CHAPTER XXI

IT’S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES

Tiffany woke up in a large round shaped pink bed. She yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes and then stretched her arms. The crescent eyed girl looked around her bedroom; it was a large round room with stone wall and stone floor. There was a large golden chandelier hanging right in the center of the room. There was a tall wooden glass door with red curtains on her left, and a large wooden dresser and a vanity on her right. A couple of antique wall rugs decorated her large room. And finally, she could see a large tall antique door straight from her large round bed.

The black haired American girl crawled out of her cute pink bed and reached for the dresser. She put on a pink robe over her white long nightgown and headed for the tall wooden glass door.

She opened the door and stepped outside to the balcony. She breathed in the fresh morning air and enjoyed the view of mountains and forests in front of her. She could see the amusement park where she played with her blonde shining friend and Joe the white unicorn back then between the mountains. It was a perfect morning; with bright sky and pretty clouds and birds singing. Tiffany took another deep breath and stretched her arms.

“Good morning, Princess Tiffany.” A familiar loving voice could be heard.

“Good morning to you too.” She turned to her right and smiled at the blonde girl with shining face who was leaning to the stone railings.

“It’s been a while…” The crescent eyed girl added.

“Yeah, it is…” The blonde girl nodded.

“So where have you been?” Tiffany asked as she leaned to the railings.

“Oh, I’m always here, Tiffany.” The nameless blonde said. “You’re the one who’s always busy with that new best friend of yours…”

“Hey, don’t talk like that…” She looked apologetic. “… I’m not always busy with her…”

“But you are.” The blonde girl sounded upset. “Even your diary’s filled with Jessica this-Jessica that…”

“How did you know that?” Tiffany was surprised. “Did you read my diary?”

“I didn’t have to.” The little girl giggled. “You just confirmed it for me.”

“Oh…” The crescent eyed girl blushed.

Both girls stayed quiet after a while as they stared at the beautiful view in front of them.

“So how do you like your castle?” The blonde girl said finally.

“I love it.” Tiffany smiled at her. “Did you build this for me?”

“I did.” The girl nodded. “I thought that a castle would be fitting for a princess like you.”

“Oh, really?” The crescent eyed girl giggled. “You sound like someone I know.”

“Someone who likes to tease me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The blonde shrugged. “I was not trying to tease you.”

“If you say so…” Tiffany laughed.

“Here comes Joe!” The blonde girl shouted as she pointed to a white unicorn flying towards them.

The white unicorn landed on the balcony and both girls quickly climbed on his back. Joe stomped his feet and flew again, taking the girls to see the huge stone castle from above. Tiffany saw how huge and beautiful the castle was; with pink rooftops and small pink flags scattered on its walls and two tall round towers. The castle was surrounded with waters, and the only way to reach it was a wooden bridge right in front of its gate.

“It’s enormous!” Tiffany shouted in glee.

“Perfect for Princess Tiffany!” The blonde girl laughed.

The unicorn then took the girls around the mountains, passing the empty amusement park. They then flew above the forest, and the crescent eyed girl could see a pink panda far below them, sitting on a collapsed tree munching on a bamboo near the small lake with a waterfall.

“Look; it’s Mister Pink…” Tiffany pointed and they giggled.

Joe took them around the empty amusement park once more, passing the roller coaster, the slingshot, and the merry go round. The crescent eyed girl stared at the rides and smiled; she had a very good memory there. And then she saw Blue swimming in the air, flying closer to them.

“Oh, you’re here, Blue!” Tiffany smiled and petted the cute dolphin. “How are you?”

And Blue the blue dolphin squeaked happily and circled around them, before heading to the roller coaster and followed its track.

The next stop was the beach just over the mountain. Joe flew lower, almost touching the sand, and he raced Bob who was barking at them and wiggling his tail around.

“See you, Bob!” Tiffany waved to the cute purple dog.

The dog happily raced them for a while, before getting exhausted and decided to sit down and barked at them. And they flew higher again, circling the beach once more before they went over the mountain again, and headed for a small house near the woods. As they circled the house, Tink and Bell greeted them and flew next to their sides.

“Hello, Tink!” Tiffany reached out to the green canaries. “Hello, Bell!”

“Nice to see you again!” She giggled as she opened her hands to catch any sparkling dust the birds left in their trails.

And after a while Joe headed back to the castle and landed on Tiffany’s balcony.

“Thank you for the fun ride, Joe.” Tiffany petted the unicorn’s head. “We had fun.”

The magical horse nodded repeatedly as if he understood her, and pulled away before stomping his front feet and flew away once more.

“Goodbye, Joe!” The crescent eyed girl shouted and waved to the flying unicorn. “We’ll see you again!”

“That was fun!” Tiffany turned to her blonde shining friend.

“Yes, it was.” The blonde girl giggled.

“So what are we going to do now?” Tiffany’s eyes were filled with hope.

“Next you have to go through the door.” The little girl pointed at the balcony door. “And go home.”

“It’s that time already, huh?” The crescent eyed girl was sad as she knew it was time for her to go.

“Yes, it is.” The shining faced girl sounded sad. "There's a storm coming..."

"A storm?" The black haired American girl looked up and could only see clear sky. "I don't see any dark clouds..."

"You will," The blonde girl said. "It's coming soon."

"You have to get inside now."

"But will I survive the storm?" The crescent eyed girl was worried.

"You will," Her shining faced best friend's words comforted her. "Your friends will help you."

“So…” Tiffany stared at her shining friend and nodded. “… I’ll see you around?”

“Of course.” The blonde girl giggled. “If you’re not busy with Jessica.”

“Don’t go there again.” The black haired American girl pushed the door. “I told you you’re both important to me…”

“You’re lying…” Tiffany could hear the blonde’s words as she was suddenly blinded by a white light.

“Tiffany?” Someone was poking her foot. “Tiffany!”

“Tiffany, wake up!” It was Jang Ri-in.

The crescent eyed girl slowly opened her eyes and stared at her Chinese friend.

“Good morning, Ri-in…” She yawned.

“Good morning, Tiffany.” The Chinese girl sighed. “Now hurry up or you’re going to be late for school.”

“Okay, okay…” She sat up on her bed and scratched her head.

“Really, Tiffany,” Ri-in giggled. “You have to learn to wake up on your own.”

“What would you do tomorrow when I’m not around?”

“I think I’ll manage somehow.” Tiffany giggled too. “Thanks for waking me up every day, Ri-in.”

“You’re welcome.” The Chinese girl smiled her sweetest and then walked towards the door. “Now hurry up!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Aren’t you going to your lessons, Ri-in?” Tiffany asked as she got out of the bathroom already wearing her uniform and noticed Ri-in was still sitting on the couch wearing her pajama.

“Oh, I’m not going today, Tiffany.” The Chinese girl said. “I have to pack and move to the new dorm this afternoon.”

“Oh…” The crescent eyed girl sat next to her. “… Can I help you pack?”

“No, it’s okay.” Ri-in smiled and shook her head. “You have to go to school, remember?”

“Yeah…” Somehow Tiffany was feeling sad.

“Don’t be sad, Tiffany.” Ri-in tried to cheer her. “Think of it this way; you’ll have more space in the bedroom now.”

“And you don’t have to listen to my snoring anymore.” She laughed.

“But you don’t snore.” The black haired American girl giggled.

“Really?” The Chinese girl pretended to think hard. “I guess it was Taeyeon all along then…”

“Yeah, it’s definitely Taeyeon!” Tiffany laughed.

Both girls laughed for a while before the crescent eyed girl knew she would miss her bus if she didn’t go now.

“Promise me you’ll stay in touch?” Tiffany asked her Chinese friend.

“I promise.” Ri-in nodded and smiled.

“Well I guess I’ll be seeing you on TV then.” The black haired American girl flashed her eye smile and stood up. “Congrats again, Ri-in.”

“Thank you.” The future idol smiled her sweetest, and Tiffany waved to her as she walked towards the front door.

It was the middle of training break and Tiffany was in the restroom to relief herself. Two trainee girls stepped inside the restroom, talking about a girl who was about to get her debut soon. The crescent eyed girl didn’t mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, since she thought the act was rude, but when she heard Jang Ri-in being mentioned she could not help but listen.

“What a load of crap.” One girl said.

“Yeah, she’s only been here for a little more than a year and she already got her debut.” The other agreed.

“I heard some stuff about that Jang Ri-in girl, you know…” The high pitched girl continued.

“What stuff?”

“I heard she flirts with managers and instructors so they would say nice things about her,” The first voice said.

“Ugh, really?” The second girl agreed again. “I never knew she was such a .”

“Really.” The first girl continued. “My friend even saw her with Youngjin oppa one night.”

“She said they looked like they were on a date.”

“What a !” The second girl shouted.

And Tiffany clenched her fists and leaned forward to listen better.

“I wonder if she sleeps with the instructors too.” The girl’s voice was filled with disgust.

“Of course she does!” The first girl giggled. “A lot of trainees slept with their instructors so they could debut!”

“Really?”

“Yeah; really!” She sounded serious now. “It’s hardly a secret, you know.”

“Some girls do what they have to to get want they want.”

“Egh, gross…”

“I bet she sleeps with our chairman too.” The high pitched girl added more fuel.

“Eww… And I thought our chairman is a decent man…”

“No man in this industry is decent.” There was a hint of hatred in her voice. “They all want our bodies.”

“Remember that.”

“Yeah…” The second girl sighed.

“But still,” She continued. “I never thought Ri-in would do something like that.”

“She looked innocent to me…”

“Innocent types are the worst.” The first girl hissed. “They look so pure in front of you and hide their true nature.”

Tiffany was so angry right now, but she tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths.

“Yeah…” The second girl sighed again. “… I guess she’s a fake after all…”

“Well at least there’s one less in our class now.” The high pitched girl laughed.

“What do you mean less?” The second girl asked. “Are there others?”

“You’re really dense, aren’t you?” The first girl laughed. “Even I can tell there are others!”

“You know that American; Tiffany?” She continued.

And the crescent eyed girl was shocked to hear her name.

“Oh, yeah.” The second girl quickly agreed. “The one who always flashes her eye smile, right?”

“Yeah, now that I think of it; she really act like a .”

“Yeah; I heard when she first arrived from America two managers picked her up at the airport and they went to some hotel.” The first girl said.

“Right from the airport?” The second girl was surprised. “And with two managers?”

“Yeah, how sick is that?” The high pitched girl added.

“And the way she always smiles and acts nice and cute and all…”

“… What a …”

And the rumor broke Tiffany’s heart. Her face was already covered with her tears, and she bit her lower lip to stop herself from making noise.

But we didn’t go to a hotel! We didn’t do anything! We went straight to the dorm! How could they say that? Where did they hear that? Her mind shouted all those words.

“And that Jessica.” The first girl said again, and Tiffany felt her heart fell off her chest. “She’s one too.”

“R-Really?” The second girl was shocked to hear the blonde’s name. “Jessica Jung?”

“Yeah; that Jessica.” The high pitched girl said. “I heard she’s our chairman’s favorite.”

“And I heard that her father was the one who ‘sold’ her, and their family received money for her ‘services’—“ And her words were cut-off by a loud noise coming from one of the stall.

Tiffany had lost her patience and slammed the door of her stall as hard as she could with her palm. Her hand was hurting now, but it was nothing compared to her heart. She could stay quiet when they were talking lies about her roommate, Jang Ri-in, and she could even hold her tears when they talked bad about her, but she could not sit still when they started talking about her bestest best friend.

“W-Who was that?” The first girl shouted.

The crescent eyed girl took a deep breath and flushed the toilet.

“Don’t you dare say anything about my Jessie.” She hissed as she stood up, ready to open the door.

“W-What do you want?” The second girl was scared now.

“I think you girls need to leave now.” Another voice could be heard.

This time Tiffany recognized the calm intimidating voice. In fact she could recognize that familiar voice anywhere. It was the voice of Jessica Jung, her best friend.

“Oh, …” One of the girls whispered and Tiffany could hear their rushed footsteps.

The crescent eyed girl opened the door and found the toilet was already empty. She stared at the beautiful blonde who was leaning to the sink and smiling at her.

“Are you okay?” Her sweet voice was as soothing as ever, and Tiffany quickly rushed into her arms and cried.

“They… They were saying some bad things about you…” She wailed as she tightened her hug.

“It’s okay, Tiff,” Jessica her hair gently. “It’s okay…”

“They’re gone now…”

“How could…” The black haired American girl sobbed. “… How could they say such things?”

“It’s okay, honey…” The blonde tightened her hug. “They’re just jealous…”

“They were talking about Ri-in…” The crescent eyed girl was so upset. “… And I was angry…”

“… And then they were talking about me…”

“… And I cried…”

“… But then they talked about you…”

“… I couldn’t stand it…”

“… Tell me it’s not true!” She buried her face against the blonde’s neck. “Tell me they're lying!”

“Of course they were lying, silly…” Jessica smiled. “… I would never do such a thing…”

And the blue eyed girl decided to wait until Tiffany calmed down.

“What are you doing?” Hyoyeon said from the opened door when she saw the two girls wrapped around each other.

“O-Oh, Hyoyeon…” Tiffany quickly pulled away and wiped her tears.

“Are you crying?” The brunette noticed the crescent eyed girl’s tears. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Jessica said calmly. “She just heard some sad news about a friend…”

“Really?” Hyoyeon didn’t look convinced. “Is that right, Tiffany?”

“Y-Yeah, yeah; it is…” The black haired girl nodded, but she was curious about why Jessica lied to Hyoyeon.

“What was the sad news about?” The brunette crossed her arms and kept her stare on Tiffany.

“S-She was…” The crescent eyed girl stuttered as she didn’t know what to say.

“She broke up with her boyfriend because she thinks he’s cheating on her with Tiffany.” The blonde girl once again answered for her.

“That girl confronted her earlier and called her names.” She continued. “And I caught her crying alone so I tried to comfort her.”

“Oh, really?” Hyoyeon looked concerned. “Are you okay, Tiffany?"

“Y-Yeah…” Tiffany nodded.

“Okay then,” The brunette walked towards one of the stalls. “Tell me if you need anything, Tiffany.”

“I’d be happy to kick the girl’s for you.”

“O-Oh, you don’t have to, Hyoyeon…” The crescent eyed girl said. “… Thank you…”

“You’re welcome.” And the brunette closed the stall door. “Just don’t go hugging like that in the restroom.”

“People might get the wrong idea…”

“W-What idea?” Tiffany ‘s face suddenly blushed. “W-We didn’t do anything!”

“I know, I know…” They could hear her voice from the other side of the stall. “Now let me pee, please…”

“Come on, Tiff.” Jessica giggled and linked her arm to Tiffany’s. “Let’s go.”

“B-But we didn’t do anything!” The black haired girl was still trying to convince Hyoyeon. “We swear!”

“Why did you lie to her?” Tiffany asked as they walked together to their vocal class.

“I just thought it wouldn’t be such a good idea to tell her the whole thing.” Jessica explained. “She’s the type who always gets carried away.”

“If we told her what really happened she would try to find the girls and start a fight…”

“Oh, I see…” The crescent eyed girl understood.

“So who were they?” Tiffany was reminded by the event once more.

“Just some unnies…” The blonde said as they reached their classroom. “… It doesn’t matter…”

“Jessie…” The black haired girl looked frightened as she grasped the blonde’s arm. “… I don’t want to train right now…”

“Then let’s go.” Jessica smiled and petted her. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

“Can we?” Tiffany’s eyes were full of hope. “Are we allowed to skip classes?”

“I’m sure it’s okay if they didn’t notice.” The blonde girl smiled and guided her to the opposite direction.

“Come on, where do you want to go?” Jessica asked as they started to run together and giggled.

“I want pizza!” Tiffany flashed her eye smile. “Or burgers!”

“I miss the good ol’ fashioned American food!”

“To the mall then!” Jessica laughed, and they quickly head for the bus stop.

Tiffany stared at their joined hands and smiled when she noticed that the blonde was wearing her handmade gift, and it made her chest warm and her steps lighter. She knew that Jessica could not wear the cute friendship bracelet at school since they did not allow their students to wear accessories; they even had to hide their matching anklets underneath their socks so the teacher would not notice them. So the blonde girl probably started wearing it when they got to the training building. The gesture made Tiffany happier than anything else; knowing that Jessica really treasured her gift.

And as they ran together the blonde’s wrist was making a cute tinkling sound, and Tiffany giggled and started to swing their hands harder so the bracelet made more sounds.

They arrived at the mall and head inside. Jessica asked her best friend if she wanted to do some window shopping first, since she knew it was Tiffany’s favorite activity and it might made her feel better, but the crescent eyed girl shook her head and guided the blonde to an ice cream shop on the 4^th floor instead.

Tiffany remembered her promise and ordered a bowl of their finest vanilla ice cream, and then ordered a bowl strawberry ice cream for herself while the blonde ordered pizza and soda from the other shop nearby. The blue eyed girl smiled her sweetest and thanked her when she saw the black haired American girl was carrying her vanilla ice cream. They both then sat on an empty table and Jessica immediately took out her cell phone.

“Who are you texting now?” The crescent eyed girl sighed when she saw her best friend was busy with her phone instead of eating the ice cream she had wanted. “The ice cream is going to melt…”

“I was just telling Sooyoung to gather our things and meet us at Solitaire later.” Jessica put her cell phone down and stared at her.

“Oh, right…” Tiffany said apologetically.

“You get jealous easily…” The blonde giggled and scooped her ice cream.

“I-I do not!” The crescent eyed girl shouted. “I’m not jealous!”

“Mmm, this is so good…” Jessica ignored her.

“J-Jessie!” Her face was getting red.

“Here, have a bite.” The blonde girl offered her a spoon full of her vanilla ice cream.

“I don’t want—“ She was about to say.

“--Aahhh…” Jessica insisted.

“Aahh…” And again Tiffany yielded and ate the ice cream.

“It’s delicious, right?” The blonde giggled again.

“Not as good as mine,” The crescent eyed girl said as she offered her ice cream. “Here try it.”

And somehow Tiffany felt happy just by seeing her blonde best friend munched the ice cream from her spoon.

The black haired American girl really enjoyed her strawberry ice cream and finished her bowl in no time. The blonde giggled as she mentioned that she had not even finished half of her ice cream. Their pizza arrived soon after and Tiffany’s eyes brightened at the sight. She quickly took a slice and placed it on her plate, and continued to slice them into tiny pieces. And as she took a bite of the pizza she noticed the blonde girl who was sitting across from her was busy picking onions with her fork.

“Here, let me do it for you.” The crescent eyed girl took her plate.

“It’s okay, I can do it myself.” Jessica reached for her plate.

“I’ll do it, Jessie.” Tiffany took the blonde’s hand and placed guided it to her ice cream bowl. “You go ahead and eat your ice cream before it melts.”

“I’ll save it for dessert.” The blue eyed girl didn’t let go of her hand.

“Jessie…” The crescent eyed girl flushed as she stared at their joined hands on the table. “… I can’t pick the onions for you with just one hand…”

“Boo…” The blonde girl pouted cutely and released her hold. “… Okay then…”

Tiffany giggled and continued to pick the onions from Jessica’s pizza, while the blue eyed girl decided to wait for her to finish by staring at her lovingly.

“Stop staring at me, Jessie…” The crescent eyed girl whispered as she felt her face was getting hot.

“How do you know I don’t like onions?” Jessica ignored her comment and rested her chin on both of her opened hands.

“Oh, haven't you figure it out?” Tiffany giggled. “I’m a psychic…”

“But you’re a strange one, Jessie.” She said again. “I never met someone who doesn’t like onions before…”

“Would you prefer if I had a cucumber phobia instead?” The blonde adjusted her glasses.

“Oh, I think that’s even weirder.” She laughed as she finished separating the onions and gave Jessica her plate back. “No one has that kind of phobia!”

“Oh, you never know.” The blue eyed girl smiled as she stared at her onion-free pizza. “Thanks, Tiff.”

“You’re welcome.”

And when the crescent eyed girl was about to continue eating her slice, Jessica’s hand took hers and joined them on top of the table. Tiffany flushed at the gesture and stared at the smiling blonde.

“What?” Jessica said. “You don’t need both hands to cut a pizza, do you?”

“I guess not…” She smiled shyly and went back to her meal.

And surprisingly Jessica didn’t let go of her hand until they finished eating. The blonde girl then put her ice cream bowl in the middle of the table and told Tiffany they should share it as their dessert. The crescent eyed girl nodded shyly when she felt that the blue eyed girl was her hand gently with her thumb. And after a while she then decided to do the same to her bestest best friend.

“Feeling better?” Jessica asked her after they finished the bowl.

“I do.” Tiffany smiled and lifted her head to stare at her. “Thank you.”

“That’s okay,” The blonde smiled. “I bet you were pretty shocked to hear those rumors.”

“I guess so…” She recalled the event in the restroom earlier.

“Why did they say such horrible things, Jessie?” Tiffany was still puzzled.

“Honestly? I don’t know, Tiff…” Jessica put their plates to the side and put her free hand on top of their joined hands.

“They’re probably just jealous…” She continued, “… And rumors like that are pretty common among us trainees…”

“It’s like there’s a hidden competition between us.” Tiffany looked sad.

“Well; there is.” Jessica said. “We’re not there just to train and make friends…”

“The company watches and scores us individually too, even though they always encourage teamwork…”

“They provide dorm for us so that we can strengthen our bonds with each other…”

“But of course we cannot get along with everyone…” The blue eyed girl sighed. “There will always be jealousy among us…”

“And that jealousy could lead into those rumors like what you heard earlier…”

“Yeah…” Tiffany slowly understood that there was something hidden underneath all the fun and good things being a trainee. “I guess so…”

“So now you know it’s not all fun and games…” Jessica said again.

Tiffany slowly nodded and sipped her soda, while her best friend played with her other hand.

“I just wished we could all be friends, you know…” The crescent eyed girl sighed. “Why can’t we get along with everyone?”

“Because you can't possibly make everyone likes you,” The blonde shared her opinion. “There will always be someone who wouldn’t accept you and think bad of you.”

“It’s just human nature…”

Tiffany shuddered as she was scared of having the thought that there was someone out there who wouldn’t like her. “That’s so scary…”

“How do you deal with someone who wouldn’t accept you?” She asked as she stared at her joined hands.

“Well…” The blue eyed girl tilted her head to the side and smiled. “… Just accept that fact and move on…”

“That sounds harsh…” The black haired girl looked sad. “Don’t you want to try and change their opinion of you?”

“I think it’s a waste of time and energy.” The blonde said. “I’d rather put all my heart to think of ways to make people that I really love happier.”

And Tiffany smiled when she heard that. She realized that it was probably the best way to live one’s life. She stared at the ever smiling blonde girl in front of her and wondered how could a teenage girl with the same age as her could think of something probably only adults could think of; since they had had more experience in life.

“You know,” She flashed her eye smile. “You do sound like an old woman sometimes…”

“I-I do not!” Jessica stuttered. “I’m just a fifteen year old girl like you!”

“Sixteen, Jessie.” Tiffany giggled. “We’re sixteen in Korea.”

“Whatever!” The blonde pulled her hand away from Tiffany’s and crossed her arms.

The black haired American girl suddenly felt like she had lost something important, and she quickly reached out to the blonde’s hand.

“Jessie!” She panicked. “Your hand! Give me your hand!”

“No!” Jessica pretended to be upset. “Why would you want to hold hands with an old woman anyway?”

“Jessie!” And she cried and pleaded like a five year old kid who just lost her balloon.

“Okay, okay…” The blue eyed girl giggled and quickly took her hands. “What a cry baby…”

And Tiffany quickly squeezed the blonde’s hand and calmed down.

They chatted some more for a while before Tiffany thought of something she had always wanted to do with her bestest best friend.

“Come on, Jessie!” The crescent eyed girl said cheerfully as she quickly stood up and pulled the blonde. “There’s something we have to try!”

“O-Okay…” Jessica was surprised but she tried to keep up with her best friend’s pace. “Tiff, slow down!”

People were started to notice the two running girls as they made tinkling sounds as they passed by. Some people were staring at them oddly, some were giggling, and others thought they were cute.

“Where are we going, Tiff?” Jessica started to feel uneasy with all the attention.

“You’ll see,” The crescent eyed girl sounded very excited. “You’re not getting away this time, Jessie!”

“You already got away twice!”

“What are you talking about?” The blonde girl asked, but then she quickly understood what her best friend was talking about as they got in front of the photo booth.

“Here we are…” The black haired girl flashed her eye smile.

“Right,” Jessica giggled. “We never got the chance to try this together.”

“Well this time no one would be able to bother us.” Tiffany laughed and pulled her blonde friend inside.

And both American girls spent some time taking their pictures in as many pose as possible. They tried the cute pose, the pouting pose, the silly pose, the model pose, and every other pose they could think of. And after they had exhausted their ideas they decided to end their photo shoot session and stepped out of the booth, laughing.

They were still laughing and giggling when they checked the results and shared the pictures among the two of them, when a tall man in white shirt and a tie approached them with an awkward smile.

“Excuse me, ladies.” He said awkwardly. “May I have a moment, please?”

“I’m a representative of the YMC Entertainment,” He continued. “Have you girls heard our company?”

The two girls stared at each other before Jessica answered the man.

“Yes, we’ve heard the name,” The blonde said politely. “It’s a talent agency, correct?”

“Yes, it is.” The man nodded. “We’re an entertainment company.”

“I’m actually a manager looking for new talents and I just happened to notice you two.” The slick haired man took out his business card and politely handed it to the blonde girl.

“I was wondering if you two perhaps are interested in the entertainment industry.”

“Oh, thank you.” Tiffany said politely. “Actually we already joined SME.”

“Oh, really?” The man looked disappointed. “I should’ve figured…”

“Well, anyway,” He quickly smiled once more. “Keep the card and if you two had a change of heart, let me know.”

“We’ll be more than happy to train you under our agency and help you realize your dreams.”

“Thank you.” The two girls bowed to the man.

“Oh, no; thank you.” The man quickly bowed too.

“Thank you for your time and have a nice day, girls.” He said as he turned around and walked away.

“Do you get that a lot?” Tiffany asked her blonde best friend as they sat on the bus on their way to their favorite café.

“Get what a lot?” Jessica was busy with her cell phone.

“That,” The crescent eyed girl asked again. “Offers from other companies…”

“Oh, that…” The blonde girl nodded but didn’t stop texting. “… A couple of times, maybe…”

“I don’t like it when you’re playing with your cell while you’re talking to me.” The black haired American girl pouted.

“Oh…” The blue eyed girl quickly put her phone back into her pocket. “… Sorry…”

“Never mind…” Tiffany looked away.

“Geez, Tiff…” Jessica sighed and adjusted her glasses. “You get upset easily…”

“I said I’m sorry, okay?”

“Fine…” And even Tiffany realized how she got upset pretty easily when it was about her blonde best friend. She knew that her emotions always seemed to double whenever Jessica was around; she got upset easily, she cried easily, she got happy easily, and she got jealous easily. Although the last part was something she would not admit, since she thought that it was strange for her to be jealous of a friend, even if it was her bestest best friend.

“I’m sorry too…” She sighed.

“That’s okay,” Jessica giggled and fixed Tiffany’s side bangs. “I shouldn’t have played with my cell when I’m talking to Princess Tiffany...”

And the crescent eyed girl felt her face was getting warmer; another hint of emotion doubled in frequencies and effects whenever she was with Jessica.

“D-Do you really know YMC Entertainment?” The black haired girl tried to change the subject.

“Yeah,” The blonde girl said. “I heard that someone from our school joined the company…”

“Really?” Tiffany was surprised. “I didn’t know that…”

“Well our school has always been a good place for foreigners like us to study,” Jessica explained. “And there are many foreign students who got scouted and joined agencies like us…”

“Oh, I see…” The crescent eyed girl nodded. “Do you know other trainee students in our school?”

“Well as a matter of fact, I do.” The blonde smiled. “I know this pretty and cute girl…”

“Oh, really?” Tiffany’s eyes narrowed as she once again felt jealousy crept inside her chest.

“Yeah,” The blue eyed girl giggled. “She just got here from America and she’s my classmate…”

“She gets upset real easy and a cry baby…”

And the crescent eyed girl realized that Jessica was talking about her, and her face was getting red.

“Stop it, you flirt…” She covered her cheeks while the blonde laughed.

“Do you like her?” Tiffany whispered when Jessica finally stopped laughing.

“I do,” The blue eyed girl said cutely. “She’s my bestest best friend!”

And both girls laughed after that, but after a while Tiffany started to feel something odd. Somehow she was not satisfied anymore to hear Jessica said she was her bestest best friend. It was very odd indeed, since she was the first one to come up with the idea that they were the best of friends, and it was pretty recent too.

The crescent eyed girl glanced at the blonde beside her and sighed, as the feeling of something was crawling inside her heart, ready to bursts out at any moment came again. She was confused and annoyed by that familiar feeling, and she quickly took the blonde girl’s hand into hers and placed them on her lap; the only thing she could think of to at least lessen the suffocating feeling.

And Jessica stared at her black haired American best friend and smiled. The blue eyed girl noticed how Tiffany was staring down at their joined hands on her lap, and the crescent eyed girl’s grip was getting stronger by the second, but she still made sure that it was not strong enough to hurt the blonde.

“Soon…” Jessica whispered.

“Hmm?” Tiffany turned her head to look at her blue mesmerizing blue eyes.

“Nothing…” And Jessica giggled, while the crescent eyed girl stared at her with curiosity in her eyes.