You silly girl, Sica Jung

Running out towards me like that

I would never let you get hurt

Not even

Not even if it takes my life

-----

"Have faith… She'll be fine."

A devastated Yoona buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. "We don’t know that…”

Sooyoung patted the girl's back in an effort to calm her down, knowing it was futile. Glancing across the hall, she noticed that Hyomin wasn’t any better off. Intending to approach the girl to provide some sort of comfort, the skinny girl stopped when she heard footsteps down the hallway. Turning to the noise, she noticed Tiffany and Taeyeon running towards them. Tiffany was already flushed and in tears.

"How… how is she?" Tiffany asked, sobbing and gasping for air as approached Sooyoung. Seeing Yoona already in the midst of her breakdown only served to worsen her distress.

Sooyoung stood up from her seat and coughed a little to prevent an outburst of tears. "Still in surgery."

"What did the doctor say??" Taeyeon asked, struggling to hold her tears back.

Sooyoung bit on tongue. "No news… for now." she managed to say, choking a little.

Tiffany broke down and fell to the ground while Taeyeon hugged her tightly, having also succumbed to the tears. Sooyoung watched helplessly as the couple cried in each others' arms; devastated. She couldn’t do anything for anyone now. No amount of silly antics, jokes, or slapstick humor would do it. There was too much despondency, too much hopelessness, too much despair.

Huddled in the corner, Yoona began breaking down again.

The girl couldn't take it anymore.

Walking away from the desolation, Sooyoung hastily ran out of the building into the pouring rain.

Anywhere away from those negative thoughts.

She’ll be fine… She will be.

Inhaling deeply, she curled her hands up into fists. "I must be strong. I must be strong..." she chanted repeatedly, hands pounding on her thighs, as her tears threatened to spill. Shaking her head, she chanted again. "I... must... be... strong..." she struggled to say as a tear escaped and slid down her cheek, merging with the rain drops on her face.

"You don't have to be." a voice came from behind. Holding an umbrella, the girl approached Sooyoung and sheltered her from the rain, hugging her tightly with a firm arm.

"It's okay. You can cry."

"I can't… I can't break.” she shook her head. “Everyone's broken and I need... to be that pillar. I need to be... that person."

"You don't have to."

"You don't understand, Sunny."

"You don't have to. Your best friend is hurt. You're allowed to break."

"But I..."

Sunny hugged the girl tighter and stroked her head. "It's okay. You can cry."

"..."

Sooyoung gritted her teeth, lips quivering. She held onto that facade just a little while more before completely letting her world crash in. Sunny teared up as Sooyoung started wailing, choking on her tears and gasping for air. The possibility of losing a best friend to death was one she couldn't fathom. Stroking the girl on her back, she cried with the skinny girl, sympathizing with her for the inexplicable grief she was going through.

Please... Pull through, Yuri.

-----

(flashback)

"Wait… Jessica!!"

-sound of tires skidding-

Hyomin's cries were too fruitless. She stood, frozen in shock and watched as Jessica dashed towards Yuri, trying to enter the line of fire.

No…

Every single step Jessica took, the look Yuri had in her eyes, everything was too clear. Petrified to immobility, Hyomin could only watch helplessly as the tragedy unfolded in front of her eyes, second by second, frame by frame.

Yuri looks at Jessica.

Jessica runs towards Yuri.

The car starts swerving.

Yuri keeps her eyes on Jessica.

Yuri reaches out and pushes Jessica back, hard.

The car continues swerving, but skids and approaches Yuri.

Closer and closer.

Yuri never takes her eyes off Jessica.

Jessica falls onto the pavement.

Closer and closer.

Centrifugal forces.

The tail end of the car makes contact with Yuri's back.

Yuri gets flung a short distance ahead.

Yuri falls onto the floor, slamming head first against the asphalt.

Blood.

Yuri lies motionless as the rain tries to in vain to wash the blood off her body.

Yuri lies motionless.

Yuri lies motionless.

"YURI!!"

Hyomin looked up at the driver who had come out to inspect the scene. "Call an ambulance now!" she pleaded in tears as she kneeled in front of Yuri's lifeless body, powerless.

-car reverses, turns and accelerates-

Hyomin watched disbelievingly as the car took off. "Call an ambulance please, SOMEONE!!" she cried aloud. The café waitress who had just witnessed the scene immediately did so.

"No..."

Immediately attending to the blonde who was crawling over, she gently put her hands on her shoulders to stop her, being careful not to touch the cuts on her body. Jessica was bleeding from her head and her body but she persisted, struggling to get closer to the girl who was her everything.

"Jessica... I-It's gonna be fine. J-just stay here and don't move okay? You're hurt..."

"YURI...!!!" Jessica's screams tore through the rain as it continued falling without mercy.

(end of flashback)

The rain hadn't stopped since. The flashbacks haven't either. Standing by one of the windows along the hospital's hallway, Hyomin looked up towards the sky and cried, again and again and again, wallowing in the pain and despair that manifested in her chest.

As the scene replayed in her head, her thoughts kept going back to the man responsible for the accident. How his expression was cold, indifferent, fearless and void of guilt.

Almost deliberate. Almost professional.

She was almost convinced that it wasn't purely an accident.

She felt compelled to get to the bottom of this.

-----

(phone rings)

"David, it's so late at night. Who's that?"

The man reached towards the nightstand to grab the phone. "It's nothing. Go back to sleep." He reassured as he left the room to take the call.

"Haven't heard from you in a while. So you've found details about Krystal's girlfriend yet? I suspect she's staying at her place." The man said as he treaded down the hallway, sighing as he looked into his daughters' rooms.

"Sir, the job is done. But I regret to inform you that Jessica was hurt in the process."

It stopped the man in his tracks. "Hurt?? What are you— What job??!"

"Killing the girl, Sir. I hired a hitman from--"

The man gripped onto his phone tightly. "Kill?! What in the world are you talking about?!"

"You requested a hit on Kwon Yuri several nights ago, Sir."

The man's knuckles turned white as his hand started shivering.

“No… When did-- I didn’t do that…”

“Sir, you specifically requested that her death looked like an accident.”

“No…” He panicked as beads of cold sweat ran across his face. "NO!!” He slammed a fist against the wall, having vaguely remembered giving out that order that very night his daughters left.

"How’s Jess...?"

"My apologies, Sir. The hitman was incompetent. He almost succeeded; until Jessica ran out onto the road, forcing him to swerve away."

"HOW IS MY DAUGHTER NOW??!"

"She sustained superficial injuries and a mild concussion, and is being warded. As for Kwon Yuri, she’s currently being treated as we speak. I have yet to find out if she'll survive."

The man clenched his fist ever more tightly and he closed his eyes in frustration as a wave of guilt, misery, and regret all came crashing down on him.

"Sir, it might not be necessary to tell you this, but the girl pushed your daughter away before she got hit."

Bathing in guilt, Mr Jung slowly digested his words, one by one, as images of his actions throughout the years flashed past him.

"If you still want to go on with this, I could hire a better hitman to finish the job."

"No... That wouldn't be necessary. I won't be needing you anymore."

"Sir??"

"Just give me Krystal's whereabouts. That'll be your last job." Mr Jung said before hanging up, dropping the phone onto the floor. He leaned back against the wall and took inhaled deeply, unsure of how he was supposed to feel.

Unsure of how he was going to fix all this.

"You monster..."

The voice down the hallway caught his attention. He panicked when he turned and looked at his wife’s face, realizing that she had overheard their conversation.

"You’ve hurt Jess..."

"No, listen..."

"What have you become, David?! How could you...??!" Mrs Jung exclaimed as she stepped closer to her husband. "You’ve hurt… my daughter…!!" she struggled to say, in tears.

"I didn’t..." but before he could explain, Mrs Jung had slapped him. Hard.

"I'm leaving you..." she cried out, roughly pushing the man back. "From now on, you're going to stay far away from us, you hear me?!" she screamed as she backed away from the man.

"Please..." Mr Jung begged as he stepped forward and tried to reach for his wife’s hand, tears already streaming down his face.

"STAY... AWAY!!" the distraught lady yelled, holding up a finger threateningly. Mr Jung stood still at his spot, unable to reach out to his wife.

Within minutes, the whole house was silent. The man stood in the middle of his huge house, all alone.

Everyone had left.

-----

From now on…

We’ll stay here together

No one’s gonna leave anyone, okay?

The blonde struggled to open her eyes having heard the familiar voice she craved to wake up to everyday. "Yuri...?" she muttered softly.

"You're awake, Jessi! How are you feeling??"

The voice of her best friend beckoned Jessica to wake up. Opening her eyes slowly, the girl squinted as the bright lights of her surroundings overwhelmed her vision. Blinking multiple times, she slowly adjusted her eyes to the discomfort.

"Where..." Jessica muttered, examining her surroundings.

The hospital…?

When the situation finally dawned on her, the flashbacks came, and so did the tremendous sharp pain that targeted her head. But it was secondary to the safety of the girl she longed to see.

"Yuri... Where's Yuri??!”

"Calm down." Taeyeon gently told the girl. "Yuri's gonna be fine. She's in the ICU."

"I-I wanna see her…" a frantic Jessica struggled to get up. Neither the wound on her head, the cuts on her body, or the intravenous drip attached to the girl could stop her now.

"Jessi, stop..." Tiffany gently held the girl down by her shoulders. "You shouldn’t be moving about... You’re hurt!"

“No… I need to see her now.” The stubborn Jessica would never listen. Not when Yuri was hurt. Not when she noticed her friends' reddened eyes. Pushing Tiffany’s arms away, she tried to get off the bed again. "Please..." she begged, tears already at the brim of her eyes.

"Please...!"

"Okay... Okay." Tiffany tried to say, empathizing with Jessica’s situation. She would have done the same thing.

“I’ll get a wheelchair.” Taeyeon suggested.

Jessica and Tiffany both remained silent as Taeyeon left the ward. Deeply affected by the adversity that her friends were going through, Tiffany struggled to fight back her tears. Seeing Jessica in this state was taking its toll on her, but she remained strong, knowing that breaking down wouldn't do any good for her best friend.

She silently wished for her pillar of strength to return quickly. This was something Tiffany couldn't handle alone.

Taeyeon came back shortly after, much to Tiffany's relief. Both girls carried the extremely frail girl off the bed, and then fixed her drip on the wheelchair. Looking towards each other, Taeyeon gently patted Tiffany's back when she noticed the latter's worried eyes. Taking over the wheelchair from Tiffany, she started wheeling the blonde out of the ward, towards the ICU where Yuri was.

Despite her weakened condition and the effects of the morphine, Jessica could still feel a whole array of emotions throughout the slow painful journey. She didn't even know if she wanted to speed up the journey or to slow it down more.

The ICU... That can't be a good thing...

And the people outside the ward only proved her point. Sooyoung, Yoona and Sunny were outside the ward; and they wore the same look on their faces.

Distress. Worry. Sadness.

They also masked their expressions simultaneously when they noticed Jessica. It only made her feel worse.

"How are you feeling?" Yoona walked over and asked.

"I'm..." Jessica paused, having met with Yoona's red teary eyes. "...fine. Bring me in."

She didn't want to ask, nor hear from anybody about Yuri's condition before seeing the girl with her own eyes.

Taking deep, heavy breaths throughout, Jessica braced herself as the doors to the ward swung open.

The tanned girl laid unconscious on the bed. Wrapped in bandages, connected to breathing tubes, an intravenous drip, and a ton of everything else Jessica didn't want to know of right now.

"Yu... Yuri..." Jessica cried out softly, feeling her chest getting tighter. Still, she took that slight comfort of finally seeing her face. Tiffany and Taeyeon wheeled the girl closer to the bed, both sympathetic of the incomplete reunion.

"I'm here, Yuri..." Jessica started shaking uncontrollably, as she gently held Yuri's hand. The very mild warmth from the latter’s hand only worsened the sinking feeling in Jessica's chest.

“Jessi…” Tiffany said, only to be held back by Taeyeon, who offered to take over the task of giving out the news.

“The doctors say that her superficial wounds are minor…” Taeyeon paused, waiting for a response from the blonde, wondering if she should go on.

But the girl had ignored them. She had already been sucked into a pit of despair, where nothing but Kwon Yuri mattered.

Holding Yuri's hand a little tighter, she shook it a little as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Kwon Yul... I'm here now, you hear me? I won't go anywhere... And neither are you, you hear me? You promised..."

Behind the blonde, Tiffany broke down, cupping her mouth to conceal her cries. Taeyeon immediately wrapped an arm around her distraught girlfriend, stroking her hair and whispering 4 distinct words into her ear continuously,

"Be strong for Sica... Be strong for Sica… Be strong for Sica…"

Nodding slightly, Tiffany bit on her tongue in an effort to stop crying, recognizing the significance of being her best friend’s pillar.

“Can you help me onto the bed?”

“Sure.” Taeyeon answered.

The blonde didn't say anything for several minutes. Laying beside Yuri, she hugged the girl tightly and cried hard on her shoulder, leaving wet patches on the girl's hospital gown. Taeyeon and Tiffany could only watch silently. There was nothing they could do or say.

"What else did the doctors say?" Jessica finally asked.

"She suffered minor injuries to her back.” Taeyeon replied.

“What else.”

"Her…" the girl paused, choking a little.

"Just tell me."

Taeyeon inhaled deeply. "The only major injury was the head trauma. They don't know if she'll wake up."

"No..." Jessica cried harder.

"She'll wake up, Jessi. Have faith." Tiffany encouraged, in a seemingly futile effort to keep the girl optimistic.

"Can we be alone...?" Jessica cried out softly.

"Jessi... You can't stay here... The..." Tiffany spoke up, but was stopped by Taeyeon.

"It’s okay, I'll talk to the nurses. Let’s go." Taeyeon advised. Very reluctantly, Tiffany agreed and followed her girlfriend out of the ward.

Thereafter, the ward was silent except for the beeps from the machine which monitored Yuri's heart rate. It was slow, but steady; and it calmed Jessica down just a little after the tears had taken its toll on her. Breathing gently, in sync with the girl beside her, Jessica buried herself deeper into Yuri's neck and grabbed tightly onto her.

“Yuri…”

“Remember how… You used to tease me all the time?”

“You were right…”

“I can’t wait to marry you…”

“When you’re better…”

“We’ll get married…”

“I’ve already… picked out a dress…”

“A beautiful dress…”

“…which I’ll be marrying you in…”

"You don't get to leave me again, you hear me?"

-----

"Where is my daughter?? WHERE IS SHE?!" the loud booming voice of Mrs Kwon shook the hallway where the girls were waiting. Mr Kwon had his hands full holding her back.

Sooyoung stepped forward and and held the distraught lady by her arms.

"Mrs Kwon... Calm down. Yuri's in there."

"What the hell happened??" a distraught Mrs Kwon asked.

Sooyoung hesitated for a moment, before answering, “Car accident."

Mrs Kwon felt weak in the knees upon hearing it. "She's in there?" she asked.

Sooyoung nodded, before following behind Yuri's parents into the ward.

As soon as Mrs Kwon laid eyes on her daughter, the tears began streaming down her face. She found herself unable to speak, having to bear with the massive amount of pain in her chest. Slowly approaching the bed, she bent down and hugged both girls tightly; Jessica was now family and her heart broke upon seeing the both of them hurt.

Sooyoung watched as the trio huddled together for some time.

“Don't worry, Jessica… My Kkab Yul is a strong girl.” Mrs Kwon struggled to say. “She’ll be okay.”

Jessica didn't move from her position. Despite how numb she was feeling after being still for the whole time, she continued hugging onto the unconscious body beside her, holding onto her as if her life depended on it.

Mr and Mrs Kwon stood vigil by the bed, both emotionally drained.

Sooyoung felt responsible for not watching out for her best friend. Despite being slightly younger than Yuri, she had always taken the role of the bigger sister to the 2 girls she lived with. Watching the scene from the back of the ward, she gritted her teeth, holding back before she hit breaking point again.

And right before she crossed it, she felt a hand sliding gently into hers, holding it all so tightly; the warmth of it seeping through her own.

"I'll do it with you." Sunny said, watching the scene alongside Sooyoung. "You don't have to be that person alone."

Feeling just a little better, and a little stronger, Sooyoung squeezed Sunny's hand gently as they both looked at Yuri.

"Thank you."

-----

"Jess..."

The man muttered in tears as he watched his daughter from afar.

"I'm sorry..." His chest tightened immensely upon the sight of his daughter covered in bandages, alternating between bouts of crying and momentary silences, and refusing to take her eyes of the girl.

The girl who's in this state as a result of his folly.

The girl who protected his daughter with her life.

The girl he couldn't bear to hate anymore.

"It's all my fault..."

Emerging from the dark corner where he sought refuge from shame, the man shook uncontrollably as he mustered up all the courage in his blood and took little steps forward. As he drew nearer, the lights of the hospital shone brightly on him, illuminating the guilt and fear in his eyes.

But Jessica didn't notice. In fact, since entering the ward, she stopped noticing anything else.

"Jess..."

The familiarity of her father's voice finally gained some sort of attention from the lifeless girl. But her response to him was half-hearted, at best. Merely throwing him a side glance, her eyes went straight back on to the girl beside her.

It pained the father deeply to see his daughter in this state. Inching forward even more, he came to a stop by the bed and gripped tightly onto its railing, guilty tears stemming from his eyes.

"I'm sorry..."

Without surprise, the girl did not respond.

"I'll get my best doctor for her, I promise you."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I was wrong. Krystal left, you left... I just want my daughters back and happy. I wasn't a good father, I knew you were in love with her and yet I—“

“Please… just leave.” Jessica requested, still keeping her eyes on Yuri’s face.

“I want to fix things, Jess.”

"After all these years, I don't even know if I should trust you."

"Let me prove it to you." The man put a hand on Jessica's shoulder. "Let me be a real father to you this time."

-----

In the course of days following the accident, Mr Jung had tried everything in his bones to make amends. He would visit the two girls at any chance he could get, preferring to avoid Yuri’s friends and family for now. He had also kept to his word, and flown in one of his trusted doctors from the States, who concluded with a good evaluation on Yuri’s recovery. It pleased him immensely to bring Jessica some comfort, even if it was just for the slightest bit. Moreover, Jessica was slowly warming up to him and it was more than he could ask for.

But of course, karma works in mysterious ways, and the truth never fails to catch up.

Despite having an entire busy schedule ahead of her, Hyomin had made frequent, low-key trips to the hospital to prevent media frenzy. She had also made a couple of trips to the police station, which only followed up with disappointment in finding no leads on the hit-and-run. It was only after days of futility that she stopped investigating.

That night, despite not having slept properly for days, she routinely returned to the hospital, finding herself missing and worrying about the girl to the point that it affected her life. As she walked towards the ward, she was halted by something: a voice. It wasn't the voice per se, it was the fact that the voice mentioned the 3 syllable name that caught her attention.

"...Kwon Yuri isn’t my fault! You should have gone through me first!"

"Fine. But you're not gonna get that much, you hear?"

Hyomin stood in shock, wondering what business this person had with Yuri. Perturbed, she drew a little closer to unravel the man's identity.

"Look, you screwed up and hurt my daughter in the process--"

And it all made sense now. Hyomin didn't even need the help of the police.

Clenching her fist tightly, Hyomin stepped forward without thinking; the inexistent rage in the girl emerging the moment she found out that the hurt on Yuri was deliberate.

"You're Jessica's father, aren't you?" she questioned.

Mr Jung stood in shock at her confrontation. The phone in his hand fell onto the floor as the girl looked at him with the most upset eyes he'd ever seen.

Hyomin didn't need his response to know the answer. She stared at the man with gritted teeth and angry tears, with which the latter won.

"How... could you... do such a thing?? Yuri loves your daughter more than you can ever… imagine." she choked on her words as she fell vulnerable to the despair that surrounded Yuri's plight. There was hardly energy left for anger.

"I-it wasn't intentional I swear..." Mr Jung tried to explain. "M-My daughter's just starting to forgive me and all I want now is for Yuri to be fine if that's what makes Jess happy!!"

"But Yuri ISN'T fine!! She ISN'T fine!!" Hyomin cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks. "How could you ever fix this???"

“I’ll try anything and everything… Just please…" the man begged. "Don't tell Jessica."

“…”

"I'm begging you, please." he begged again.

"All they wanted was to be together... And because of you…" Hyomin struggled to say amidst her tears. “Do you have any idea how many people got hurt in the process??”

Mr Jung kept silent, his panic dissipating as the guilt took over.

"They were practically willing to die... for each other."

At the end of his tether, the man went down on his knees. "Please... I need this chance to make amends. Jess will never forgive me if she finds out.”

Hyomin remained silent, still overwhelmed with emotions.

“I swear I'll be a better father to the both of them. I'll give them my blessings... I'll give them anything they want..."

His response threw Hyomin into a pit of dilemma, because now it seemed as if she was the key to Yuri and Jessica's happiness.

"How do you expect me to hide a thing like this...??"

"It will make them happier to be kept in the dark. I won’t intercede in their relationship from now on. I will support them with all my heart, I swear to you. I swear with my life."

"I need you to go with me on this. Please." he begged sincerely, with tears in his eyes, still kneeled down.

"Please..."