed Bora because I thought she was the culprit." Minjoon said, hearing a gasp in return from Minji. "You almost killed Bora??"
"Look, I thought it was her- I still wouldn't have killed her if it actually was her though.." The man added, getting pat on the shoulder. "Is that how you managed to get her to join us here?" Minji asked, getting a nod in return. "Yup. I'm glad she joined.." He said with a little smile, it not getting ignored by his twin sister.
"You have feelings for her, don't you?" She asked with a big smile, surprising the latter. "H-How did you know?" Minjoon asked a bit shyly, making his sister snicker and wrap her arm around his neck. "You're my brother, I know you better than anyone here. And honestly, I actually think she's a good match for you - a tall, composed man and a small, hot-headed woman make the perfect combination." Minji joked, earning a chuckle from the man.
"I'm glad you think so too, she's.. really amazing." He said with a grin, smiling at the sole thought of Bora. The brother then looked at his sister, slightly teasing her with his eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Minji asked while glaring at him, feeling his arm nudging her. "Don't act dumb sis. You like Yoohyeon, don't you?" He dared to ask, getting glared at even more.
"I like her, but not in that way. Why is everyone always asking me about this?" Minji sighed in defeat, earning a hum from the other Icebreaker. "It's just obvious- Who else asked you this though?" He asked in curiosity, soon looking down because of the name Minji mentioned afterwards.
"Bora and Yoobin have been teasing me all night yesterday, and Hayoung asked me this too.. You guys all have the wrong idea." Minji answered with hesitation after noticing how down Minjoon seemed. "What's with the long face suddenly?" Minji asked with worry, having a slight idea of what the reason might actually be.
"I know Hayoung likes me.. And I don't know how she'd feel if I tell her that I actually like Bora and that I want to stop with the whole 'friends with benefits' thing.." He answered truthfully, earning a sigh from his sister. She hugged his shoulders and pat his head, knowing he was in a pretty troublesome spot.
"If it's what you really want, you know she would never be upset at you. She'd definitely feel sad since you kinda replaced her with another woman, but she would never get in your way and accept it." Minji said while patting his head, earning a sigh in return. "That's the thing Minji, I don't want her to feel like I'm replacing her, because I'm not." The man sighed, looking up to try and stop having so many mixed feelings.
"I don't want Bora to be another Hayoung, I want Bora to be.. just Bora. I'm serious about her Minji. I'm really fond of her and I hope something more might happen between us.." He said back, noticing a different expression coming from Minji. A more softened one.
"Isn't this your first time being serious about wanting a relationship?" Minji asked in shock, getting a nod in return. "Y-Yeah.. I'm a bit worried if something could happen to her.. just like with Jeonghan. I don't want people to hurt Bora.." Minjoon weakly said, making Minji pout.
She felt saddened to know her brother was still thinking about his deceased best friend.
"Bora is a strong one and you know it. She may be a little small, but they're the strongest when it comes to self-defense." Minji chuckled, hoping to have made her brother feel a little better. "Just.. do what your heart is telling you to. I'll always support you and you know tha-"
*BURST OPEN*
"Guys! Yoohyeon got hurt!"
Minjoon and Minji turned their heads towards the door in a startle, widening their eyes at the unexpected information they heard from Yoobin.
"What do you mean she got hurt?" Minji instantly stood up, switching her demeanor to a very serious one. "S-She just returned.. and she looks bad.. like very, very bad.." Yoobin informed while panting, proving that she was running. "Who hurt her?" Minji asked sternly, surprising the two because of the audible anger in her voice.
"I-I don't know, but she's in our room and-"
Yoobin didn't manage to finish her sentence because Minji was already running out the dorm to the other one. The woman was too anxious to even think of anything else right now, all she wanted was to see Yoohyeon.
Minji saw the opened door, dashing to it in an instant. She ran inside, getting stopped by Hayoung in the hallway.
"Let me see Yoohyeon." Minji sternly said, making Hayoung raise her hands up as a peace sign. "Hold on, I'm not looking for fights early in the morning. Just wait for Yooh to prepare." Hayoung said with a slight smirk, confusing the Icebreaker. "Prepare? Prepare for what exactly?" Minji asked worriedly, noticing the little smile Hayoung was trying to hide. "You'll see~"
Minji furrowed her eyebrows, soon seeing the top of Yoohyeon's head peaking from the corner of the living room and hiding again. The Icebreaker tilted her head, soon realizing what this was all about when the girl fully showed herself.
Yoohyeon had a small jewelry box in her right hand, as well as a handmade bouquet of flowers on her left one. Minji widened her eyes, feeling someone putting their arm around her neck and poking her cheek.
"Sorry for lying to you like that, it was Bora's idea." Yoobin defended herself, getting glared at Bora who showed herself behind Yoohyeon and she pointed at Yoobin in disbelief. "Hey, you agreed to it in an instant! Don't put all the blame on me!" Bora fired back, getting a taunting whistle in return. The small woman dashed to Yoobin and poked her waist, starting a little laughter between them. But they instantly stopped and smiled after seeing Minji was getting teary eyed while staring at Yoohyeon.
"Psst, I think we should leave them alone for a little bit." Hayoung whispered to Bora and Yoobin, getting a nod in return by them. The three women left the two alone, not forgetting to close the door.
The moment they left, Minji slowly walked towards Yoohyeon and stopped infront of her, not leaving her gaze off of the girl for even a second.
"Sorry for the startle, but I got you the promised surprise!" Yoohyeon showed the presents with a chuckle, glancing at them while smiling awkwardly.
"I didn't really know what kind of flowers you like, but I thought blue roses would really fit your style so I went all over the city to find if anyone used to make them before the outbreak thing and I-"
Yoohyeon couldn't manage to finish her blabbing sentence because Minji had pulled her in a deep kiss. The girl widened her eyes, soon smiling into the kiss and putting the presents on the couch and completely plastering her attention on Minji. Yoohyeon pulled Minji by her thighs to carry her, putting her down on a counter and resting her hands on her waist, lightly squeezing it. Minji cuped the girl's cheeks, not managing to suppress her tears as they were running down her face while adoringly kissing the girl's lips.
Minji soon pulled out, staring at the girl while smiling in relief and caressing her lips with her thumb.
"I-I missed you so much.. Don't you dare do something like this ever again! I-I was so scared that you were hurt.." Minji sniffed, pulling the girl in an embrace while her silent tears were uncontrollably falling. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I didn't think they'd actually do Bora's crazy idea.." Yoohyeon chuckled, hugging the older even tighter and resting her head on her shoulder.
"I missed you so much too, my beautiful princess.. I'm back now." Yoohyeon added, making Minji finally break down completely as she stopped suppressing her voice and let out a cry of relief escape her mouth.
Minji hid her face in the crook of Yoohyeon's neck, sniffing every few seconds and crying even more because the girl was finally back. Even though it was only for one night, it felt like a whole week to her, maybe even longer. The woman couldn't sleep properly at all without knowing if Yoohyeon was safe and well. But seeing her now, all good and well, definitely calmed her down and she felt as relieved as ever.
"Princess, do you want to see what I prepared for you?" Yoohyeon asked in a whisper, getting a little nod in return. The younger pulled out the hug and ran to get the jewelry box, worriedly opening it. Minji pouted at the gift, instantly hugging the girl again and crying even more because of the present.
It was two little silver rings with their names' initials carved in a red and a green crystal implanted in a very thin layer over the ring - M on the red crystal, and Y on the green one.
"D-Do you like it?" Yoohyeon asked worriedly, earning a weak chuckle from Minji. The woman pulled out the hug, taking the ring with the red crystal and M carving and putting it on Yoohyeon's index finger. The girl followed what Minji was doing and put the other ring on her, noticing the smile on her face.
"Is this enough of an answer?" Minji said with a sniff, making Yoohyeon chuckle and wipe the few tears on the Icebreaker's cheeks. "It is, but I wanted to hear you say it.." Yoohyeon pouted with a smile, making Minji jokingly scoff and smile back. "You want me to be very honest?" Minji said while tilting her head, pulling the girl in a kiss filled with gratitude and care.
The woman smiled amidst the kiss, soon bringing their foreheads together and both closing their eyes. Minji caressed the younger's cheeks, giggling because she felt how nervous the younger was.
"I love it, Yoohyeon.."
› END OF CHAPTER 16 ‹
The next chapter will be something like an explanation of what happened with Yoohyeon during the night. ANDD it'll have an important twist that will be good story-wise (I think you guys might like it?). Hope you guys are enjoying the plot for now!
I'll post it immediately after this one, since I have it already written.
Thank you for reading <3
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