CHAPTER VI

HELLO AGAIN, MISTER PINK

Tiffany stared at the pile of trinkets in front of her with glittering eyes. She had forgotten how much she loved to do this exhilarating-fun-perfect for time spending-activity called window shopping. She had spent the last three hours browsing every store in the mall, from clothing to accessory shops. She even forgot that she went to the place with three other trainees.

“Are you done yet?” Sooyoung stood behind her with her arms folded.

“I’m hungry; let’s find something to eat.” Another girl was standing beside Sooyoung.

“Hmm?” Tiffany said without even looking at her new friends. “Give me another minute, Yuri…”

“Unnie, you can continue browsing after we get lunch.” Another voice could be heard.

“Forget it, Seohyun.” Sooyoung said to the younger girl with fair skin. “I think we should just leave her for now…”

The tallest girl was about to leave when a pair of tanned slim hands stopped her. “We can’t just leave her here; what if she gets lost?”

“She’s a big girl,” She said to her long haired tanned skin friend. “Let’s just meet up at KFC or something…”

“Is that okay with you, Tiffany?” Yuri looked concerned. “The food court is on the 4^th floor.”

“Hmm?” Tiffany still did not turn her gaze from all the accessories.

“Yeah, yeah; 4^th floor, KFC…” She said as she waved to the other girls behind her. “Got it.”

“She’s something…” Yuri said as the three girls walked together to find their favorite fast food restaurant. “I mean, I love shopping; but I don’t go nuts and walk into every single store in the mall…”

Kwon Yuri was the girl in pink tank-top and white shorts. She had long black hair and tanned skin, and she was the shortest of the three. Her face was oval shaped and her cheeks are a little chubby.

“Yeah, she brings the whole window shopping thing to another level.” Sooyoung said.

Choi Sooyoung was the tallest of the three, and she was wearing yellow T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She had the darkest skin tone and was the slimmest among them. Her hair was black and she cut them short. Her face was oblong-shaped and her jaw line was perfect.

“Are you sure it’s okay to leave her like that, unnie?” Juhyun asked as she was worried.

Seo Juhyun was the youngest of them all. She was the second tallest of the group; with fair skin and long straight black hair. She was wearing a white T-shirt and a pair of light blue jeans. Her face was slightly rounder than Yuri’s, and her eyes were smaller, and she had the cutest laugh lines.

“She’ll be fine,” Sooyoung said. “It’s not like we left her in some dark, creepy place.”

The three trainees got into the restaurant and ordered their meals.

“Why did you ask her to hang out with us, again?” Yuri asked as they started to enjoy their late lunch.

“Jessica asked me to,” The short haired girl explained. “She texted me worrying about Tiffany being alone and getting bored to death on Sunday; so she asked me to hang out with her…”

“Sica unnie is always nice…” Juhyun sighed as she took tiny bites of her meal.   

“So why didn’t Sica asked her herself?” Yuri asked again, intrigued.

“I told you she has to babysit Krystal today.” Sooyoung threw some fries into her wide opened mouth. “Their parents are leaving to Japan on business.”

“On a Sunday?” Yuri raised her eyebrow. “Not that I’m surprised; their parents are always busy with work…”

“So having rich parents have a downside too...”

“I’m worried about Tiffany unnie…” The youngest said, “Sica unnie asked us to keep her company and we left her…”

“Great; now I feel guilty about leaving her…” Yuri added.

“Oh my God!” Sooyoung was annoyed, “I told you guys already; it’s fine!”

“I’ll tell you what; after we finish this we’ll continue this window shopping craze with her until none of us can walk no more!” She continued. “Happy?”

“Yes, I think Sica unnie will be happy too.” Juhyun smiled and nodded.

“Anything for your precious Sica unnie, huh?” Yuri , and Seohyun blushed almost instantly and shrugged to the comment while hiding a sweet, shy smile.

Tiffany was at the sportswear store browsing through the clothes. It seemed that she had forgotten that she was supposed to go to the fast food restaurant to meet up with her new friends. As she was admiring a pink T-shirt which was actually pretty similar to what she was wearing, she saw a familiar pleasing figure at the corner of the store.

She moved two steps to her left to get a better view of the girl; Jessica. She was wearing a white halter top and a light blue short skirt. Her eyes were covered with a cute light brown wide framed glasses. She’s so cute, she thought to herself.

A girl just a few inches shorter than Jessica was clinging to her arms. The girl had a waist long black straight hair and her skin was so white that she looked like a porcelain doll. The girl with the light blue one dress was clinging desperately to Jessica with all her might and her lips were pouting; like she was asking the slightly taller girl for something.

Her friend is very pretty too, she thought. And as she stared at the shorter girl threw her arms around Jessica and hugged her tight; she started to feel jealousy crawling inside her chest.

Tiffany shook her head and watched as Jessica said something to the other girl that made the latter jumped in joy. The porcelain girl then picked some shirts from the shelves and then proceeded to the nearest changing room. Tiffany could see Jessica sighed and brushed her soft blonde hair with her fingers. The blonde girl then bumped her bottom frame up and looked around to try and find something for herself, and Tiffany quickly ducked down when Jessica was about to look to her direction.

Why am I hiding? She felt her heart was beating faster.

She raised herself slightly and peeked, but found that the blonde girl was nowhere to be seen. Tiffany wondered where the girl had gone and sighed.

She probably went inside the changing room to try something, she thought to herself.

She took some time to calm her heartbeat and decided to greet Jessica and her friend when they came out of the changing rooms. She continued to browse the shirts when suddenly she felt a presence behind her and she could smell a nice and calming scent of a melon perfume.

“Don’t’ look; but I think there’s a stalker following me…” The lovely voice whispered to her ears.

“Wha-Where?” Tiffany stuttered as she realized whose voice it was.

“Here…” And Jessica held out a small mirror against Tiffany’s face.

“Wha-I’m not a stalker!” She turned around to face the giggling blonde.

“If you’re not a stalker then what are you doing here?” She asked.

“Well, I-I was just browsing…” Tiffany replied.

“Perhaps it was you who was stalking me.”

“Oh, perhaps it is true…” The blonde smiled at the black haired girl in front of her, and Tiffany could not think of another come back after she saw that alluring smile.

“Are you here alone?” Jessica asked her again.

“No.” Tiffany shook her head. “I came with Sooyoung and her friends; Yuri and Juhyun.”

“Oh, I see.” Jessica simply said as she moved to the shelves and started to flip through the shirts.

“What about you?” Tiffany followed what she was doing, “Did you come alone?”

Jessica turned to look at her fellow American and put on a smile, “No…”

“… I’m on a date, actually.” And she winked at Tiffany.

“Oh…” She was a little surprised by the answer. “… Really?”

They were on a date?

“Unnie!” The porcelain girl from earlier shouted and she gave the blonde girl a really tight back hug.

“I like this one!” She said as she put a blue T-shirt with flowers designs on its left side into Jessica’s hand.

Jessica turned hear head and smiled to the girl, “Just this one?”

The girl smiled her brightest and nodded while tightening her hug. “You have to promise you’ll actually wear them, Soojung-ah…” Jessica said.

“You can’t keep buying clothes then just keep them in your closet.”

The girl nodded again, “I promise.”

“Who is this?” She asked when she finally noticed the staring girl in front of them.

“Oh, this is my friend, Tiffany.” Jessica introduced her. “She’s a trainee too.”

“Tiffany, this is Soojung,” The blonde turned to the staring girl and smile. “My date.”

“Oh-um, nice to meet you, Soo—“ Tiffany offered the girl her hand.

“—Krystal.” The porcelain girl said as she shook Tiffany’s hand.

And somehow Tiffany felt that Krystal was giving her the “stay away from her” look.

“Aren’t you going to buy something?” Jessica asked when Tiffany unknowingly followed them to the cashier.

“Oh-um, no; I was just looking around…” She said as she stared at the two girls linking arms intimately in front of her.

“So where are the girls?” The blonde asked again.

“Oh!” Tiffany was suddenly reminded that she was supposed to meet them. “They’re on the 4^th floor!”

“I was supposed to go and meet with them at KFC to get lunch.” She continued without breaking her gaze at their linking arms.

“Oh…” Jessica adjusted her glasses by bumping the bottom frame up, “Let’s go then.”

“Oh. Okay…”

“You’re hungry too, right?” She said as she looked at her date that was holding her shopping bag with one hand.

Krystal nodded excitedly and pulled Jessica, “Okay.”

“Let me call Sooyoung.” Jessica pulled out her cell phone from her ivory leather handbag as they walked together to find the escalator.

“Sica, Krystal!” Yuri waved at them when she saw them walking around the interior of the restaurant looking for their friends.

“Unnies!” Krystal waved and hurriedly walked towards the sitting girls.

Tiffany wanted to follow the porcelain girl but stopped when she saw Jessica walked towards the counter instead. She then decided to follow the blonde girl who was now already standing in the line.

“It’s okay, I’ll get your orders,” Jessica said calmly when Tiffany followed and stood behind her. “What do you want?”

“No, it’s okay; I’ll wait with you.” She answered.

“Okay then.” Jessica smiled and gestured her to stand beside her instead. “So what do you want to get?”

“Hmm, the usual, I guess.” The black haired girl said. “Chicken with fries.”

“Good choice, Los Angeles.” The blue-eyed girl smiled teasingly.

“And what are you getting, San Francisco?” Tiffany played along as she liked the new nickname.

“Probably the same thing.” And they both giggled.

While she was eating her meal Tiffany realized that the three girls were already close with Krystal. They chatted and joked around quite lively. She saw Jessica who was sitting across from her bit a piece of her fries in such a way that she found it to be both adorable and quite y. She blushed on her own thoughts and shook her head; but then she found that the blonde was now staring at her with her bright blue eyes and cute little smile; teasing her. Tiffany felt her face was getting hotter and quickly turned her head to her right and found that Yuri was staring at her too with a curious face.

“Unnie!” Krystal who sat beside Jessica suddenly said, “I want some ice cream!”

The blonde patted her head and smiled.

“Okay, wait just one second.” She stood up from her chair and adjusted her glasses. “You guys want some too?”

“We’re fine.” Sooyoung quickly said when she noticed that Krystal was looking at her with a sharp gaze.

“We can buy some for ourselves later.” She giggled awkwardly.

“Okay then.” The blonde said as she turned around and headed towards the counter.

“I’m coming with.” Krystal quickly stood up and linked her arms with Jessica’s.

Tiffany stared at the odd couple and turned to her now friends. “Do-Did you guys, you know…”

“What?” Yuri asked.

“Did you know…” She turned her head to the two intimate girls ordering their ice cream. “… About them?”

“What do you mean?” Sooyoung looked confused.

“Well, I-I don’t mean to judge, but…” Tiffany stuttered. “… But don’t you think it’s-it’s…”

“What is it, unnie?” Seohyun looked worried.

“Well, I don’t know if it’s, you know, common here in Korea…” She continued while playing with her straw.

“But this is the first time I see a, you know…”

Tiffany felt her face was burning and she knew that her face was probably red as a fresh tomato, and her heart was beating faster than usual. She was scared that what she was about to say would upset one of her friends, but she really wanted to know what they thought about the couple.

“Will you just spit it out already?” Sooyoung lost her patience and surprised Tiffany from her wandering mind.

“Well…” Tiffany hesitated for a while, but decided to share her feelings to her friends,

“… They’re dating each other, right?” She whispered those words.

The three girls stared at each other for a while before they could not help themselves and they burst out laughing. Sooyoung almost fell from her chair, and Yuri was holding her stomach, while Juhyun was holding her hand on top of to suppress her laughter; but she found what Tiffany asked them was too funny that her eyes were starting to tear up.

Tiffany was completely shocked by their behavior and just stared at them with slightly open.

“What? Why are you guys laughing?” She could not believe the sight in front of her.

She then realized there was laughter from her left side too. She turned her head and found that Krystal was laughing while holding her stomach with one hand and she tried to balance her ice cream with the other hand. Jessica was covering her laughter with one hand and she was clenching her handbag with the other hand.

“You are such a joker!” Sooyoung yelled between her laughter.

“Okay, okay; I’m sorry…” Jessica said as she stopped laughing and sat down. “I was the one who told her that we were on a date.”

Krystal then put her arm around Jessica’s shoulder and sat on her lap; drawing more suspicions from Tiffany.

“We’re sorry, Tiffany unnie…” She said as she her ice cream. “We were just kidding.”

“I think I need to re-introduce the two of you.” The blonde girl smiled. “Tiffany; meet Jung Soojung…”

The confused girl eyes suddenly grew bigger as soon as she heard her name and realized what was happening.

“… My little sister…” And Tiffany quickly buried he face in her hands due to the embarrassment. She could hear the table was filled with laughter again, and she could feel that her face, her ears, and even her neck turned red.

“How could you do that?” She said while keeping her head buried. “I thought you said you were…”

“Because she’s so…” “… And I was…” “… And then the way you guys…”

They laughed even harder after hearing Tiffany babbled in her embarrassment. When things had finally calmed down, Yuri shared her thoughts, “Well, it’s understandable, I mean; they don’t really look like sisters…”

“Sica is a blonde while Krystal is not, and her eyes are blue while Krystal has black eyes…”

“But if you look closely; they have the same nose and lips. But Krystal’s face is slightly longer…”

“Thank you for your observation, detective Yuri…” Sooyoung .

Jessica pulled one of Tiffany’s hands away from her face and smiled, “Don’t you think she’s a little too young for me?”

The blushing girl then stared at Krystal who was still sitting on her sister’s lap, and began to realize that she looked very young.

“But she’s so tall and looks so mature…” Tiffany defended herself.

“Oh. Thank you, unnie.” Krystal giggled.

“Well, she does; but Jesus, Tiffany…” Sooyoung added. “… She’s ten!”

“But people always say I look at least fourteen!” Krystal pouted.

“Oh, my God!” Tiffany covered her face again. “I’m so embarrassed!”

Jessica giggled and pulled her hand once more, “We’re sorry, okay?”

“Here; I bought this for you.” She said as she put an ice cream cone into Tiffany’s hand.

She stared at the ice cream in her hand and looked up to the smiling sisters.

“Apology accepted.” The blushing girl sighed.

“Hey, how come you didn’t buy me some?” Sooyoung demanded.

“But you said you guys were okay…” The blonde girl said as a matter of factly.

And Krystal shot a glare to the rest of the table that went unnoticed by her older sister.

They then continued their chat and jokes for a while. Occasionally they would tease Tiffany and the girl would then cover her face back with her hands.

“Yah, Sica,” Sooyoung said after a while. “You remember Dong-hae oppa, right?”

“I do,” Jessica turned to her self-proclaimed best friend and pushed her side frame up. “Why?”

“Well, he was asking me if I could give him your number and all…” The tall girl pleaded with sad eyes.

Tiffany stared at Sooyoung then quickly turned to Jessica. She vaguely remembered Jihye mentioned about how popular some of the trainee boys were. She could remember how Jihye’s eyes were filled with excitement when she told her every little detail about them; Leeteuk was the kind oppa, Heechul was the charmer, and Donghae was the perfect man, among others.

“Why would he ask such a thing?” The blonde girl calmly replied.

“Well, he told me he kinda likes you, you know…” Sooyoung’s voice got smaller with each word.

“No!” Krystal suddenly stood up from her sister’s lap.

“Unnie is not interested in dating any guys, right unnie?” She stared at her older sister.

“I am not; yes…” Jessica smiled and pulled her younger sister back into her lap.

“There’s your answer!” Krystal glared at Sooyoung.

“Okay, okay…” Sooyoung backed down, and Tiffany could hear Juhyun who was sitting beside her sighed in relief.

“Why would you help Dong-hae oppa?” Yuri asked her tall friend.

Sooyoung stared at her tanned friend and went back to her drinks.

“He promised that he would treat me at the Royal Dragon…” She muttered.

“Your favorite Chinese restaurant?” Yuri asked, “But why? It’s not like you can’t afford going there?”

“You’re as rich as Jessica!”

“I am not!” Sooyoung defended. “How could you compare her family to my humble one?”

“Whatever…” Yuri scoffed.

“But you often eat there, unnie…” Juhyun added. “… Yuri unnie is right; you don’t need anyone to treat you to eat there.”

“But it’s different when someone’s paying for you!” Sooyoung blurted out. “It tastes better!”

The Jung siblings giggled at their friend’s funny remark and soon the whole table followed, even Sooyoung.

“I thought you said that you guys were planning to go to Solitaire today?” Jessica asked after a while.

“Solitaire?” Tiffany asked Juhyun.

“Our favorite hanging out café.” The younger girl explained.

“We did; but Tiffany here said that she needed to buy a cell phone…” Sooyoung said.

“Oh, right!” The now-not-so-blushing girl suddenly remembered. “I was going to buy one!”

“Well, let’s go then.” Yuri smiled.

“How about you, unnie?” Juhyun asked as she followed the Jung siblings closely. “How come you decided to come here?”

“Well, little Soojung here was feeling bored at home, and she wanted new clothes; so here we are.” Jessica said as she patted her younger sister.

“Then why didn’t you call us?” Sooyoung joined in.

The blonde girl just smiled at her friend and shrugged.

“Anyway, it’s such a coincidence that we could meet he—“ Juhyun continued but was cut by an excited Krystal.

“--Oh! Look at those shoes!” The ten year old let herself go from her older sister and ran into the store.

“Soojung-ah; be careful!” Jessica warned the little girl.

“Ooh, let’s check out the store too!” Sooyoung and Yuri followed Krystal.

“I’m going to the store over there.” Tiffany said as she pointed to the cellular shop right across the shoe store.

Juhyun nodded as she turned around to follow her other friends, when she saw that Jessica seemed to be preoccupied with something and stared at an apparel store.

“What’s wrong, unnie?” Juhyun asked her.

“Hmm?” The blonde girl seemed to be disturbed from her thoughts. “Oh, it’s fine; you go on ahead…”

“Are you sure?” The younger girl asked again.

Jessica simply nodded and waved to her. Juhyun shrugged and went into the shoe store.

Tiffany was looking at the various models displayed in the store. She was having a hard time to decide which model to buy, when suddenly she could smell that calming melon scented perfume again.

“Stalk much?” She said without looking back, and she could hear the girl giggled behind her.

Jessica then stood next to her and browsed through various cell phone models.

“You know, I’m beginning to wonder if you’re the one who is really stalking me…” Tiffany turned to her side to look at the blonde girl.

“And I didn’t say anything to deny it.” She stared at her, smiling meaningfully.

The black haired girl smiled at the comment and shook her head. She then continued her previous activity.

“Oh, you should get this one.” Jessica pointed at a particular model. “I think they’re cute, and they have one in pink.”

Tiffany was surprised to hear that the blonde knew what her favorite color was. “Wha-How did you know I was thinking of buying the pink one?”

“Because it’s your favorite color?” She simply stated and bumped her glasses up again.

“And how did you know it was pink?” Tiffany insisted.

“Well, you are wearing a pink shirt, the same color you wore yesterday, and your sandals are pink, and I noticed that your wallet is also the same color.” Jessica explained.

“Wow…” Tiffany was awed. “… Awesome deduction skill, Holmes.”

The blonde girl giggled at the praise and said, “Come on, let’s buy this one.”

“Let’s?” Tiffany asked.

“Excuse me, ahjussi; we want to buy this model.” Jessica called the vendor. “Can we have one in white and one in pink, please?”

“Of course, miss. Let me get them for you.” The middle aged man said as he went to search for the correct colors.

“I’m buying one too.” Jessica said as she saw Tiffany was staring at her, confused.

“Why do you need one?” She asked. “Didn’t you already have one?”

“My old one is broken.” The blonde said as she looked around the store. “That’s why I couldn’t call Sooyoung when I was shooting.”

“But you said you were busy!”

“I was busy, yes; but don’t you think I would at least have the time to call my friends?” The blonde was now playing with her hair.

“But you had one!” Tiffany insisted. “You called Sooyoung earlier when we were about to meet them!”

“Oh, I was using Soojung’s.” She calmly stated.

“Why do you keep asking me about my phone?”

“I-Nevermind…” Tiffany gave up.

“Here you are, girls!” The vendor happily offered them their new phones. “Cute new phones for cute girls!”

“Thank you.” The blonde smiled and gave him her credit card.

“Oh, here’s mine.” Tiffany quickly gave hers.

And while they were waiting for the man to bring back their cards, Tiffany stared at Jessica, who was looking at the display in front of her, smiling at the phones, like she was still looking for something.

“Come on, I saw some cute straps on that shop over there.” Jessica said to her when they left the cellular shop.

Tiffany followed the blonde; still curious about her new friend, as she still had doubts about Jessica buying a new phone.

Is it too much to think that it was not a coincidence? She thought to herself.

“Look; isn’t it cute?” Jessica said, pulling Tiffany from her thoughts.

“Hmm?” She asked when she saw the phone strap. Jessica had picked out a cute metal strap with a small pink panda figure hanging at the end.

Mr. Pink! She thought. Could she be…?

“This is yours.” Jessica handed the strap to her, as Tiffany stared at her.

“What’s wrong?” The blonde asked.

“Nothing.” Tiffany shook her head and smiled. “Nothing…”

The blonde giggled and showed her another strap, the same metal strap with a panda figure, but this time it was white. “This is mine.”

Tiffany was still lost in her thoughts and she just smiled and nodded as her friend took both straps. She stared as Jessica disappeared inside the store and sighed. It was probably just a coincidence, Tiffany…

“Let’s go.” She smiled as she put the pink strap back into Tiffany’s hand.

“Wait, I need to pay for this.” The black haired girl realized.

“Oh, it’s okay; I already paid for them.”

“What?” Tiffany asked. “Why?”

“Think of it as a gift.” Jessica smiled. “A gift to the start of our friendship.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” Tiffany said as she took out her wallet. “Here, how much was it?”

“I said it was a gift.”

“Really, Jessica; let me pay for it.” The black haired girl insisted.

“Don’t you like the strap?” She pushed the side of her frame and sighed.

“I love it.”

“Okay, then.” The blonde continued. “It’s a gift.”

“No, you don’t have to. Let me pay for it.”

“Do you always reject your friend’s gifts?” Jessica looked sad as she stared at the black haired girl.

“No.” Tiffany was at a loss for words when she saw those sad blue eyes. “I mean...”

“A thank you would be nice…” Jessica said as she turned around and started walking.

When she saw that Jessica was walking away, Tiffany felt like she was about to cry. She was afraid that she would lose her new friend already.

“Thank you…” Tiffany gave up and whispered. 

“What’s that?” The blonde girl stopped and turned around. 

“Thank you.” The black haired girl quickly ran and stood beside her. “And I’m sorry…”

“That’s okay.” Jessica said calmly.

Tiffany stared at her new pink strap and smiled. “It’s so cute…”

“I know; I picked them myself.” The blonde smiled as Tiffany turned to look at her and flashed her eye-smile as a return.

“Unnie!” Krystal and the rest of the girls were waiting for them in front of the shoe store.

“Unnie!” And she threw herself at her older sister and hugged her.

“Did you find anything?” Jessica smiled as she patted Krystal’s head.

The younger sister shook her head and buried her face on Jessica’s chest.

“Well, I found this pair of shoes I like, unnie…” Sooyoung teased the sisters.

“… Would you buy them for me, pwease?” She said in a cute-childish voice.

The older Jung just smiled while the younger stuck her tongue out at the tall girl.     

“Oh, I think I forgot my phone’s box!” Tiffany suddenly realized that she was not holding any shopping bag.

“Hang on; I think I left it at the accessory shop!” She said as she turned around and ran.

Jessica was about to follow her but Krystal tightened her hug to prevent her older sister from escaping.

Meanwhile Tiffany found her shopping bag lying on the entrance of the shop. She was relieved that no one had taken it, considering there were a lot of people were walking around the area.

How can I be so careless? She reprimanded herself.

She was picking the bag up when she noticed another familiar figure was talking with the shop attendant inside the store.

Tiffany went inside to make sure. The girl was the same height as Juhyun, but her skin was a little darker from hers. Her hair was long and slightly brown. Her face was slightly longer than Yuri’s, and her eyes were larger. She was wearing a white T-shirt and khaki shorts. Tiffany remembered that she met the girl at her dance class.

“Yoona?” She called the girl.

“Y-Yes?” Im Yoona turned around to meet the older girl’s eyes and she looked surprised.

“Oh, Tiffany unnie?” She greeted her.

“What are you doing here?” Tiffany saw that she was holding a camera in one hand and a phone strap in her other.

“N-Nothing!” Yoona panicked as she quickly hid the phone strap behind her back. “I was just looking around!”

“Oh. Okay…” Tiffany was a little suspicious at the younger girl. She could swear that Yoona was holding a white panda phone strap.

“Are you here alone?” She tried to sound casual as she stared at the awkward young girl.

“I came here with some friends; would you like to join us?” She continued, “You probably know them, it’s—“

“—Wow! Look at the time, unnie!” Yoona shouted. “I need to go now; my dad is probably worried about me!”

“Eh?” Tiffany was surprised.

“Bye-bye, unnie!” The younger girl laughed awkwardly and ran away, “See you around!”

What a strange girl, she thought as she stared at the running girl.

When Tiffany came back the girls were still joking around in front of the shoe store. They then decided to end the day and go home. The Jung sisters took the cab, Yuri went to the subway station, Tiffany and Sooyoung took the bus to their dormitory, while Seohyun took another bus.

“So, we’re the only ones who stay in the dormitory, huh?” Tiffany asked Sooyoung when they were riding the bus.

“Yep.” The tall girl simply said as she was busy texting someone.

Tiffany pulled out her new cell phone and stared at her straps. Hello again, Mr. Pink…

“Nice strap.” Sooyoung said.

“Thank you.” And Tiffany smiled at her and started to browse her new phone. The phone book was already filled with a few names; Yuri, Sooyoung, Juhyun, Krystal, and Jessica.

Jessica…

Her phone suddenly rang and Tiffany almost jumped in her seat. She looked at her cell and found that she had one new message from the girl she was just thinking about.

Had fun? :) The message said.

Tiffany smiled and quickly replied, Yes, I did. Thank you. :)

“Who’s that from?” Sooyoung peeked.

“Uh-uh; that’s not very polite of you, Choi Sooyoung.” The shorter girl said as she held her finger against Sooyoung’s curious nose.

The taller girl giggled and said. “Sorry. Old habit…”

Her phone rang again, Don’t forget dinner. ;)

Tiffany smiled, but before she could text the blonde girl back, Sooyoung tapped her shoulder and said, “Come on, let’s get off here.”

“Why?” Tiffany followed her.

“We’ll get some take outs first.” Sooyoung explained. “I’m starving.”

“Oh, okay…”

Tiffany was sitting in the living room in front of her laptop after finishing her take out dinner. She stared at the screen, waiting for it to connect to the other side of the world. She had promised her Los Angeles best friend that they would video call each other that night.

The call was connected and the black haired girl could see the brunette smiling at her through the screen.

“Hey, Tiff!” She said excitedly. “I missed you…”

“I missed you too, Liz!” Tiffany flashed her eye smile. “So, how are things?”

Elizabeth smiled, “Pretty much the same. You know; school and all…”

“How’s Nick?” The black haired girl teased.

“We’re fine…” Her best friend shrugged. “How about you? How’s Korea?”

And Tiffany told her everything about her new life; her classes and trainings, her new roommates, her new friends, even her new cell phone. Elizabeth listened to her best friend’s story with excitement; ooh-ing and aah-ing at every detail.

“Have you called your dad?” The brunette said after a while.

Tiffany shook her head. “I’ll call him later. Maybe…”

“And your sister?”

“Michelle’s been busy…” She told her. “… She said she’s getting a part time job or something…”

“Why?”

“She told me it was just to fill up her resume…” Tiffany brushed her hair with her fingers. “I don’t know…”

“What time is it there?” The brunette asked.

“It’s almost one.”

“Oh. You have to sleep now, Tiff.” Her best friend said, “You have school tomorrow.”

“What; are you trying to get rid of me?” The black haired girl raised her eyebrow.

“You know what I mean…”

“Yeah…” Tiffany sighed. “I’ll call you some other time, Liz…”

“Okay, keep in touch.” Elizabeth waved to the screen.

“Bye…”

And as Tiffany closed her laptop and stood up, her phone rang once again.

Goodnight, Los Angeles. :)

She smiled at her phone and texted back, Goodnight, San Francisco. :)

She entered her room and found that Ri-in was already snoring in her sleep. She climbed into her bed and lied on her back. She did not mention to Jessica that she was going to start school tomorrow. Tiffany closed her eyes and smile,

I think I’ll surprise her tomorrow…