The warm aroma of coffee greeted Sooyoung as soon as she stepped through the doors of the café. It was a quaint little spot in a small shopping district. Normally, she would not have been able to find it had she not been given thorough instructions. Her eyes quickly scanned the area before picking a small table by the window.

                It was Saturday, but there were no new client, so instead of lounging around at work Sooyoung decided to get some studying done. Tired of the same old study spots, she opted for a place recommended to her by some classmates. As she started to spread her study materials out, she was approached by a waitress.

                “I’ll have a cup of expresso, please.” Without looking at the other woman, Sooyoung placed her order and started to look through her notes.

                However, her eyes kept drifting toward her phone. Since Hyomin forward Jessica’s contact information to her, Sooyoung could not stop debating with herself. While she wanted to honor Jessica’s wish to meet again at the start of medical school, she also wanted to talk to the other girl as much as possible. It felt wrong after four long years to suddenly have Jessica’s phone number and address, but not being able to contact her. Sooyoung understood that Jessica wanted to test her, but was close to impossible for Sooyoung.

                “Sooyoung … Choi Sooyoung?” An attractive, husky voice snapped Sooyoung out of her reverie.

                From her seat, she looked up to the person standing next to her table. The girl was staring at her with excited, wide eyes before a familiar eye-smile replaced the surprise. Her black, slightly curled hair cascaded around her shoulders. Her smile was simply divine since it multiplied her beauty ten-folds.

                “Um …” Sooyoung’s brows knit together, and then sudden they rose in recognition. “Tiffany! Hwang Miyoung!” She swiftly stood up and gave the other girl a big bear hug.

                “Long time no see, Sooyoungie!” Tiffany hugged her back with the same amount of enthusiasm.

                “It’s been too long, let me look at you.” Sooyoung leaned back, and then looked Tiffany up and down. “You’re even more beautiful than I remember.”

                “You’re still a sweet talker, I see.” Tiffany replied and hugged her again. “Gosh, I’ve missed you.”

                Tiffany and Sooyoung were in the same class in high school. They met at the entrance ceremony and quickly became friends since their personalities meshed well together. Other than Jessica, Tiffany was the next closest person to Sooyoung during high school. Suddenly, Sooyoung felt a pang of regret for never connecting with her friend again when she came back to Korea.

                “Ahem … Fany, you’re here?” A voice called out behind Tiffany.

Sooyoung looked over Tiffany’s shoulder to see the waitress had returned with her drink, but the girl’s expression was very strange. Tiffany broke the hug and turned back to greet the waitress.

                “Taeyeon, do you remember Sooyoung here? From highschool?” Tiffany came over to Taeyeon’s side and placed a quick peck on her cheek.

                “Not really.” Taeyeon shook her head and put Sooyoung’s cup down.

                Sooyoung quietly studied Taeyeon’s features. The girl was on the short side, even shorter than Tiffany. Her hair was colored blonde and she had a good complexion. Since she was paying attention, Sooyoung realized that Taeyeon was very pretty with an innocent, youthful look.

                “Let me introduce myself, then. I’m Choi Sooyoung, a friend of Tiffany from high school.” Sooyoung extended her hand toward the shortest girl there.

                “Kim Taeyeon, Tiffany’s girlfriend.” Taeyeon squeezed Sooyoung’s hand and replied curtly.

                Sooyoung squared her jaw, but managed to smile while she shook Taeyeon’s hand. She thought that the girl was rather rude, but she did not want to start trouble with Tiffany’s girlfriend. “Nice to meet you, Taeyeon-ssi.” She uttered with a polite smile.

                “I thought you girls would know each other, since we went to the same high school.” Tiffany wrapped her arms around Taeyeon in a back hug.

                “I guess we hung out with different people.” Sooyoung smiled at Tiffany’s cute display of affection and Taeyeon’s poker face softened into a small smile.

                “Yep. Taeyeon was two grades higher than us so she graduated a lot earlier. Plus, you were always with Jessica, so I guess that makes sense.” Tiffany’s voice sounded a bit weak when Jessica was mentioned and Taeyeon casted her eyes downward.

                Just then, the doorbell dinged and more customers entered. Reluctantly, Taeyeon had to leave Sooyoung and Tiffany so she could tend to the new arrivals. Sooyoung tidied up her notes on the table and motioned for Tiffany to join her.

                “So, how is Jessica?” Tiffany probed.

                “She’s good, I think …” Sooyoung thought aloud, since she was not sure whether Jessica was good or not. They did not talk much during their brief reunion.

                “You think? You guys are together right?” Tiffany tilted her head curiously.

                “It’s complicated.” Sooyoung chuckled and sounded rueful.

                “So explain to me.”

                “It’s a long story …”

                “When you suddenly disappeared from our last year of high school, I thought you went to the US with her. The whole class thought so …” Tiffany finally voiced the thought that she had been holding back.

                Sooyoung shook her head, “No. I didn’t see her for four years, until a few days ago.”

                “Oh. I was sure you had gotten married in the US or something. You know, civil partnership and all that.”

                “Was I that obvious?”

                Tiffany laughs and nodded, her eyes forming beautiful crescent shapes. “Obvious is an understatement. The way you look at her and how you treated her differently from other people … everyone was jealous.”

                “Everyone?” Sooyoung playfully winked.

                “Everyone …” Tiffany nodded and met Sooyoung’s gaze. When she was about to add something, Taeyeon returned with a cup of hot chocolate for her girlfriend.

                “Thanks, sweetie.” Tiffany looked up and smiled at her lover.

                “Do you want anything else?” Taeyeon had only eyes for her girlfriend, she did not even spare Sooyoung half a look. “We have a fresh batch of cookies if you would like.”

                “No, I’m fine right now. Sooyoung and I are just catching up with things, do you want to join us? We can reminisce about the good ole days.” Tiffany pulled a nearby chair closer.

                “It’s fine, we’re short on staff today, so I have to see to the customers. I’ll finish my shift in thirty minutes, then we can go shopping alright?”            

                “Alright, Taetae. Tell me if you need help.” Tiffany nodded and smiled at Taeyeon, who nodded with a bright smile.

                After Taeyeon left to tend to the other customers, Sooyoung continued to sip on her coffee. Tiffany stirred the whipped cream into her hot chocolate and glanced over Sooyoung’s notes. “So what are you studying?”

                “I’m studying for the entrance exam into medical school.” Sooyoung tapped lightly on her notes.

                “Oh, that’s still your dream, hmm? Medical school then DWB?” Tiffany shortened the organization’s name.

                “Yea … when I get in, I can be with Jessica again … hopefully forever.” Sooyoung smiled to herself as those thoughts came into her mind.

                “Ah … maybe when we have time and you’re comfortable, you’ll have to fill me in on the story.” Tiffany glanced out the window.

                “What about you? Tell me about you and Taeyeon-ssi. I remember you telling me once that you were in love with a person from school. Was it Taeyeon-ssi?” Sooyoung watched the short waitress busying herself with the other customers. The woman had a bright smile on her face, unlike the look that she gave Sooyoung earlier.

                “…” Tiffany watched her girlfriend then shook her head. A touch of sadness briefly graced her smile. “No, it wasn’t.”

                “Oh. But the important thing is that you guys are together now. You look good together.” Sooyoung the taste of coffee from her lips.

                “It was you.” Tiffany’s voice was low, only Sooyoung could hear.

                “Hmm?”

                “I was in love with you, through the three years we were together in high school. You were my first love. But you only had eyes for Jessica … so I couldn’t bring myself to tell you.” Sooyoung was shocked into silence. Tiffany laughed nervously and shook her head. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up out of the blue. But I wanted to tell you before I lose my chance … to get some sort of closure for me.”

                “Oh … I … I didn’t know, Tiffany … I’m sorry.” Sooyoung glanced all around out of nervousness. “I’m so very clueless … ahaha … haha …” Once again, awkward-Sooyoung came out.

                “Don’t feel weird about it. I just wanted to tell you … but I’m in love with Taeyeon now. She’s more than I could ever ask for myself. She supported me through a lot of things … she’s sort of like my angel.” Tiffany looked at the shorter girl with only love in her eyes. Sooyoung felt somewhat jealous that it worked out so well for people for people around her, but not for her own lovelife.

                “Does she know that you used to like me?”

                “Uh-huh. I told her everything back in high school. We have been close since then.”

                “That explains the looks that she’s been giving me.” Sooyoung caught another glare from Taeyeon.

                “Haha, sorry about that. She is a bit protective sometimes, it’s cute when she doesn’t go overboard.” Tiffany laughed and when she saw Taeyeon look her way, she waved happily.

                Sooyoung was grateful that Tiffany changed the topic to her current life and took the awkwardness away. She did not want to think about how hurt Tiffany might have been when Sooyoung suddenly disappeared from school. She felt bad for never noticing anyone when Jessica was around.

Sooyoung asked about Tiffany and Taeyeon. It turned out that Tiffany and Taeyeon co-owned the café together. Tiffany worked at a book publishing company nearby and Taeyeon managed the café. They were having a comfortable life and Sooyoung felt truly happy for them.

                “Alright, my shift is over, Fany.” Taeyeon had changed out of her uniform and was ready to go.

                “Okay, Tae.” Tiffany gathered her coat and purse. “We have to go grocery shopping, Taeyeon is making me dinner tonight. It’s nice to see you again, Sooyoung.” Tiffany opened her cardcase and handed her business card over to Sooyoung. “Here, I’d love to catch up again, sometimes. Give me a ring.”

                Sooyoung received the card and quickly scribbled down her number for Tiffany as well. “Here is my number, too. Just in case.” She smiled and stood up to give Tiffany a goodbye hug, despite Taeyeon’s icy glare. Sooyoung thought that glare would rival Jessica’s any day.

                “Oh, we and some of our friends are going clubbing at Karma tomorrow. You should join us, it’s been a while since you and I partied together.” Tiffany patted Sooyoung’s back.

                “I’ll think about it and text you.” Sooyoung nodded. “It was nice meeting you, Taeyeon-ssi.”

                Taeyeon nodded and led Tiffany to the door. Sooyoung waved when Tiffany smiled at her and sighed softly when they left. She shook her head and entered Tiffany’s number into her phone. It was strange how all these people from her past suddenly came back when she was about to take the biggest test of her life. Not only that, but she had no one to talk to about all this. If only Yuri were here.

                Just as Sooyoung was about to dive back into her books, her phone chirped with a new message. It was a new number that Sooyoung did not recognize.

                [Sooyoung-unni, would you like to have dinner?! Please say yes! --- Love, Jinri <3]

                [PS. This is my new number, Krystal broke my other phone. I’ll tell you about it at dinner!]

                With a slight smile, Sooyoung replied and then closed her notes. Since she entered the café, she only managed to read one page out of her notes. She sighed to herself, “How will I get into medical school at this rate?” After placing her payment down on the table, she departed the café, accomplishing not much more than when she came in.

TaeNy appeared! They are setting up for the next chapter :) Merry Christmas, everyone! Whether you celebrate Christmas, another holiday, or are just looking forward to the end of the year ... I wish you all the same peace, happiness, and warmth that I wish for my own family.

Love you all very much!