Renewed Hope

"Absolutely not," the words were out of Areum's mouth before Yoora could even process what Geumjae had said.

"Shut up, Areum. Yoora?" Geumjae asked, desperation bleeding into his voice. Yoora's throat ran dry. Her heart longed for her to agree for she missed home, yet her head screamed otherwise.

"Yoora," Areum's voice held a silent warning as she sensed her hesitation.

"No, Geumjae. I'm sorry, this isn't going to happen," Yoora muttered. Geumjae's face dropped. Areum smirked, satisfied with Yoora's answer. Geumjae sighed resigning to fate as he sunk down on the sofa in their living room. His hands found his hair as he tugged at his curls, trying to ease the painful throbs of his growing headache.

The two women stared at each other, exchanging stares. One determined and the other annoyed. Yoora looked away from Areum's stare. She carefully sat beside the male, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leaned her head on his shoulder. He unconsciously leaned towards her, one arm wrapping her waist and the other pinching the bridge of his nose.

Areum stared at the scene through narrowed eyes before leaving the room for the sake of their privacy. Yoora rolled her eyes at her friend's behaviour. Well, she wasn't a friend… it's complicated

Yoora and Geumjae stayed that way for a while, holding each other. No words came out, none were needed. All they needed were each other.

"Stay the night, it's getting late," she patted him on the back, a wan smile on her face. Geumjae nodded, as he made himself comfortable on the couch. Yoora got up, making her way to her bedroom, shutting the door softly. Her lips curled into a distasteful sneer as she turned to Areum, who was leaning against the headboard.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Yoora asked her voice deathly low. Anyone would've been intimidated by the tone of her voice and the way her eyes were glinting, but not Areum. She had seen it a million times before.

"It seems like you've forgotten who the actual leader of Oasis is, hmm? I've been way too forgiving with you, haven't I? It's time to remind you who's supposed to listen to who," Yoora growled, her hands balled into fists, fingernails digging into the flesh of her palm.

"You would have said yes! That's why I took the liberty to say no," Areum scoffed, crossing her arms.

"And? What if I did say yes? What are you going to do about it? It's my fucking choice whether or not I want to go back. You don't get to decide for me, no one has that right," Yoora yelled. There was a thick tension in the room. So thick you could probably cut it with a knife. Silence ensued as Areum turned her head away from Yoora, staring at the window, Yoora standing at the door, chest heaving from her outburst.

"You know I didn't mean it that way, I'm just worried. I was there when it happened, I saw how hurt you were, how broken you were… how broken you still are… I don't want you to go through that again," Areum reasoned, her voice so tender as if she were talking to something so precious, so fragile.

"That still doesn't give you the right to decide," Yoora muttered, her arms still balled into fists, a petulant scowl on her face.

"I know it doesn't, but I thought…" Areum cut herself off.

"You thought what? That I'm some little kid who can't handle myself? That I don't know the consequences of my choices? That I'm some broken, worthless, easy to manipulate brainless fool?" Yoora bit out, tears forming in her eyes.

"I never said that,"

"Yeah, well you did when you answered on my behalf." Areum sighed softly, striding up to Yoora.

"Look. I'm sorry, okay? I did what I thought was best, I wasn't trying to undermine your authority. I just want you to be happy," Areum whispered, placing a warm hand on Yoora's shoulder.

"Happy? When was the last time you saw me happy? I haven't been happy in the past ten years. So don't you dare say you did this so I could be happy," Yoora called out.

"Okay, look. You're clearly not in the right state of mind to talk about this now. So we'll talk about it in the morning, okay? Let's just head to bed," Areum placated.

"Not in the right state of mind? What are you trying to say? That I'm going insane?"

"Can we stop? I'm tired, please," Areum attempted to appease her leader, grasping both of Yoora's wrists in her hands.

"No, we are going to have this conversation right now," Yoora withdrew her arms.

"Please," Areum begged. The tone of her voice was what stopped Yoora short. Areum never begged, no matter how desperate she was.

"Fine," were the last words they exchanged before the both of them climbed into bed, lying down at the opposite ends. They were both tired, but neither of them slept. It was pitch dark, in the dead of night when Yoora heard the duvet shuffling. She could feel the heat of Areum's body radiating towards her, enveloping her frigid body in a delicious cocoon of heat. A few seconds later, she could hear Areum's husky voice.

"Can I hug you?" the short and direct question threw Yoora off before she scooted her body towards Areum in answer. No other words were said as they both held each other, Areum smiling against Yoora's neck as they both nodded off.

Areum woke up to see Yoora staring at her face, her lips pressed together in a straight line.

"Hey," Areum said, her voice rough from the disuse of it.

Yoora nodded in return before saying, "I'm sorry about yesterday, I know you meant well."

"It's my fault, I should have trusted you to make the decision,"

"Next time, please. Just let me make the call. I hope you can trust me enough to make the best choice for us and the rest of the Oasis,"

"You're going to say yes, aren't you?" The corners of Yoora's lips turned.

Warning bells went off in Areum's head but she nodded and said, "I trust you, and whatever your decision, I'll stand by you,"

"Thank you."

The both of them went down to see Geumjae sitting up on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table, eyes closed His eyes snapped open as he heard their footsteps.

"Couldn't sleep?" Yoora asked. Geumjae nodded, sighing.

"Thinking about what to do, it's a difficult situation," was all the explanation he could give before a yawn escaped from his mouth. His head throbbed from the stress and pressure that he was under.

"About coming back…" Yoora trailed off

"I'll think about it," those were the magical words that ameliorated Geumjae's headache. He looked up from his hands, eyes sparkling with hope.