CHAPTER XLII

WE’RE FRIENDS AFTER ALL

It was dark but quiet and peaceful, and Tiffany felt so at ease with herself that she didn’t want to open her eyes. She felt the warm summer breeze blew on her skin and she felt so relaxed. And then she could hear the ever calming sound of the waves crashing on the beach and slowly fades away. And she could feel the warm and soothing sand between her toes, and she slowly breathed in the comforting smell of the ocean. She took a couple of deep breaths before she felt the cold refreshing water hitting her feet, and then she could feel her feet being pulled forward by the sand beneath them. The crescent eyed girl opened her eyes and found herself standing on the beach, just by the edge of the shore, and she smiled when she saw the vast and beautiful light blue ocean in front of her. Her eyes traced the beautiful horizon, and she squinted her eyes and when she looked up towards the warm and bright sun.

So beautiful… She thought to herself.

“It is,” A familiar voice said next to her, and she turned to her right to find the blonde girl with shining face standing there. The blonde girl was wearing a white one-piece dress with no sleeves, that covered her body to her knees, and a wide straw hat to cover her face from the sun. The shining girl looked cute as ever.

“Hey, you…” The black haired American girl greeted the shining girl with her best smile.

“And hey to you too…” The blonde girl giggled in reply.

“It’s been a while…” She said again, somehow she suddenly felt awkward seeing the blonde shining girl, but she didn’t know why.

“Yes, it is…” The blonde girl said as she crouched down and played with the sand.

“So…” Tiffany tried to keep the conversation going. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” The shining girl simply replied as she tried to write something on the sand, but the waves kept swallowing it.

And the crescent eyed girl couldn’t think of anything more to say, and she just stood there watching the blonde girl trying to write something on the sand.

Soon there was awkward in the air like a shroud blanketing the two girls, and Tiffany felt like she needed to do or say something fast or it would ruin the beautiful scenery before them. But before she could say anything, she felt something leaning on her bare leg, caressing her. The black haired American girl turned her gaze to her feet and found a cute bright yellow with black stripes cat rubbing her face against her leg.

“Aww, who is this?” She asked the blonde shining girl as she crouched down to pet the cute cat, and was soon captivated by the cat’s large, round green eyes. “I’ve never met you before…”

“Is she your new friend?”

“She’s just got back from her long journey.” The blonde girl replied with a nod. "From China; I think..."

“I think she likes you…”

“Really?” Tiffany flashed her eye smile and lifted the yellow cat into her arms. “I like her too…”

“She’s so cute…”

“Do you want to name her?” The blonde girl turned her whole attention to Tiffany and the curious cat snuggling to her chest.

“Hmmm,” She thought of some names as she gave the cat her finger for her to nibble. “What should we name you?”

“How about Kitty?” The shining girl asked as she petted the cat too.

“Kitty?” Tiffany thought about it, but somehow she felt it was not the perfect name for the cute cat. “I’m not sure…”

“Why not?” The blonde girl asked.

“I don’t know,” She said as she pulled her finger away and giggled when the cat reached out with her cute little paws. “I always think Kitty is supposed to be pink…”

“You think everything should be pink!” The shining girl laughed.

“I do!” And she agreed instantly. “Everything looks so much better in pink!”

“That’s just your opinion…” The shining girl giggled as she stood up and started to walk on the shore, playing with the water with her milky white feet.

“Well I think you’d look even cuter in pink…” Tiffany said cutely to the yellow cat, and like she understood her, the cat meowed with a disapproving look.

“You don’t want to be pink?” The crescent eyed girl tried to persuade her, and the cat gave another disapproving meow.

“Okay, then…” She pretended to be sad and put down the yellow cat, and stood up.

But the yellow with black stripes kitty immediately leaned to her legs again and rubbed them with her whole body, and Tiffany giggled with joy.

“Okay, okay…” She said as she crouched back down and petted the cat. “You’re already cute as you are…”

The yellow kitty raised her head and closed her eyes as the black haired American girl gently brushed her palm on her head, enjoying every second of it. The cat then smiled and meowed cutely a few times to let Tiffany knew how much she loved to be petted, and the crescent eyed girl smiled as she thought of the perfect name for her.

“Let’s name her Meow…” She said as she cupped the cat’s face with both hands and the cat looked even more comfortable with the gesture.

“Meow…” The shining blonde girl mimicked the cat’s sound. “Meow…”

“Oh, you sound just like her!” Tiffany giggled as she turned to the blonde girl.

“Meooww…” The blonde girl pretended to be a cat herself, and walked cutely towards Tiffany with her hands clenched in the shape of paws raised in front of her.

“Aww, you’re so cute…” The crescent eyed girl couldn’t help but gasped as she saw how cute the shining girl was.

“Meeoooowww…” The shining blonde girl crouched down and raised her paw to Tiffany, and the black haired American girl felt her heart skipped a beat.

“Meoowww…” The shining blonde girl pretended to wipe her face with her paw, and the crescent eyed girl flushed.

“Aww…” She said as she petted the blonde girl too. “You’re too cute…”

“Meoowww…” The shining blonde girl’s face was now so closed that Tiffany suddenly felt her heart stopped and she held her breath.

“Am I cuter than Meow?” The blonde girl whispered.

“Y-Yes…” She leaned away slightly, still holding her breath.

“Am I cuter than Jessica?” The shining girl asked as she leaned even closer.

And when she heard the name she immediately thought of the blue eyed girl’s face, and her mind instantly imagined her Jessie pretending to be a cat, and how cute the blue eyed girl would look; with her deep mesmerizing blue eyes and small nose, and her luscious thin pink lips, and suddenly her face exploded, flushing hard.

“W-Wait a minute!” She literally jumped backward in panic.

“I guess I’m not, huh…” The shining blonde girl said with a sad voice, and stood straight with Meow in her arms.

“I-Uh…” Tiffany was still trying to calm her heart. “Uh…”

“We’re never going to beat that Jessica…” The blonde girl said to the yellow cat, who looked like she was sleeping in her arms now. “Poor us…”

“H-Hey…” The crescent eyed girl reached out when her heartbeat finally calmed down a bit.

“It’s okay…” The shining girl looked dispirited while she was petting Meow in her arms. “I know you prefer her more than me…”

“I-It’s different…” Tiffany stood up and walked towards her.

“How is it different?” Both girls started to walk side by side by the shore.

“Jessica and I,” She tried to explain the situation carefully. “We have a different relationship than what you and me have…”

“What kind of relationship do you have with her?” The shining girl asked as the cat in her arms purred softly and closed her big round green eyes.

“We…” The crescent eyed girl pondered for a minute, but decided to tell her blonde and shining friend. “We started dating each other…”

And Tiffany held her breath when she saw the blonde girl stayed quiet after hearing her confession. The black haired American girl was prepared for any rejections or objections from the shining girl, but the latter just kept on walking.

“I guess I should congratulate the both of you?” The shining blonde girl finally said after a while.

“Y-You don’t find us weird?” And the crescent eyed girl was surprised that her blonde friend would accept her relationship with Jessica without any protests.

“Why would I find you weird?” The shining girl asked again.

“B-Because we’re both girls?” Tiffany explained, wondering if her shining friend didn’t understand what dating meant. “And we fell in love with each other?”

But the shining blonde girl didn’t say anything and stopped walking and turned to face the ocean and spread her arms. The crescent eyed girl stopped too, and stared at her blonde shining friend from the dream world enjoying the sea breeze and the warm sun. The little girl looked like she was enjoying herself, and Tiffany didn’t want to disturb her, and so the black haired American girl just stood there behind her, staring at the distance. And her mind soon thought of her Jessie, and she imagined how perfect it was if she could share the beautiful scenery with her blue eyed girlfriend.

“Why does it matter if you’re both girls?” The shining girl asked as a soft wave crashed onto her feet.

“Hmm?” Tiffany turned to her, not really ready to answer the question.

“I think you’re free to love anyone you want,” The blonde little girl continued. “Be it boys or girls…”

“As long as your feelings are pure…”

“There’s a lot of people who don’t think like you do…” And the crescent eyed girl gave a sad smile.

“Who cares about them?” The blonde shining girl said again. “About their opinion or what they have to say about you?”

“You’re dating her, not them…”

“So you don’t owe them anything…”

“And you don’t have to prove them anything…”

“I wish things were that simple…” Tiffany let out a deep sigh.

“And why can’t things be that simple?” Her blonde shining friend asked again, and the black haired American girl was surprised by how supporting she was, when she seemed like she didn’t even like Jessie.

“I don’t know…” She forced a smile. “I wish I have your confidence…”

“You will,” The blonde girl quickly replied, and Tiffany could hear Christina Aguilera’s The Voice Within playing in the background. “In time…”

“When your love is stronger than the rest of the world…” The song kept getting louder, and she couldn’t quite hear what her blonde shining friend said.

“What were you…” The crescent eyed girl said but her voice was swallowed by Christina’s song.

“Go now!” The shining girl yelled, but Tiffany could only understand by reading her lips. “It’s time!”

“Just go!”

And Tiffany slowly closed her eyes and let herself be swept by Christina’s sweet and loving voice…

But after five minutes the song kept getting louder, and the black haired American girl was starting to get annoyed, even if the song had been her all-time favorite. She slowly opened her eyes and found that her head was heavy like she only slept for an hour. The crescent eyed girl then forced herself to sat up on her bed, and looked around her dorm room to find the source of the song, but immediately realized that it was her phone. With an annoyed face she grabbed her cellphone that was lying next to her pillow and wondered who had such ill manner to call someone so early in the morning.

But when she looked at her screen, her heart instantly screamed with joy and she immediately pressed the green button.

Good morning, LA! Jessie’s sweet and cheerful voice greeted her, and all her sleepiness disappeared.

“Good morning, San Francisco!” She greeted back with her best smile.

Did I disturb your slumber, oh fair princess? The blue eyed girl , as if she knew Tiffany was still sleeping when she called her.

“No, you did not,” The tease only made Tiffany’s smile even wider. “I was already up and was waiting for you to call…”

And it only took you five minutes to answer the phone, liar… And both girls laughed.

Okay, up you go, Tiff… The blonde girl said. Time for breakfast and a shower…

“Okay…” The crescent eyed girl actually wanted to chat some more.

So I’ll see you at school?

“I’ll see you at school…” And Tiffany smiled at the thought.

Their phone call ended and the black haired American girl sat on her bed for a while to gather her thoughts before she excitedly jumped out of her bed and rushed to the bathroom for her morning shower, as in her mind she only wanted to hurry up so she could meet her blonde girlfriend sooner.

Tiffany rushed out of the bathroom after a quick shower and went straight to her room to put on her school uniform that she didn’t notice Yujin and Jihye were sitting in the living room with their eyes on her the whole time. The duo then talked in whispers and snickered when Tiffany rushed outside of her room and clumsily bumped her knee on a rack and stumbled as she tried to wear her shoes. Jihye gave a cynical laugh when the crescent eyed girl finally reached the front door, and Tiffany finally noticed the mocking stares from her dorm mates. She stared at them for a second, curious about what they meant by their mean stares, before she decided to let it go and quickly went outside.

They will not ruin this beautiful morning, She thought to herself as she was inside the elevator heading down. Not when I’m going to meet my Jessie…

But somehow Tiffany’s strong determination to go to school earlier just to have more time to meet her blonde girlfriend met an equally strong obstacle, in the form of Sooyoung and Hyoyeon. The bickering duo were making a scene in the dorm’s cafeteria, and although the crescent eyed girl didn’t want to disturb their overheated conversation, and quickly finish her breakfast, she couldn’t help herself and approached the two shouting girls who were already in their school uniforms.

“I told you no!” The dancing queen looked pretty upset about something Sooyoung had done.

“But this is a free country!” The tall tanned girl shouted back while munching on a large sandwich. “You can’t force me to do something I don’t want!”

“Guys…” Tiffany let out a sigh as she approached them. She was already used to of seeing her two friends bickering, as that was probably what they do whenever they were in the same room longer than five minutes. “Can you please keep your voices down?”

“You’re disturbing the others…” She said as she looked around and noticed people were staring at them.

“Tippany!” But Hyoyeon looked like she didn’t care. “Perfect timing!”

“You can tell this thick-headed pig she can’t eat breakfast!”

“But why can’t she eat—“ The black haired American girl was about to say, but Sooyoung cut her off.

“—I’m going to finish this sandwich whether you like it or not!”

“Stop. Eating!” The brunette girl glared at her taller friend.

“You can’t stop me!” And Sooyoung stuck her tongue out and took another huge bite on her sandwich.

“Ugh, that’s it!” The dancing queen looked like she had finally lost it, and tried to take Sooyoung’s over-sized breakfast away from her. “Give that to me!”

“Stop that!” The tall slim girl defended her bread with all her strength. “I said stop!”

Tiffany placed a hand on her forehead as she watched the two girls fighting for a piece of food. Their loud yelling was enough to cause her a headache, even in such a lovely morning. She let out a deep sigh when she saw Hyoyeon pulling Sooyoung’s uniform sleeves as the tall girl tried to protect her sandwich by raising her elbow at the brunette girl, and managed to took a bite of her breakfast at the same time. The dancing girl looked furious when she saw that, and decided to pinch Sooyoung’s cheek to stop her from eating more, and the tall tanned girl started to shout in gibberish with a mouth full of food.

“Stop it you guys…” The crescent eyed girl let out another sigh when some food escaped Sooyoung’s mouth.

“I said stop it…” She repeated but the two bickering friends kept ignoring her.

“I said stop it!” She shouted so loud that the entire cafeteria went quiet all of a sudden, and her two friends instantly froze in weird positions.

“Hyoyeon, let go of her!” Tiffany said in stern, commanding voice, and the dancing queen immediately released her hold on Sooyoung’s cheek and blazer, and took three steps back and stood straight like she was reprimanded by her teacher.

“Ha!” The taller girl smirked when she felt that Tiffany was on her side. “Tell her, Pany-ah!”

“And you!” But the black haired American girl was not taking anyone’s side. “Swallow your food properly before you talk!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am…” Sooyoung said timidly and she awkwardly tried to quickly chew and swallow her breakfast.

“Now fix your uniforms!” Tiffany ordered once more when she noticed Sooyoung had swallowed her food.

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” And the two girls immediately did what they were told.

“Good,” She put on a scary smile when her friends finished grooming themselves. “Now sit down and tell me what this is about.”

“One at a time!” She scolded again when Sooyoung and Hyoyeon simultaneously talked and blamed each other. “You first, Hyoyeon.”

“We’re on a diet!” The brunette girl looked upset. “And I told her that we should skip breakfast!”

“We are not on a diet!” Sooyoung immediately denied her friend’s claim. “She’s the one—“

But the crescent eyed girl threw her an angry glare and Sooyoung immediately shut closed and stare at her feet.

“Oh, we’re dieting alright,” The dancing queen continued. “She promised to go on a diet with me last night—“

“—I did not promise you that!” Sooyoung protested. “I said I’ll think about it—“

But her protest only earned another angry glare from Tiffany, and she went back to staring at her feet once more.

“It’s her fault for calling me an ogre all the time,” The brunette girl explained further. “And I thought she should take the responsibility and go on a diet with me…”

“B-But I was…” Sooyoung said timidly as she stared at the crescent eyed girl to ask permission to speak.

“Hyoyeon is right,” Tiffany reprimanded her. “It’s your fault for calling her names and you should take responsibility…”

“Ha!” The dancing queen grinned in victory, and Sooyoung whined.

“However,” But the black haired American girl added. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and Sooyoung should be allowed to eat her meal…”

“Ha!” It was Sooyoung’s turn to grin victoriously, and Hyoyeon’s turn to let out a whine.

“But a diet is a diet, and you can’t eat that much food for breakfast.” Tiffany quickly said when she saw Sooyoung was preparing to take another bite of her sandwich.

“B-But…” The tall girl looked so dejected when the crescent eyed girl took her half-eaten sandwich away.

“You’ve already eaten enough for breakfast.” Tiffany said as she passed the sandwich to Hyoyeon. “And you need to fill your stomach to start your day…”

“Fine…” The brunette girl sighed as she took the bread and ate it.

“Fine…” And the tall tanned girl pouted as she watched her friend finished her breakfast for her.

Hyoyeon looked like she enjoyed the chicken filled bread and finished the sandwich in no time, and Tiffany knew the dancing queen must have had tried so hard to hold herself from eating breakfast. She then smiled kindly and stood up to signal her friends that it was time for them to go to school. And even with Sooyoung complaining about a lack of nutrition in her body needed to start her day, the three friends managed to drag her to the bus stop not far from their dormitory.

“This is the first time I see you at our dorm…” Tiffany said to the brunette girl when they were walking to the bus stop.

“Well my house is pretty close to the training building so I don’t stay in the dorm.” Hyoyeon explained while dragging Sooyoung with one hand.

“So what brings you to our dorm this morning?” She asked the dancing queen.

“I didn’t,” The brunette girl replied. “I slept over in Sooyoung’s room last night…”

“Oh…” Tiffany said, but then she imagined her small and crampy dorm room and wondered how the two friends who bicker all the time could share a bed in peace. It must have had been a really loud and stressful night. Somehow she felt sorry for the girls who shared the room with them.

“What about it?” The dancing queen asked when she caught Tiffany’s puzzled look.

“N-Nothing…” And the crescent eyed girl decided not to ask her in detail.

“So I have this thing I want to ask you and Jessica…” Hyoyeon said as they reached the bus stop.

“W-What is it?” Tiffany immediately wondered if the brunette girl had caught something between her and her Jessie.

“It’s nothing serious,” The dancing queen said again. “Just a small favor…”

“O-Oh…” And she let out a long sigh of relief that made Hyoyeon stared at her in suspicion.

“W-What’s the favor?” She quickly asked to distract the brunette girl.

“Hmm…” The dancing queen smiled suspiciously. “I’ll tell you later…”

“Why?” Tiffany asked, but Hyoyeon and Sooyoung’s bus arrived and the bickering duo quickly climbed aboard.

“Later, eye smile…” The dancing queen managed to say with a wide and suspicious grin before the bus door closed, and Tiffany was left standing there wondering what her grin meant.

And after ten minutes of trying to interpret Hyoyeon’s suspicious smirk, Tiffany finally realized that she had missed her school bus when she glanced at her cellphone’s watch. After cursing Hyoyeon and Sooyoung in her mind she decided to take the regular bus to school. Fortunately, she already had enough experience with Seoul’s bus routes that she knew exactly which bus that passed her school. The only different was that she had to pay the fare, instead of the free transportation she used to commute with.

But paying some change money was not the reason why she was upset with the bickering duo. It was the fact that she was going to be late; and not only the teachers would scold her for it, but it would also mean that she wouldn’t be able to hang out with her blonde girlfriend before class. That last thought made her pout and she cursed at Hyoyeon and Sooyoung once more. And so the crescent eyed girl sat inside a regular green bus, heading for her school, with a pout on her face and foul languages in her mind directed towards the bickering duo.

Exactly 47 minutes later the crescent eyed girl arrived at her school, and her wristwatch said that she was already five minutes late. The black haired American girl let out a sigh before she hurried herself towards her classroom. And just like she had already expected, she was late and the class had already started. The teacher stopped his lecture and raised an eyebrow when he saw Tiffany entering the classroom from the door behind the classroom and bowed, and all the other students turned their heads toward her. The almost bald middle aged man glanced at the classroom’s clock and sighed before he gestured the crescent eyed girl to hurry take her seat and let him continue his lesson. The black haired American girl bowed once more and rushed to her seat, relieved that the teacher still allowed her to join his class.

Once she sat on her desk she caught Jessica sweetly smiling at her, welcoming her. The crescent eyed girl quickly smiled back, but then she caught her blonde girlfriend slightly tilted her head like she was asking why she was late. Tiffany then replied with an apologizing look, but before she could explain herself, the teacher cleared his throat and both American girls turned their heads to see the middle aged man staring at them. The two girls then decided they should wait until lunch break to talk.

Tiffany felt like lunch time took forever to come, and although she was exchanging a piece of paper with the blue eyed girl throughout the class, and was reprimanded by their teachers for doing so, she really wanted to chat with her first ever girlfriend directly. All day long she wanted to hear Jessica’s soothing voice close to her ears, and that caused her to not pay attention to anything her teachers said, as she kept stealing glances at the pretty blonde girl sitting just next to her every time she had the chance.

And when the bell rang and the class was suddenly filled with chatters, the black haired American girl let out a deep sigh of relief and quickly flashed her best eye smile to her blonde girlfriend, who apparently felt the same and replied with her sweetest smile. Tiffany stood up and took Jessica’s hand and quickly guided her to the cafeteria, ignoring Chloe and Lily’s plead to wait for them.

“I think I’ve experienced this before,” Chloe said when the four friends sat together in the school’s cafeteria. “You guys running off by yourselves…”

“Hmm?” Tiffany responded without paying any real attention as her crescent eyes were glued to the blonde girl who sat next to her.

“Never mind…” The Texan girl sighed.

“So do you know why Hyoyeon and Sooyoung always bicker?” The crescent eyed girl clearly looked not interested in anything Chloe had to say, and asked the blue eyed girl instead.

“Ah, yes,” The blonde girl smiled, while Chloe pouted. “It’s a long story…”

“You don’t want to tell me?” The black haired American girl asked cutely.

“Of course I’ll tell you,” And Jessica giggled, while Chloe pouted even more, puffing out her cheeks like she was holding a balloon in .

“It all started when…” But just when the blue eyed girl was about to tell her eye smiling girlfriend, Tiffany caught a familiar figure sitting alone in the corner of the large room with the usual sharp and annoyed look on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked her.

“Oh, it’s nothing…” She said as she turned her gaze away from Jessica Ho.

“Who is that?” But her blonde girlfriend had already noticed she was looking at the mean looking girl in the far corner of the room.

“That…” Tiffany let out a sigh. “Is Jessica Ho; the girl from New Jersey I told you about…”

“I see…” Jessica nodded as she stared at the mean looking girl like she was trying to read her stern expression.

“How’s the fried noodle?” The crescent eyed girl changed the topic as she pointed at Jessica’s lunch.

“Don’t you want to talk to her?” But her blonde girlfriend asked her back.

“I don’t know…” She stared at her lunch, suddenly reminded by their last meeting in her apartment.

“Don’t you want to clear up the situation with her?” The blue eyed girl’s words were soft and gentle as ever.

“I don’t’ know…” But she was still hesitant to speak to her New Jerseyan friend after last night. “Maybe later?”

“I don’t think you should wait to talk to her,” Jessica said again. “It’s better if you clear things up when you have the chance…”

“If you wait for too long things will just get more awkward between the two of you,” Her blonde girlfriend continued while she stared at her bright blue eyes. “And before you know it, it’s too late to go back…”

“Trust me…”

And again she could see honesty in those deep mesmerizing blue eyes, and Jessica’s words were ever so gentle and convincing like she had been through the same thing herself.

“I guess I should go talk to her now…” Tiffany said after she saw her girlfriend convincing smile.

“Good girl…” The blonde girl cutely said as her black haired girlfriend picked herself up and started to walk towards her other American friend.

“Hey…” She said as she stood awkwardly across the mean looking girl, who had been staring at her since she started to walk to her direction.

“Hey…” Jessica Ho simply replied as she turned her eyes away.

“Look,” Tiffany took a deep breath and mustered her courage. “I’m sorry about cancelling my contract at the last moment—“

“—You’ve said it a few times already last night,” The dark brown haired girl seemed uninterested. “And we’ve told you that it’s okay; we get it.”

“No; I need to properly apologize to you for what I have done…” The crescent eyed girl said again.

“Oh?” It looked like her last comment succeeded in capturing Jessi’s attention. “And what else have you done exactly?”

The black haired American girl took the time to take another deep breath, while Jessi stared with her sharp and squinted eyes. “I’m sorry for making such a rushed decision…”

“I begged, no; forced you to help me switch agencies even though I knew I was not ready to make such a life-changing decision…”

“And once I’ve calmed down, I made things worse by cancelling my transfer…” The mean looking girl looked slightly surprised by her honesty.

“I know I’ve hurt you, and you’re very disappointed in me,” Tiffany continued. “And there is probably nothing I can do to make this right again…”

“But I just want to apologize for making you go through all that trouble…”

“You’ve been a good friend to me, and I used you just because I was upset with myself, and wanted to run away from everything…”

“But now I know better; now I won’t make the same mistake, I won’t make rushed decisions, and I want to really fight for what I want…”

And after saying that Tiffany stood still, waiting for some response from her New Jerseyan friend, who looked like she was trying to process what the crescent eyed girl had just said.

“I told you it’s fine,” Jessi said after a while. “I told you I used you too…”

“I became friends with you because my company told me to get new recruits…”

“And I was the one who gave you the idea to switch agencies in the first place,” Somehow the dark brown haired girl looked sad. “An idea that made you doubted your company…”

“And I’m sorry for that…”

“But I was the one—“

“—So I don’t deserve your apology,” The mean looking girl’s voice was trembling as she held back her tears. “Nor your friendship…”

“Jessi…” Tiffany was about to cry as well.

“I knew things like this would happen…” Jessica Ho continued sadly. “Because I was just doing my job looking for new recruits, not friends..."

“But I don’t know why I’m so sad right now…”

“Maybe it’s because you really want to be friends with me?” The crescent eyed girl softly said.

“What?” The New Jerseyan girl lifted her head to see Tiffany smiling at her, and unconsciously her tears fell. “But I don’t deserve to be your friend…”

“Not after what I’ve done—“

“—Then let’s make a fresh start…” The black haired American girl said as she wiped her own tears.

“W-Why…” Jessi was so surprised by Tiffany’s sincerity. “Aren’t you mad at me?”

“Are you?” Tiffany asked back.

“I…” The mean looking girl wiped her tears. “I was mad at you…”

“B-But I think it’s not because you cancelled the transfer…”

“But because I felt like I’ve failed to get a new friend…”

“But we can still be friends even if we’re not in the same agency…” The crescent eyed girl said.

“I always thought how nice if you were a trainee in my company…” Jessi continued. “We can train together, hang-out, go eat…”

“But we can still do those things even if I’m not in YMC!” Tiffany quickly said.

“Really?” The mean looking girl asked.

“Of course we can!” The crescent eyed girl laughed. “We’ve already hang-out together a couple of times!”

“Yes, we have…” Jessi nodded in agreement.

“And we can eat together anytime we want!” Tiffany continued. “And we can do anything you want!”

“We can?” It looked like Jessi was slowly starting to understand what her fellow American girl said.

“We can!” And Tiffany laughed again. “Well; except for the training part, since we’re not in the same company…”

“But we can still talk about our trainings and you can give me pointers since you’ve already debuted!”

“I-I can; yes…” The mean looking girl’s eyes were starting to glow. “I suppose we can still do that…”

“Of course we can!” The black haired American girl looked excited. “We’re friends after all!”

“Y-Yes…” Jessica Ho finally smiled as she finally understood. “Yes, we are!”

And when their eyes met, both girls smiled their widest and they laughed. The mean looking girl then stood up and hugged Tiffany, and the crescent eyed girl happily hugged her back. The two were so glad that they could still be friends, even when their friendship started off a little weird.

“So…” Chloe asked the blonde girl who was watching Tiffany talking to the mean looking girl from her seat. “Are you going to tell us or what?”

“Hmm?” The blue eyed girl was not paying attention to the Texan girl at all.

“Ouch!” Jessica shrieked when she felt a hard punch landed on her arm. “What was that for?”

“Chloe was asking you a question, Jung,” Lily grinned in satisfaction as her punch managed to turn the blonde’s attention to her. “And it’s rude of you to ignore her.”

“But you didn’t have to punch me!” The blue eyed girl glared at her Thai friend and rubbed her aching forearm.

“Well, if you haven’t been ignoring her I wouldn’t have to punch you.” Lily laughed.

“Whatever…” Jessica scoffed and turned to look at what Tiffany was doing again.

“Hey!” This time it was Chloe who pinched her arm.

“Ouch!” Again the blonde girl shrieked in pain. “What are you doing?”

“You’re ignoring me again.” The freckled girl pouted.

“I am not ignoring you.” Jessica glared at the ginger haired girl.

“Then why don’t you answer my question?” Chloe asked.

“What question?” The blonde girl asked back in ignorance.

“Okay!” But she quickly apologized when she saw her two friends raised their hands to punish her. “Okay! I’m sorry!”

“What was your question, Chloe?”

“I asked you if you’re going to tell us what happened with you and Tiff.” The Texan girl repeated herself, but this time she had all the attention she wanted from Jessica.

“But nothing happened between us?” The blonde girl simply answered.

“Alright, alright…” But then she saw Chloe’s pout became larger and the Texan girl was cracking her knuckles. “It was just a misunderstanding between us, but we’re okay now…”

“A misunderstanding, huh?” Lily seemed not satisfied with her answer. “I think there was something more than that…”

“Yeah; Tiffany looked like a complete mess these past few weeks,” Chloe agreed with her Thai friend. “There’s no way it was just a simple misunderstanding…”

“But it’s the truth,” The blue eyed girl said while turning her head once again to see Tiffany. “Anyway; we’ve made up now, and isn’t that what’s important?”

“So when did you guys made up?” Chloe leaned forward, excited to hear the whole story.

“Yesterday…” But Jessica looked like she was not interested in sharing the details.

“But wasn’t Tiffany absent yesterday?” Lily joined in.

“Yeah,” The blonde kept staring at the crescent eyed girl in the far corner. “We met after school, in training…”

“And?” Chloe was starting to pout again.

“And we talked about what happened between us and everything is fine now…” The blue eyed girl fixed her light brown glasses.

“And what did happen between the two of you?” The Texan girl looked annoyed by the lack of details, or by the fact that her fellow American friend seemed uninterested to share.

“I told you,” Jessica smiled when she saw Tiffany and the mean looking girl hugged each other. “It was just a misunderstanding…”

“Ugh!” The ginger haired girl gave up and crossed her arms. “Forget it!”

“Why are you mad at me?” The blonde girl finally turned her attention to Chloe.

“I said forget about it!” The Texan pouted.

“She’s upset because you won’t share anything about what happened with you and Tiffany.” Lily kindly explained.

“But I already told you it was just a—“

“—Misunderstanding,” Both Lily and Chloe said at the same time. “We get it.”

“I thought we were best friends, Jess…” The Texan girl whined.

“But we are.” The blonde girl looked confused.

“Well; best friends are supposed to share everything!” Chloe pouted even more. “No secrets!”

“But I…” Jessica felt bad for her friends, but she couldn’t possibly tell them the whole story, that she and Tiffany were now dating each other.

After that the atmosphere got awkward, as the three friends just sat there without saying anything, staring at their own empty plates.

“Look, Chloe,” Jessica finally decided to break the silence. “I’m sorry…”

“I promise you one of these days I will tell you all about it…”

“Until then,” The blonde girl smiled when Chloe finally looked at her in the eye. “Can we stay friends?”

“When?” The Texan girl asked.

“When we are ready to tell you guys.” The blue eyed girl said as she adjusted her glasses.

“Promise?” Chloe asked again.

“Promise.” And Jessica nodded.

“Well I guess we’ll just have to trust you and hold on to your promise, Jung,” The Thai girl smiled and patted Chloe’s head.

“What promise?” Tiffany suddenly asked as she and the mean looking girl decided to join them at their table.

“Oh, it was nothing.” And Jessica’s eyes suddenly lit and her lips formed the sweetest smile when she noticed her girlfriend was back.

“Really?” The crescent eyed girl asked cutely as she leaned closer to the blue eyed girl.

“Really.” The blonde girl replied in the same cute manner, and they giggled at each other.

“Who is this?” Lily suddenly asked as she stared at the awkward-mean looking girl standing next to the black haired American girl.

“Oh!” Tiffany suddenly realized and introduced her dark brown haired friend. “Everyone; this is Jessica Ho, a friend of mine.”

“H-Hey…” Jessica Ho greeted them awkwardly.

“Hey!” The Texan girl smiled and offered her hand. “I’m Chloe!”

“And this oddball is Lily.” She pointed at the Thai girl who was sitting next to her.

“Hey.” Lily smiled and waved.

“And this is Jessie!” Tiffany excitedly threw an arm around Jessica’s shoulders to introduce the pretty blonde girl.

“Oh, yeah,” The mean looking girl stared at the blue eyed girl and smiled. “Hey, Jessica…”

“I’ve heard so much about you…”

“Hey…” And Jessica smiled back as she reached for Tiffany’s hand on her shoulder.

“She’s from the U.S,” Tiffany flashed her eye smile in excitement. “Just like us!”

“We are so going to become best friends!”

And the girls laughed at Tiffany’s comment and welcomed Jessica Ho to their small and close circle. The girls then decided to get to know each other through the rest of their lunch break. Jessica Ho was awkward and quiet at first, but thanks to Chloe’s active and easy going personality, and Lily’s odd and funny comments, it took them just a few moments to make the mean looking girl laughed and showed her real loud and raspy voice.

Curious Chloe kept asking Jessi questions about herself in a cute manner, and that playful nature of the Texan girl made it easy for the mean looking girl to open up and share. And the girls learned that Jessi was actually a year older than them, but since she was an American, she didn’t want to be called “unnie,” or for the girls to use any kind of honorifics with her. She then told them about her debut, and her work as a rapper, and the girls were awed by how talented she was. Even Jessica congratulated her, and promised she would watch her performance in the near future. The Texan girl then bombarded Jessi with more questions, but the mean looking girl looked like she didn’t mind answering them.

Soon it was time for them to go back to their classes, and the four girls reluctantly said goodbyes after promising that they would hang-out all the time from now on. It was when Tiffany and Jessica were walking to their class with joined hands that a thought came to the crescent eyed girl’s mind. She stared at Chloe and Lily who were walking a few steps ahead of her, talking about how friendly and funny Jessica Ho was despite her harsh and mean expression. The two friends had already adapted with the new addition to their circle, and since there were two Jessica now, they’ve decided to call Jessica Ho “Jessi,” and Jessica Jung “Sica.” And even if that was probably the most logical thing to do, Tiffany couldn’t help but feel a little bit uncomfortable calling her blonde girlfriend by that name. “Jessie” was the nickname she gave the blue eyed girl, and as silly as it sounded, she had always felt butterflies in her stomach just by calling her that. Besides, all her SM friends were already calling her girlfriend “Sica,” and she hated if she had to call her by that same name. No; Sica was too common and “normal” for her. She wanted to have a special nickname for her Jessie, a pet name. And as she thought about it, everyone was calling her “Tiff” too, and she wondered if her Jessie wanted to call her something else than that.

Doesn’t she want a special name for me? She thought to herself. Tiff is way too common…

Why hasn’t she thought about this?

Or does she not care about it at all? Her mind wandered. But I’m her girlfriend now; and I want her to call me something special just for me!

Why won’t she care about something this important? Her thoughts made her upset and she stared at the blue eyed girl, who looked like she was not thinking the same thing, and seeing that only made her more upset with her girlfriend.

So she’s not thinking about this at all! She gripped Jessie’s hand a little bit stronger.

“What’s wrong?” The blonde girl felt a little pain and turned to her girlfriend.

“Nothing.” Tiffany pouted.

“But you’re crushing my hand, Tiff…” Jessica said as she tried to endure the increasing pain, but when her black haired girlfriend heard that the blonde called her by that “common” name, her grip grew even more stronger.

“Ouch!” Jessica tried to break away, but Tiffany’s grip was too strong. “Tiff!”

“Don’t call me that anymo—“ Tiffany glared at her, but before she could finish her words, Jessica’s cell phone rang and the blue eyed girl used it as an excuse to break free from her grip.

“Hello?” The blonde girl said without checking who it was.

Hello, hello, Sica-yah! A familiar teasing voice was heard from the other side of the call.

“What do you want?” Jessica quickly regretted having to answer the call when she recognized Hyoyeon’s voice.

My, my… The dancing queen laughed. Can’t I just call my best friend to check up on her?

“Get to your point, Hyo.” The blonde girl sighed as her crescent eyed girlfriend wondered what they were talking about.

Like I said, Jessica could tell Hyoyeon was grinning. I’m calling just to check up on you, and remind you not to be late for training.

“Shut up.” The blue eyed girl said when she remembered the dancing queen had blackmailed her into giving her a favor.

Oh, I so can’t wait to see you, cute Sica! The brunette girl laughed again. See you soon!

And their phone call ended just like that. Tiffany stared at Jessie and noticed her pretty face turned pale from that phone call, and wondered what bad news was brought by it.

“Was that Hyoyeon?” She asked her pretty girlfriend as she gently held her hand again.

“Yeah…” The blue eyed girl looked so dispirited.

“What did she want?” She caressed her hair with her free hand.

But before Jessica could answer, the school bell rang and Chloe and Lily were calling them and telling them to hurry up. Tiffany saw her blonde girlfriend sighed and guided her to their classroom.

“Later…” Jessie said gently as she forced a smile, and Tiffany decided to wait until her pretty girlfriend was ready to tell her.