CHAPTER XXVII

LOTS OF CHOCOLATES AND JESSICA’S SMILES

It turned out to be very hard for the crescent eyed girl to forget about Jessica, or their kiss. She tried her best in keeping her distance from the blonde girl; her friends would even say that she was avoiding her. Tiffany switched seats with Lily in school, just so she wouldn’t have to sit next to the blue eyed girl. Chloe asked her the reason for the sudden request, but she just shrugged and told her that she just needed to concentrate more on her lessons and sitting at the back of the classroom was a disadvantage.

In training it was a little harder since all their friends gathered together for breaks and dinner time. But the black haired American girl managed to kept her distance by sitting the furthest from Jessica. An act that was caught by Hyoyeon, who raised an eyebrow and stared at her with her sharp and judging eyes. But after a few days the brunette started to ignore her odd behavior, and Tiffany was relieved.

The hardest part was dealing with the source of her problem; Jessica. She kept telling herself that her feelings for the blonde girl was wrong, and if she pursued the relationship then things would only go bad for the both of them. She kept telling herself that by keeping her distance she would not just help herself, but she would also protect Jessica. She thought it was the least she could do for her bestest best friend.

But now as she realized what her true feelings for Jessica were, it was very hard for her to simply just stay away from the blue eyed girl. Even when she had switched seats with Lily, she still found it hard not to glanced back every time she heard Jessica’s voice, or when someone called out her name. And although there was truth in her reason to switch seats with the Thai girl, she was having a hard time to concentrate on her lessons, when all she could think about was how pretty or how cute the blonde girl was.

During lunch Tiffany would prefer to sit with Richard and his friends, another odd behavior Chloe thought was impossible. The Texan even blurted out that the end of the world was coming, although the girls actually were friends with the boys now, and Richard and his friends would take the table next to the girls during lunch. They even had study lessons together a couple of times, and the crescent eyed girl used their helping hands as another way to keep her distance from Jessica.

PE was another nightmare for Tiffany, as they had to changed clothes in the same locker room. Back then before the black haired American girl realized her feelings for Jessica, they would simply joke around and tease each other about the underwear they were wearing. It was Tiffany who started the jokes, when they had their first PE class. They were changing their clothes and Chloe caught her staring at Jessica, and when the Texan girl about it, she blurted out that she thought the underwear the blonde was wearing were cute. The girls laughed at her comment, and from that moment on it became a sort of tradition for them to tease or praise each other about what they were wearing underneath their uniforms.

And now that she knew the real reason why she kept staring at the blonde was because she loved her, she found it almost impossible not to glance at her when she was changing clothes. When her heart was beating much faster than normal that she thought she had just ran marathon, and her face was hotter than the surface of the sun, she opted to ran from the locker room and changed in the toilet instead. When Chloe mentioned another of her odd behavior, she told them that she had an upset stomach. And her infamous stomach problems quickly spread in school as well. But she didn’t mind the rumors, as long as she could keep her eyes off of the blue eyed girl. Besides, she knew she could only use that excuse for one time only, and she had to think of other solid excuse for choosing not to change into her PE uniform in the locker room.

And Jessica. The blonde girl with her alluring small smiles. A concerned smile that said, “I’m glad you’re feeling better now; I missed you,” when Tiffany showed up on Monday after two days of absence. An encouraging smile that said, “Go ahead; you can concentrate better at front,” when she asked Lily to change seats with her. An understanding smile that said, “It’s okay; you don’t have to sit with me all the time. I’m happy that you made friends with Richard and the other,” when she opted to sit with the boys during lunch time. A cute giggle that said, “You’re such a dork,” when she got back from the toilet in her PE uniform and said that she had an upset stomach. A lovely smile that said, “Hey, you; I’m so happy you’re here,” whenever their eyes met.

And every other meaningful smile she made. Tiffany had just realized how she could tell what the blonde was thinking just by seeing her smile. It was a strange power she possessed, she thought; since she could only tell Jessica’s thoughts and no other, and an unwanted one, since she was actually trying keep her distance from the blue eyed girl, not to delve into her mind and get closer. An unwanted power that broke her heart when she saw Jessica’s disappointed smile on the night she started to attend school and training again.

It was Valentine’s Day and it was a terrible moment for Tiffany to return to her routines. The crescent eyed girl had forgotten all about the special day and was caught by surprise when Richard and his friends gave her and the girls chocolate. Chloe and Lily were equally surprise, since it was customary for girls to give chocolates to the boys they liked, not the other way around. The boys laughed and said that they were still trying to apologize for the way they acted, and the chocolates were not sign of their affection, rather their apologies and gratitude. At that moment the crescent eyed girl unconsciously glanced at Jessica, who was apparently staring at her the whole time, with her hopeful smile that was almost too unbearable for her. The next thing Tiffany knew, Chloe and Lily had given her their Valentine’s chocolates too, and she immediately for not having any chocolates for them. So instead she insisted on giving them the chocolates she had gotten from the boys earlier, even when the girls said it was not necessary since they knew the crescent eyed girl had just recovered from her so called stomach issues.

Jessica, on the other hand, smiled her sweetest and teased that she wouldn’t give Tiffany any of her handmade chocolates because she forgot to bring any. And the crescent eyed girl was very disappointed and sad to hear that, before she realized that she was supposed to keep her distance from her and lock away any feeling she had for her, and receiving any gifts from the blue eyed tease would just made her heart filled with hope again. And although it was hard to do so, she laughed and said that she wasn’t expecting her to give her anything. A wrong move, as the blonde then gave her a sad little smile that broke her heart.

And during the bus ride as they were heading to the training building, Jessica placed a small light pink heart-shaped box with pink ribbon on it on her lap. And Tiffany had to mustered every strength in her body to stay calm and not bursts out in tears when she opened the box and found a heart-shaped chocolate layered cake with pink frosting in it. A that time she knew why the blue eyed girl didn’t call or text her on Sunday; she was probably busy baking the chocolate cake for her. And there she was thinking that Jessica was upset by her rejection the other day, and pull a silent treatment on her.

She clenched her fists as she kept herself from hugging and kissing the blonde girl that very moment, and whispered a trembling thank you with all her strength instead. Jessica smiled lovingly, a beautiful happy smile that obviously said, “you’re welcome,” before she gently caressed the crescent eyed girl’s hair. And Tiffany swore she out for a moment from her touch.

Once in dancing class and the girls gathered before their lesson start, the black haired American girl couldn’t help but over-protect her pink chocolate cake from Sooyoung’s creepy stalking eyes. It was her mistake carrying the pink box into the building instead of hiding it inside her sport bag; perhaps deep inside she wanted to show off to the girls what Jessica gave her for Valentine’s Day, and now she had to keep the tall tanned girl’s greedy fingers away from her prized cute little box.

“Come on, Pany-ah,” Sooyoung whined as she kept reaching for the cake. “Just a bite!”

“You’ll still have plenty to eat!”

“No, Sooyoung!” Tiffany glared at her as she hid the box behind her body.

“Cut it out, skinny monster!” Hyoyeon sat between the two noisy girls on the floor and grabbed Sooyoung’s over active hands. “If you had been a little sweeter then maybe some of your friends in school would give you some cookies!”

“Ugh, sorry to disappoint you, Fiona,” The short haired girl said as she yanked her hands free. “But I got plenty of chocolates from my friends earlier!”

“Yeah?” The brunette scoffed. “Then where are they?”

“I ate them on my way here.” Sooyoung said innocently.

“Ugh, cliché…” Hyoyeon said as she waved her hand at her tall slim friend.

“What?” Sooyoung glared. “You don’t believe me?”

“I should’ve brought the wrappers to show you!”

“Whatever…” The dancing queen waved her hand once more to shoo her away.

“Don’t you wave your hand to my face, you ugly—“ Sooyoung was about to slapped Hyoyeon’s hand when suddenly Yuri rushed into the classroom with her hands filled with chocolate candies.

“—Oh, you won’t believe those girls!” The tanned girl looked annoyed as she dropped herself on the floor next to Tiffany. “They kept pushing me these chocolates!”

“I guess I’m just too popular!” Yuri smirked as she brushed her hair aside. “Even girls love me!”

“Ha!” The tall girl scoffed. “I bet you just bought those candies on your way here—“

“—What do you think, Pany-ah?” Yuri ignored her fellow tanned friend. “Do you also think I’m irresistible?”

“I don’t think you’re irresponsible, Yuri,” The crescent eyed girl looked puzzled.

“Irresistible!” The tanned girl laughed as she playfully slapped the black haired American girl’s arm. “Do you think I’m so cool that even girls fall for me?”

“W-What kind of question is that?” The crescent eyed girl looked surprised. She secretly threw her glance at Jessica, and found the blonde smiling at her.

“I’m not into girls!” Tiffany almost yelled as she quickly turned her eyes away from the blue eyed girl.

“Whoa…” Yuri was surprised by her loud and sudden statement that she covered her ears. “I was just asking…”

“Serves you right,” Sooyoung laughed as she took one of the candies from Yuri’s hands. “Getting a bunch of candies doesn’t mean you’re that popular.”

“How many did you get?” Yuri glared at her tall friend.

“I get five this year.” Sooyoung taunted her as she ate the candy.

“Well I get ten!” Yuri smiled as she knew she had won.

“Well I get five huge chocolate cakes!” The taller girl shouted. “Yours are so tiny they don’t count as ten!”

“More like one and a half!”

“But still,” Hyoyeon cut in. “That means more people gave Yuri chocolates.”

“So that means she’s more popular—“

“—Shut it, Fiona!” Sooyoung glared at the dancing queen. “You didn’t even get anything!”

“Why you little--” Hyoyeon was about to throw her water bottle at the tall tanned girl when Yoona entered the classroom with a pile of boxes in her hands and a proud smile on her face. Young Seohyun followed behind her carrying a similar amount of colorful boxes.

“--Unnies!” The deer eyed girl smiled the widest. “Look how many chocolates I got!”

“Let’s share them!”

“Wow, Juhyun…” The brunette was awed with the amount of chocolates the youngest received. “… How many did you get?”

“These are Yoona unnie’s,” Seohyun pointed at proud her longest friend. “She got like, twenty boxes or so…”

“Whoa, really?” Hyoyeon stared at the deer eyed girl with opened. “Seriously?”

“I think I got twenty-seven…” Yoona said calmly as she tore a box open and giggled as she found a cute heart shaped chocolate cake inside.

“And you guys fussed about getting ten candies…” The dancing queen said to Yuri and Sooyoung; who were obviously ashamed with their immature and needless bickering.

“How many did you get this year, Sica unnie?” Yoona said as the girls shared her chocolates.

“Two,” Jessica said and lifted two fingers at the deer eyed girl. “From my classmates; like usual…”

“Tiffany unnie didn’t give you one?” Yoona stared curiously at the crescent eyed girl.

“Oh, she forgot.” The blonde giggled.

“Oh…” The deer eyed girl glanced at the black haired American girl, who was staring at her pink chocolate box, with a frown on her face.

And while the other girls busied themselves eating Yoona’s cakes, Tiffany felt sorry that she had forgotten all about Valentine’s Day. Although her mind kept telling her it was for the best, and she could keep her distance to Jessica through it, but she didn’t like the way the blonde girl smiled. It was a forced smile; a disappointed and sad smile with teary eyes. A sad smile that broke her heart.

And that evening things didn’t go any better for the crescent eyed girl. The girls went to their favorite café to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Tiffany couldn’t find a reason not to come, a lie she kept telling herself since the truth was she just wanted to spend more time with Jessica. Well not exactly spending time with her; but more like staring at her the whole night, admiring her.

The first irking moment was when Taeyeon shyly gave Jessica a Valentine’s chocolate cake wrapped in a cute heart shaped box with white ribbon on it. There was something unpleasant in the way the short girl smiled when she gave the cake; like a little puppy expecting to be petted right after. And Tiffany’s eyes twitched when she saw Jessica’s sincere smile when she got the chocolate; a happy smile that should have been directed at her if she had just remembered to prepare a Valentine’s Day chocolate for the blue eyed girl. Another twitch when Taeyeon said she baked the cake specially for Jessica. And if she didn’t remember that the slanted eyed girl was her kind best friend and best roommate, she would have cursed at her and snatched the cake from the blonde’s hands and threw it away. A scene she played in her mind while she stared at the two giggling happy girls. In the end she let out a deep sigh and told herself that Taeyeon would not possibly had any other intention by giving the blue eyed girl some chocolate cake on Valentine’s Day. Taeyeon was not her; she wouldn’t give the cake because she was in love with Jessica, she only wanted to be best friends with the blonde girl.

The second irking moment was when Donghae oppa and his friends dropped by and made a fuss about not getting any chocolate from the girls. Leeteuk oppa commented that the boys received plenty of chocolates from their school mates and other trainee girls; but not from Sooyoung and her gang. Yoona then cheerfully gave them her share, since the girls were already had enough of sweet desserts to last for one year from the deer eyed girl’s share. Heechul oppa whined and said he wanted handmade chocolates from the girls, not some cakes they got from their friends. Yoona explained that the girls were either too busy or not confident enough to bake a cake on their own, but Heechul pointed that the other trainee girls were busy too, but had managed to bake some. That was when Sooyoung and Hyoyeon threatened to take the cakes back from them if they thought they didn’t like them so much, and the boys immediately yielded and told them they were only kidding around.

But then Donghae started to act cute and whined about how all the chocolates he had gotten that day tasted bitter since they were not Jessica’s. Tiffany’s eyes twitched when he said he had been expecting to receive some chocolates from the blue eyed girl. Her eyes were twitching violently, while the other girls laughed when he said he could die peacefully if he had the chance to eat some of Jessica’s handmade cooking. Even the blonde girl started to laugh at his cheesy comment. The crescent eyed girl tried her best not to punch the tall grinning silly boy on his nose, and Hyoyeon patted her in her back as she was laughing, saying that Donghae oppa was always joking around like that. The gesture somehow calmed her down, and she refrained from throwing her fist at him, and was content to throw her meanest glare instead. The meanest, scariest glare she could muster; although she was sure it was nowhere near Jessica’s icy glare.

“Seriously, though…” Donghae said after he finished his iced tea. “… I never get any chocolates from you, Sica-yah…”

“Even though I keep asking you for some…”

“Do you really hate me or something?”

“What makes you think that, oppa?” Jessica calmly said as she adjusted her glasses. A simple bump to the side of her wide brown frame that Tiffany found to be too cute. “I already said to you that I can’t bake a cake…”

“But you said you’re going to learn how this year…” Donghae pouted as he played with his straw.

Oh, God… The crescent eyed girl thought. Is he trying to be cute or what?

I think I’m going to be sick…

“Well, I’m too busy with school and training so I don’t have the time.” Jessica sighed; she looked like she was getting annoyed with the boy too.

Wait a minute, Tiffany thought. But she gave me a chocolate cake earlier…

So she was lying to Donghae about not being able to bake a cake?

And she didn’t give Chloe or Lily anything too, the thought made her smile. So I’m the only person that gets the chocolate from her…

At that time her eyes met with hers, and Jessica quickly wore a smile that said, ‘of course you’re the only person to get a chocolate from me.’

Is it because it’s Valentine’s Day? Tiffany’s mind wandered. Is she trying to tell me something?

Does she also feel the same way…

“Give it up, Donghae oppa,” Hyoyeon’s comment brought Tiffany’s mind back from her daydream. “You’re starting to annoy her.”

“Ouch.” Donghae chuckled. “Your words are as sharp as ever, Hyoyeon.”

“Yeah, I miss the sweet and cute Hyoyeon when she was in China with me…” Another boy said. Tiffany didn’t even realize there was another boy sitting next to Heechul oppa since she was too busy glaring at Donghae.

“Stop it, Siwon oppa!” The brunette girl glared at the now laughing boy and her face turned red. It was the first time the crescent eyed girl saw their dancing queen blushed; an emotion she thought Hyoyeon was not capable of. “Not one more word from you!”

“Oh, do tell us what Hyoyeon’s like in Beijing!” Yuri looked so excited to know.

“Tell us! Tell us!” Yoona was jumping in her seat.

“Shut it, you guys!” The brunette’s face was now redder than the ketchup bottle in the middle of the table, and she was waving her arms to stop the new boy from uttering another word.

And as their table started to go into a state of chaos, with the girls asking questions about how Hyoyeon behave when she trained in China, and Hyoyeon was trying to stop this Siwon oppa from spilling her secrets, Tiffany took the time to study the new boy’s figure. Siwon was a tall boy, taller than Donghae in fact, and had a fair skin. His hair was short and neat; very masculine unlike that flirty Donghae. His face was oval and his nose was quite small, and his lips were thin. What stood out the most about him was how long and sharp his eyebrows were, making his gaze a looked serious and a little intimidating.

She got a cool vibe from the tall boy, unlike the dorky flirty vibe she got from Donghae. And definitely more handsome than Donghae, the crescent eyed girl said in her mind. And a lot more decent, I’m sure…

“Would you stop staring at him, please?” A familiar sweet voice whispered into her ears that made her body trembled.

“W-What-I wasn’t staring at him!” Tiffany quickly turned to her right to see Jessica was now sitting next to her, since Hyoyeon who was the previous seat owner was now busy strangling Siwon oppa. The black haired American didn’t even notice when the blonde girl switched seats.

“Oh, really?” The blue eyed girl said in a cute tone as she leaned closer.

“I-I was just curious since I’ve never saw him before…” The crescent eyed girl immediately leaned away, afraid to get close to the girl she fell in love with.

“That’s right!” Hyoyeon suddenly shouted. “The two of you haven’t been properly introduced!”

“Siwon oppa; this is Tiffany, she joined with Taeyeon here last year when we were away!” The brunette was overjoyed to have something to distract the others from prying into her past life. “Tiffany; this is Siwon oppa, we were sent to China last year!”

“O-oh, nice to meet you.” The crescent eyed girl said as she offered her hand, relieved as she also needed to have something to keep her mind off of the blue eyed girl next to her.

“Ah, I’ve heard so much about you, Tiffany,” Siwon smiled as he shook her hand. “Heechul said you’re a loud and cheerful girl.”

“Although you look like a pretty quiet girl to me…”

“Yeah, she hasn’t been herself these couple of days…” Hyoyeon simply said as she took Siwon’s arm and dragged him closer to the real quiet girl. “And this is Taeyeon; Tiffany’s roommate!”

“Ah, nice to meet you, Taeyeon.” Siwon smiled politely once more and shook the slanted eyed girl’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, oppa…” The short girl replied shyly.

“Now you’re exactly like Leeteuk said; shy and cute!” The tall boy laughed, while the slanted eyed girl hung her head low, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Siwon continued. “It was rude of me to say stuff like that on our first meeting.”

“Siwon oppa is the star of our company!” Hyoyeon practically shouted as she said that. “He’ll star in a TV drama next month!”

“Hey, I thought I told you to keep it a secret.” The tall boy laughed as he playfully pinched Hyoyeon’s cheeks.

“Ouch! Ouch!” The brunette girl pretended to be in pain. “I’m sowwy!”

“Oh, well,” Siwon let go and sighed. “Now that it’s out in the open then I guess I have to treat you guys to celebrate my TV debut.”

“Yay!” And the girls all shouted in joy, before they hurriedly took the menu out and ordered their favorite meals and drinks, but made sure they didn’t order any dessert since they had had enough of sweets from Yoona’s share of Valentine’s chocolates.

There was laughter and joy after that, and the teenagers spent the night in good mood. All but a certain black haired American girl, who couldn’t help but feel lonely. Even when she was surrounded with her friends and two best friends, even when everything was so cheerful and funny; she felt something was missing. A piece of her heart was missing. That piece was sitting just two seats away from her, back in her original seat after Hyoyeon calmed down and sat back down next to her, in the form of a pretty blonde girl named Jessica Jung.

The crescent eyed girl spent the rest of the night laughing to Sooyoung and Hyoyeon’s bickering, Yuri and Yoona’s antics, and Seohyun’s innocent comments. She even laughed when Siwon and Heechul suddenly decided to have a dance competition between the two of them; and instead of showing off their real dancing talents, they chose to break down in silly and dorky moves. The laugh didn’t last long for her though, since she always glanced to her side to see if Jessica was laughing too. But when she caught her mesmerizing deep blue eyes and adorable smile, she quickly felt lonely; like there was an empty space in her heart.

And when the night was over and they all went home, the feeling grew stronger. The crescent eyed girl sat in the back seat of the bus, puzzled by herself. She wanted to stay away from the blonde girl, but she wanted to see her all the time. She was torn because she wanted to stop her feelings for Jessica, but she didn’t know how. She stared at the streets of Seoul through the window beside her and let out a deep sigh. This was harder than she expected.

“Pany-ah,” Taeyeon, who was sitting next to her, caught her sad face. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing…” Tiffany said a moment later, still looking outside the window.

“Are you still not feeling well?” The slanted eyed girl asked again.

“Hmm…” The crescent eyed girl just shrugged at her comment. “… Maybe…”

“Here, then!” Her Jeonju best friend suddenly said with a big smile on her face as she gave her a small round chocolate cake wrapped in clear plastic wrapper with hearts on it. “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Tiffany stared down at the cute round chocolate cake with white frosting and a cherry on top of it, and immediately reminded how the slanted eyed girl gave Jessica another cake. Her jealousy suddenly rose once more, and she looked back at the window beside her. “No, thank you…”

“You don’t have to give me anything, Taeyeon,” She said without looking at her best friend. “I know you only planned to give one to Jessica…”

“Wha-What do you mean?” The short girl looked surprised by her mean comment.

“It means,” The black haired American girl sighed. “Just because you gave one to Jessica it doesn’t mean you have to give me one too…”

“I won’t say anything bad, you know…”

“W-What are you talking about?” The slanted eyed girl’s eyes grew bigger almost instantly, not believing what she had just heard. “I made this for you!”

“And what does giving one to Jessica has anything to do with giving to you?”

“You figure that out yourself!” Tiffany turned her head around and glared at Taeyeon; her head was filled with anger.

“You’re not making any sense, Tiffany.” The slanted eyed girl glared back. “If you don’t want this then you should’ve just said so.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Taeyeon.” The crescent eyed girl hissed. “I didn’t know you are so dense.”

“W-What did you say?” The shorter girl yelled, and some passengers turned their heads to see what was going on.

“Oh, must I always repeat what I just said?” She scoffed at her Jeonju best friend.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Sooyoung turned around in her seat to check up on them. “People are staring, you know—“

“—None of your business!” Both Tiffany and Taeyeon said at the same time, and they both looked pretty upset.

“O-Okay…” And the tall tanned girl slowly turned around and sat straight in her seat; terrified by her dorm mates’ scary faces.

And just like that, they didn’t talk to each other for days after that. It made things even harder for Tiffany since she now had to avoid two of her best friends; her only best friends in Korea. At school she would try her best to ignore Jessica’s silly notes, pretending to concentrate on the lessons, and at training she would avoid both Jessica and Taeyeon, and hang out with the quiet Seohyun or the always laughing Yoona instead. Sometimes the crescent eyed girl would sit alone in the corner, scribbling something in her notes, saying that she wanted to review her school lessons or work on her homework early. The other girls noticed the change and Yuri once tried to ask Tiffany what happened, but the black haired American girl denied and said everything was fine. And when the tanned girl asked Taeyeon the slanted eyed girl just shrugged and stayed quiet like always. In the end the other girls decided to give them both some time to figure things out themselves.

But Tiffany started to feel more and more lonely as the days went by. Sure she was pretty close with the other girls, and they always managed to make her laugh, but none was as close as Taeyeon or Jessica. She missed Jessica; she missed their talks and jokes and texts. She missed being near her; holding hands and leaning to each other. She missed everything about the blonde girl. But at least she knew it was bound to happen; because after all, she was the one who started keeping her distance, in an effort to kill her feelings for the blue eyed girl. And now she had to missed watching those late night TV dramas with the slanted eyed girl, and those funny variety shows, and she missed all the talk before bed.

In one week she had turned from the bubbly loud and cheerful American girl into the gloomy studious frowning and quiet girl. And she felt like she was living a different life, like she was not Tiffany Hwang anymore, but some Seoul trainee girl with a reserved personality. And so when the time came for her to call her other best friend who lived in Los Angeles, she broke down and cry and poured her heart out.

“You should tell Taeyeon you’re sorry, Tiff,” Elizabeth said through their video call. “She was just trying to be nice and you were mean to her…”

“Yeah…” The black haired girl said weakly as she wiped her tears with tissues. “… I guess so…”

“Yeah, I mean…” Her brunette best friend sighed. “… Weren’t you supposed to only be mean to Jessica?”

“I mean, that was the plan, right?”

“It was; yes…” Tiffany recalled how she and Elizabeth came up with the plan to be mean to the blue eyed girl so that she would eventually stay away from the crescent eyed girl.

“But you only managed to be mean to Taeyeon until now…” The brunette girl stared into her laptop camera.

“I know, Liz,” Now it was Tiffany’s turn to sigh. “I know…”

“You want to be cured, right?” Elizabeth continued. “You want to be normal, right?”

“Of course I do!” The black haired girl shouted.

“Okay, okay,” Her Angelino best friend said. “I was just checking…”

“Of course I want to be normal, Liz…” Tiffany said weakly.

“Well, then…” Elizabeth tried to smile to encourage her best friend who was now living in Seoul. “… Try harder?”

“I’ll try, Liz,” And Tiffany took a deep breath and returned the smile. “Thank you…”

“You’re welcome.” The brunette girl smiled wider. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date tonight.”

“Oh…” The crescent eyed girl’s smile suddenly turned into a frown. “… Okay…”

“Hey, don’t make that face!” Elizabeth looked concerned. “I’ll call you next time, okay?”

“And we can text each other any time!”

“Okay…” Tiffany took another deep breath. “… Sorry…”

“How’s Nick?”

“Oh, he’s fine,” Elizabeth smiled. “He just keeps getting touchy feely with me lately…”

“Touchy feely?”

“Yeah; he keeps touching me in weird places…”

“W-What?” Tiffany was surprised to hear that, and she immediately blushed. “T-That’s too much information for me!”

“Oh, come on!” The brunette American girl laughed. “Aren’t you curious which places he likes to touch?”

“Ew, maybe next time,” The crescent eyed girl managed to laugh. “Didn’t you say you have a date?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth smiled her best and waved to Tiffany through the camera. “Bye, girl!”

“Until next time!”

“Bye, Liz!” And Tiffany waved back until her laptop screen turned black.

After sitting for a while staring at the screen, Tiffany reached out to her cell phone on the table next to her laptop. She decided that it was time to apologize to Taeyeon and won back her Jeonju best friend. And as she started to push the buttons on her cell to text the slanted eyed girl, she could hear the front door slammed shut.

“Tiffany!” A short girl rushed into the living room shouting, and she looked out of breath.

“T-Taeyeon?” Tiffany was shocked to see her. “W-What are you doing here?”

“Why?” Taeyeon said as she tried to catch her breath. “This is my dorm too!”

“But it’s Sunday!” The crescent eyed girl pointed out. “Aren’t you supposed to be at home?”

“I was home but I can’t keep doing this.” The short girl said as she sat down on the floor next to the black haired American girl.

“Look, Pany-ah,” Taeyeon said as she took Tiffany’s hands. “I’m sorry, okay.”

“I didn’t mean to yell at you the other day, and I’m sorry if I did something to offend you.”

“T-Taeyeon…” The crescent eyed girl was startled to hear her sudden apology and she could only stare at their joined hands. “I-I…”

“Listen,” The slanted eyed girl continued. “I miss you, okay?”

“I miss my best friend!”

“I-I miss you too…” Tiffany whispered, still scared of looking her shorter friend in the eye.

“What’s that?” Taeyeon asked.

“I said I miss you too!” This time the crescent eyed girl stared at her best friend as she mustered her courage to apologize. “And I’m sorry I was such a jerk to you!”

“Oh…” The slanted eyed girl was not expecting Tiffany would say that. “Okay…”

“I didn’t mean the things I said to you!” She continued as she grasped Taeyeon’s hands harder. “And I’m sorry I turned down the cake!”

“I know you were just trying to be nice!”

“And I’m sorry for calling you stupid!”

“Did you call me that?” The slanted eyed girl wondered. “I thought you called me dense?”

“Well, you’re not!” The crescent eyed girl quickly said. “You’re not dense, and you’re not stupid!”

“So you thought I was stupid?”

“Taetae!” Tiffany cupped the shorter girl’s face. “You’re not stupid!”

“O-Owhkayy…” Taeyeon was surprised when her American best friend pressed her face with her hands.

“I’m really sorry, Taetae…” Tiffany said again, still not letting go of her face.

“Y-Yesh,” The slanted eyed girl said. “I’m sowwy too…”

“Phany-ah…”

“Yes, Taetae?”

“Could you let go of ma fesh now?”

“Oh, sorry…” The black haired American girl quickly let go.

“That’s okay…” Taeyeon smiled as she rubbed her cheeks. Somehow she missed the warm feeling of Tiffany’s gentle hands on her face.

“So…” Tiffany took a deep breath and said. “… Friends?”

“Friends!” The slanted eyed girl smiled and hugged the crescent eyed girl.

“Thank you, Taetae…” The black haired American whispered as she buried her face against Taeyeon’s shoulder. She let out a sigh of relieve and smiled happily now that she was friends with the Jeonju girl once more. And it was like a huge burden lifted off her shoulders.

“You’re welcome, Pany-ah…” Taeyeon said after a while. Somehow she felt so comfortable in Tiffany’s arms, and she could feel the crescent eyed girl’s warmth filling her chest and spread to her whole body. The slanted eyed girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and tightened her hug.

“I wish we could stay like this forever…” The short girl whispered with all her heart.