Savior
Part 1

 

“It’s not that bad…”

 

“I look like a man!”

 

“…Well yeah…but…a pretty man.”

 

“Yoona!”

 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry! How many times do I have to apologize?”

 

“As many times as it takes for my hair to grow back!”

 

“But that’ll take, like, a whole year! Maybe more!”

 

A girl sat glumly staring at herself in the mirror and gently the short locks on her head.

 

“Come on Yuri, it looks fine.”

 

Yuri sighed and tore her eyes away from the mirror, not being able to bear looking at the significantly shorter hair on her head.

 

“You and your stupid gum…” Yuri muttered under her breath as she walked away from her grabbing a paint roller.

 

“Hey! It wasn’t my fault it got in your hair!”

 

“Yes it was!”

 

Yoona looked away guiltily and went back to painting the wall in front of her without a response. Yuri huffed in anger and furiously put her cap back on her head, still mad at the fact that she had to cut her hair so short because her best friend had gotten a piece of gum stuck in her hair. “Let’s just finish painting this room, okay?”

 

The two girls worked in silence, a big difference from their usual loud and endless jokes they had with each other. The room filled with the scent of fresh paint slowly began to fill with color as the two girls moved their paint rollers over the vast white wall, covering the blank canvas with a light blue color with every . Yuri took a step back and examined the now fully painted room. She grinned at the sight before her. What was once completely empty and bare was now filled with a color that resembled the sky. It gave Yuri hope. It reminded her that if things seemed empty and bare, all she had to do was paint over it with a brighter color.

 

For the past year, she seemed to have been seeing things in a new light, a brighter color.

 

“Thanks for the help, Yoona. I need to head to work now,” Yuri said walking out of her freshly painted room without waiting for a response. She still hadn’t forgotten about her hair, and now that she was being forced to go out into public she felt the annoyance with Yoona come back full blast.

 

She sighed and pulled the cap down further onto her head as she walked to work, not even bothering to change before she left. She tried to avoid looking at anyone’s face out of embarrassment. She knew almost everyone around here. To say she was popular would be an understatement. She had definitely built up a whole new reputation for herself as the years went by. She was who the parents wanted as a daughter and who the kids looked up to. She felt like a star around here, so she felt like she had to keep up a good image most of the time in front of the kids and parents. Not that she was being fake or anything; she was genuinely a very nice girl and she could act like herself most of the time around them. But the last time she had come out wearing tattered clothes looking like a homeless person, she didn’t hear the end of it. She walked out of the apartment complex and made her way to the theatre only a few blocks away.

 

A short girl called out to her as soon as she walked through the doors, recognizing Yuri’s unruly attire and favorite cap.

 

“Yuri!”

 

Yuri looked up to see Taeyeon headed her way. Yuri mentally groaned and unconsciously pulled the bill of her cap even lower to hide her eyes from her short friend. She quickened her pace that led her to the shop backstage. She knew that Taeyeon would be one of three people that would endlessly about her new haircut. She held in another groan when she saw the other two people chatting idly in the shop. There was no escaping them now. Besides, she knew she’d have to face them eventually. She worked with them for goodness sakes.

 

She heard Taeyeon’s short but quick footsteps follow her backstage.

 

“Hey wait! Yuri!” Taeyeon’s shouts caught the attention of the other two and Yuri made her way over to them.

 

“What’s up Taeng?” Yuri asked casually as she grabbed a bottle of water and leaned against the wall before taking a sip.

 

“You just ignored me back there!” Taeyeon shouted as the two watching the scene beside them looked on amusedly. Yuri feigned a surprised look.

 

“Oh, really? Sorry, guess I didn’t hear you.”

 

“Something’s different…” Sooyoung interrupted as she stepped in front of Yuri to try and examine her. Yuri didn’t miss the smirk that appeared on Hyoyeon’s face before she rushed forward to tear off the cap from her head. The three didn’t hesitate to burst out into laughter as soon as they saw the short hair that their friend now harbored.

 

“I had to cut it off, okay? Yoona got gum stuck in my hair! Don’t’ ask me how, it just happened!” Yuri shouted exasperatedly before grumpily walking away from the laughing trio and threw on a sweatshirt that she left there the day before. Sometimes she practically lived in the theatre, spending her nights in the cold, vast building. So, as a result she had left multiple belongings all over the place. No one really minded. They knew that she considered the theatre her home.

 

“Finally embracing your inner boy, aren’t you Yuri?” Hyoyeon said chuckling a little at her own joke. Yuri rolled her eyes at her, not bothering to give her a response as she stared at the blueprints in front of her for what felt like the millionth time that week.

 

“Oppa~” Sooyoung said as she swung an arm around Yuri’s shoulders. “Dinner later?” she asked with a wink. Yuri groaned and shrugged off Sooyoung’s arms before turning around and walking towards the pile of wood. She searched for the one closest to the size she was looking for.

 

“You really do look like a guy though Yuri…you actually pull it off really well. It’s kind of scary,” Taeyeon said with a shiver. Yuri looked up at her and smirked.

 

“Falling for my charms there, Taeyeon?”

 

“Over my dead body,” Taeyeon responded with a disgusted face. Yuri could only laugh at her before going back to work.

 

“Don’t you guys have work to do or something?” Yuri asked staring at the three idly watching her and throwing a joke here and there. Sooyoung munched on a bag of chips she had gotten from who knows where and shrugged.

 

“I’m waiting for the new shipment of fabric to come in so I can touch up some of the costumes,” Sooyoung said.

 

“I need to wait for the rest of the cast to come in,” Hyoyeon replied.

 

“And my job is to look over you,” Taeyeon replied with a smirk.

 

Yuri rolled her eyes again. “It’s your job to look over everyone.”

 

“Well yeah, but you’re the only one working, so…”

 

Yuri sighed and measured out the piece of wood she picked up. “How does it feel to be director anyway?” Taeyeon’s teasing smirk immediately changed into a proud grin.

 

“It’s great! I just hope I don’t screw this up…” Yuri smiled at her friend. This was Taeyeon’s first time directing a musical after having starred in many of her own. She was proud of her. Taeyeon had worked hard at this and Yuri knew she was extremely good at her job, so she was fairly confident that it'd turn out to be a good production. She was practically born to do this. “It’s a little weird not actually being on stage though, you know?”

 

“Don’t worry, the people backstage are more fun anyway,” Yuri said with a chuckle. Sooyoung and Hyoyeon laughed along with her.

 

The loud greetings in the house of the theater caught the attention of the four girls. A grin immediately found its way to Taeyeon’s face, who could tell the familiar voice apart from anywhere.

 

“Hey guys!” the bright girl greeted with a smile as she walked into the shop and spotting her four friends right away. “What are – oh my god!” Tiffany shouted in her native tongue, agape. “Yuri-yah! You look…”

 

Yuri avoided her gaze and walked over to the electric saw to cut the piece of wood. “Yeah yeah, I know. I look like a guy. I’ve gotten enough of it from those three over there…” She quickly and skillfully cut the piece of wood so it’d be the correct length and walked back to the rest of the pile of wood trying to pick out another one, not sparing the awestruck girl a glance.

 

Tiffany giggled and walked over to her. “I was going to say…” Yuri turned around curiously to see bright eyes shaped into perfect crescents looking back at her. “You look very handsome…Short hair fits you well,” she said with another giggle as she walked even closer to Yuri and ran her fingers through the soft, short locks. Yuri blushed at the contact and shyly grinned back at her.

 

“Thanks…” she mumbled before turning away from her. She just barely managed to miss the glare that Taeyeon shot her as she continued to work.

 

The rest of the crew had started piling in as the day went on, and Yuri was quick to notice the greater amount of attention she received, particularly from the girls. Yuri, who was usually very confident, became flustered and shy as more and more girls, as well as the usual amount of guys, began to shamelessly flirt with her. She was used to getting attention, but not this kind of attention. She wasn’t a shy person, but she wasn’t the type to get close and touchy with people that she barely knew.

 

“She’s working with us again?" Sooyoung shouted as she buried her hands in her face. Seven girls sat around a table in the shop, all taking a break from work. Yuri refused to take a break as she continued to work on the set.

 

“Sica unnie isn’t that bad…” Seohyun replied with a pout on her face as she contemplated how to word her next sentence. “She just…needs to learn how to…communicate better.” Before Yuri could ask any questions, another girl came in through the door.

 

“Hey, sorry I’m late!”

 

The girls all greeted the newcomer warmly as she walked next to Yuri and began to help her with her task. “Whoa, trying to copy my style there?” she joked not failing to notice the new style that Yuri was now sporting was very similar to her own.

 

“Shut up and get to work, Amber.”

 

Amber only chuckled before she began to work in silence.

 

“Hey, Jessi’s not bad once you get to know her,” Tiffany said, resuming the previous conversation.

 

“Yeah, but she doesn’t let anyone get to know her…in fact, I think you’re like, her only friend in the entire world!” Sunny retorted.

 

“Oh my god,” Amber suddenly said accidentally slipping into her native tongue, a trait that was similar to Tiffany's. “Don’t tell me the Jessica Jung is working with us on this?”

 

“Well she is. Taeyeon hired her…” Sooyoung stated glumly. The group of girls all turned to glare at Taeyeon with the exception of Tiffany, who seemed to be friends with the girl, Seohyun, who was trying her best to be polite, and Yuri, who had no idea who this girl was.

 

“What? She’s not that bad. Plus, she’s good with what she does…” Taeyeon tried to reason. “And Tiffany recommended her to me…” she added under her breath. The whole table groaned, knowing that Tiffany had Taeyeon wrapped around her little finger. Tiffany grinned innocently, flashing her eye-smile to Taeyeon, who melted at the sight. Taeyeon honestly didn’t want to be working with the infamous ‘ice princess’ but she had no defenses against Tiffany’s attacks. Besides, Taeyeon had to admit to herself that Jessica was very good at her job.

 

“Who’s Jessica?” Yuri finally asked.

 

“Only the iest person to work with ever,” Hyoyeon mumbled under her breath. Yuri raised an eyebrow at the comment.

 

“Oh yeah, this will be your first time working with her, huh?” Yoona asked, taking the chance to make things seem normal between the two of them again.

 

“Guess so,” Yuri replied half heartedly, still not entirely happy with her. “Is she really that bad?” Yuri had remembered hearing stories about her from her friends. Even Taeyeon complained about her as long as Tiffany wasn't around to hear it.

 

“She made Seohyun cry!” Yoona shouted as she suddenly gave a bear hug to the girl next to her. Yuri looked at Seohyun squirming in Yoona's arms to see if there was any truth in her claim. Seohyun shyly looked down.

 

“Only a little bit...”

 

Yuri noticed how quiet Tiffany had gotten, which was extremely odd knowing how loud and talkative the girl usually was. Yuri figured that Tiffany and this Jessica girl were friends, and Yuri trusted Tiffany’s judgment. So Yuri couldn't help but wonder why Tiffany seemed to be the only one who didn't have a problem with this girl, and if the two were friends, why was she holding herself back from defending her? Tiffany wasn't the type to sit back and stay quiet and watch others talk bad about her friend. There was something off about the whole thing, and Yuri was determined to figure out what it was.

 

“No more complaining,” Taeyeon stated getting back into her leader role. “What’s done is done, and you guys will just have to deal with it. Back to work everyone!” Everyone reluctantly but obediently got up off their seats and went back to work. Yuri shrugged off the thought and decided that she would figure it out later. Yuri and Amber worked quietly together. It was one of things Yuri could always count on Amber for, someone who worked without a word. It let her focus on only work and forget everything else.

 

Today was an especially special day for the tan girl. She looked at the date on her phone and smiled to herself.

 

A year ago today, she was still ostracized.

 

“You don’t belong here.”

 

A year ago today, she was still coping with the loss of her family.

 

“Where are they…?

 

“I’m sorry, but…your parents…th-they’re not here anymore…”

 

A year ago today, she tried to kill herself.

 

“…I don’t want to be here anymore…in more ways than one.”

 

A year ago today, she met a beautiful stranger.

 

“How do you like your coffee?”

 

Yuri couldn’t hide the grin that spread across her face. Amber ignored the weird facial expression that her friend was making and continued to work quietly. Yuri had a habit of talking to herself, so this was normal.

 

“Hey, is she really that bad?” Yuri asked, curiosity getting the better of her. The two leisurely leaned against the wall taking a short break casually taking a sip of water every other minute.

 

Amber hesitated as she figured out a way to carefully word her answer. “It was one of the worst experiences of my life. A total nightmare,” she said with a grimace. “You'll love her,” Amber said sarcastically before she finished off her bottle of water and walked away. Yuri sighed and slumped further against the wall letting the exhaustion take over.

 

“Hey Yuri, we need some help with the lights onstage!” came a shout. Yuri immediately stood upright and walked onto the stage.

 

“Be right there Sunny!”

 

No matter how exhausted she was, she was always willing to lend a helping hand, even if it wasn't her job to do so. That in itself was as much of a strength as it was a weakness.

 

“Could you take that light up there down? I think that bulb is broken,” Sunny asked standing by a ladder. Yuri grinned at her and stepped up with no hesitation.

 

“Too short even with the ladder, huh?”

 

"Oh shut up and take it down for me."

 

Yuri chuckled and obediently followed instructions, not noticing the commotion that went on below her as soon as she diligently worked on detaching the light that seemed to be fixed in its place.

 

In the lobby stood two girls. One seemed extremely nervous while the other seemed like she couldn't care less. The shorter of the two awkwardly led the both of them through the doors that led to the house. Whispers and gasps immediately filled the room as they all recognized the girl adorned with blonde hair that framed a beautiful face fit to be royalty. The "ice princess," as she had been nicknamed, had arrived. Awkward greetings filled the room. The girl had quite a reputation of her own. Her popularity was on par with Yuri's, but for completely different reasons. Their images were the complete opposite of each other. One was revered, admired, a seemingly perfect role model; while the other was feared, hated, and looked down on.

 

But, of course, things were never as they seemed. How far did someone have to dig under the surface in order to see someone's true colors?

 

“You remember Sunny and Seohyun,” Taeyeon stated as she gestured towards the two. The blank stare on the blonde’s face told her that she probably didn’t. “Um, right. Well Sunny’s our chief lighting technician and Seohyun is our lightning programmer.” The two bowed respectfully. Taeyeon fidgeted when the girl next to her still showed no response. She silently wondered if she’d be able to work with the team. Taeyeon let out a sigh of relief when she saw a familiar face walk onstage. “You already know Tiffany. She’s the assistant producer.”

 

“Of course I do. She’s the whole reason I got this job,” the girl stated plainly.

 

“Jessi!”

 

Tiffany ran up grinning widely and gave her friend a tight hug. “Hey Tiffany. So, assistant producer, huh? Who’d you have to sleep with to get that job?” Tiffany laughed and lightly hit her friend’s arm in response. Jessica didn’t fail to notice the light blush that appeared on Taeyeon’s cheeks. Jessica couldn’t hold back her smirk. She knew well about the not-so-secret crush that she harbored for her best friend. It wasn’t a secret to anyone really—except for Tiffany that is.

 

Taeyeon coughed loudly to get the two Americans’ attention. “Anyway, Sooyoung over there is our wardrobe supervisor, Hyoyeon’s our choreographer, and Yoona’s our female lead,” Taeyeon said gesturing to the rest of the crew.

 

Meanwhile, Yuri stood on top of the ladder finally getting the light out of its place. She grinned triumphantly and slowly walked down the rungs of the ladder. She saw Amber situated at the bottom, holding the ladder steady.

 

“Where’s Sunny?”

 

Amber didn’t say anything and simply pointed in a direction behind her. Still not fully off of the ladder, Yuri twisted her body around with one hand gripping tightly onto one of the rungs of the ladder and the other hugging the light close to her body so she wouldn’t drop the fragile instrument.

 

Yuri’s eyes widened and dropped in shock.

 

“Uh, you alright up there?”

 

Yuri didn’t register Amber’s voice and stood frozen in her spot, her breath caught in . She felt her hands start to get clammy out of nervousness.

 

It couldn’t be…could it?

 

The blonde looked in her direction and their eyes met for a brief second.

 

“Yuri!”

 

Amber’s voice snapped her out of her daze and Yuri lazily replied, “Huh?” Yuri snapped her head back down and lost her grip on the ladder. She felt the light slip out of her hands and the ladder rocking back and forth as Amber instinctively let go to catch the falling light before it broke into pieces. Amber jumped out of the way when she saw the ladder start to fall down in her direction, bringing Yuri down along with it. The ladder and Yuri both landed with a loud thud against the stage, bringing the attention from everyone around her.

 

“Yuri!” came the shouts from everyone around.

 

Jessica raised an eyebrow at the sight of everyone rushing to help. She grabbed Tiffany’s arm to prevent her from moving. “Hey, who’s the guy?” she whispered.

 

“That’s not –”

 

“He’s cute.”

 

Tiffany raised an eyebrow at her friend and a smirk slowly formed on her face when she saw the look Jessica was giving Yuri. She knew exactly what that meant. It was rare that Tiffany got the chance to play a prank on Jessica – it was usually the other way around – so as soon as she saw the opportunity she didn’t hesitate to take it. Tiffany grabbed Jessica’s hand and dragged her across the stage to where the group of people were finally dissipating.

 

“Here, let me introduce you guys,” Tiffany said with a smirk still glued on her face.

 

Yuri groaned as she stood up dizzily. After assuring everyone that she was fine, Taeyeon forced everyone to get back to work and leave her alone, which she was grateful for. Yuri suddenly remembered the reason why she fell and snapped her head back at the sight. She was startled to see that Tiffany was dragging the girl over to where she was and started to silently panic. Her eyes were glued onto the strikingly familiar girl, and she seemed to be staring right back at her. Yuri unconsciously her dry lips out of nervousness as the two girls finally reached her.

 

“Hey! This is Jessica. She really wanted to meet you. She’s our stage manager for the show,” Tiffany introduced brightly.

 

“H-hi,” Yuri managed to barely spit out. She was still in shock. She refused to believe that the world could be that small.

 

 

“It’s been an hour and you’re still looking at me like I’m a ghost or something.”

 

“Well, it’s just…”

 

“Just what?”

 

“It’s hard for me to believe that this could happen to me.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, it’s not every day you meet someone that…”

 

“That?”

 

“Genuinely cares.”

 

The girl smiled. “There are lots of people like that though. You just need to find them.”

 

The other girl scoffed in disbelief. “They’re a little hard to find, don’t you think?”

 

“I don’t know about that. It’s a pretty small world. I mean, you already found one, didn’t you?”

 

 

 

Tiffany had to hold in her laughter at the sight of her best friend shamelessly flirting with Yuri. But, Tiffany was a little surprised. Yuri usually shrugged off anyone that flirted with her, but this was the first time that Tiffany had seen her actually flirt back. It came as a shock to her. She wasn’t even aware that Yuri knew how to flirt, let alone do it well. There was something in the look she gave Jessica though, Tiffany noticed. Behind the teasing stares and smirks, there was a burning curiosity, a desire other than the obvious physical attraction.

 

Yuri had an amused smirk plastered onto her face the entire time. She was having way too much fun teasing the girl, and the girl had absolutely no idea. She didn’t even have the chance to tell Jessica her name before she started coming on to her. It was entertaining, in Yuri’s opinion. She didn’t know why, but it was different with the incredibly familiar girl.

 

Jessica Jung, huh?

 

 

“You never told me your name.”

 

“Hm, let’s not say each other’s names.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Why should we?”

 

“Well, I’d kind of like to know the name of the girl that saved my life.”

 

“Don’t you think it’s better if we don’t?”

 

“Why would it be better?”

 

“Because this way, there are no strings attached. This way, it’s just two strangers getting to know each other. Haven’t you ever wanted to do that? Just spill your guts to someone you don’t know and then leave it at that? Haven’t you ever had that overwhelming bag of emotions that you can never tell the people you actually know?”

 

“I never really thought about it much.”

 

“Well think about it now.”

 

She laughed. “I guess you’re right. So, let’s just…get to know each other some more.”

 

The blonde girl nodded. “Names aren’t that important anyway.”

 

 

“Wait a minute, you’re a girl?”

 

Jessica’s mouth dropped in disbelief. Yuri had to hold in her laughter. She had no idea why her voice hadn’t given it away beforehand. Taeyeon walked past them and paused for a second before saying, “Oh yeah. Jessica, this is Yuri and Amber. They’re two of our stagehands.” Taeyeon walked away ignoring the dumbstruck look on Jessica’s face.

 

Yuri chuckled at the blonde and put on a fake contemplating look. “Hmm, well I was the last time I checked.” Jessica scowled at her and pushed her away.

 

“Tiffany! Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Well, you just kind of assumed…so I went along with it,” Tiffany said with an innocent smile.

 

“You could’ve at least told me her name.”

 

“Names aren’t that important, don’t you think?” Yuri said butting in. Jessica turned to glare at her.

 

“Do you always into other people’s conversations?”

 

“Do you always flirt with your coworkers?”

 

Jessica glared at the still smirking girl. Yuri couldn’t contain her excitement. She was so sure that this was her. There was no way it couldn’t be her.

 

Yuri wondered why she was acting like she was. She wondered why she was so hated among her friends. That wasn’t the stranger Yuri met a year ago, but there was no doubt that it was her. It had to be.

 

Her miracle had found her again, and she wasn’t about to let it leave anytime soon.

 

She could never forget that face.

 

 

“Sit down.”

 

She obediently sat down in the chair that she gestured towards. The blonde stranger sat down across from her.

 

It was the first time that night that she got the chance to examine the girl thoroughly.

 

She had on a light layer of makeup. It wasn’t very excessive or overdone. Her straight blonde hair flowed down past her shoulders and ended in small curls. Her hair was a little damp from the rain despite her umbrella’s effort. Small beads of water trailed down her shoulders to her arms, making her seem like she was glistening underneath the fluorescent lighting of the practically empty coffee shop. The stranger stared at her with a sincerity she had never seen in anyone before.

 

“How do you like your coffee?”

 

She wasn’t sure what was happening all of a sudden.

 

But that was the first time anyone had asked her how she liked her coffee.

 

She wasn’t sure if it was the blonde hair, the bright red dress, or her personality that made the stranger seem to shine brighter than the stars.

 

 

“You’re so repulsive!”

 

“Aww, I’m not cute anymore?”

 

Jessica glared at her for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. Everyone quickly grew accustomed to the bickering pair and found their whole relationship very amusing. It was the first time everyone had seen Jessica so annoyed. She was usually cold and icy, the type that could instill fear without even raising her voice. But, the theater today seemed to be filled with her shrill shrieks – that was soon dubbed the ‘dolphin scream’ by their fellow friends and coworkers – as well as her loud scolding and yelling that all seemed to be directed at the one and only Kwon Yuri. Not even Tiffany had ever seen her like this. Yuri surprised everyone as well. No one had ever seen her so flirty. She teased Jessica any chance she got, and would always find a way to get as close as she could to the blonde, sticking her face in front of her with that smirk that was reserved only for the resident dolphin screamer as often as she could.

 

It was a very amusing sight indeed.

 

“You were never cute.”

 

“That’s not what you said earlier,” Yuri said with that smirk on her face again.

 

Jessica turned away from the sight. “Whatever,” she muttered to herself. She walked into the room where they kept all the paint cans and searched for the color she needed. Naturally, Yuri followed her in. Jessica pretended not to notice her as she reached up to try and grab a paint can on the very top shelf. Yuri chuckled at the sight of Jessica on her tip toes struggling to reach the paint can.

 

“Need some help?”

 

“No,” she stubbornly replied. She felt her fingers graze the paint can and she grinned triumphantly.

 

“Wait –”

 

“I don’t need your help!” Jessica screamed. She angrily grabbed the paint can from the top shelf and unknowingly knocked over an open can in the process and she was soon colored in a shade of bright red. The paint completely covered her hair, only a few specks of blonde could be seen at this point. The top of her light blue button up blouse was enveloped with the new contrasting color. The paint from her hair and blouse dripped down slowly, specks of red getting onto her skinny jeans.

 

Yuri prepared herself for the scream that could pierce the heavens.

 

“This is your fault!” she screamed. Yuri winced at the high pitched voice.

 

“How is this my fault?!” Yuri yelled back.

 

“You…you probably planned this! You, you stupid…planner…person.”

 

It was undeniably the worst comeback Yuri had ever heard.

 

Yuri smirked again and walked up to her. “Oh, I didn’t plan a thing,” Yuri said. “You did this to yourself Sica-baby.”

 

“Yah! You’re not allowed to call me that!” Jessica raised a paint covered hand to shove her away, but Yuri caught her wrist before she could go through with the movement.

 

If there was one thing everyone in the theater could agree on, it was that the physical attraction between the two was unquestionable. Whether either of them wanted to admit or not, it was there.

 

Yuri held onto her wrist tightly as Jessica glared at her, drips of red still falling from her bangs. Without a word, Yuri took her hand in hers and led her out of the room and pulled her into the dressing room, ignoring the countless stares from the rest of the crew. As soon as she pulled her in, Yuri let go and locked the door behind them. Jessica, surprisingly, remained quiet. Yuri began to take off her sweatshirt.

 

“W-what are you doing?”

 

Yuri swiftly finished taking the article of clothing, revealing the paint splattered t-shirt she came in, and stared at the blonde girl confusedly. “Well you can’t walk around like that all day, can you?” She placed the sweatshirt aside and walked towards Jessica, lightly pushing her towards the sink. “Take off your shirt.”

 

“W-what!?”

 

“So we can wash off the paint on your hair and body! Sheesh,” Yuri groaned, but she didn’t miss the flicker of fear that flashed in Jessica’s eyes the moment she had said that. She gently guided Jessica onto the chair in front of the sink. “If you’re that shy, I’ll turn around,” she mumbled before handing her a clean towel and turning to face the wall. Yuri couldn’t hide her frown as she as she turned around. Did Jessica not recognize her? It seemed as if she couldn’t recall the night at all, even with all the hints she had been giving off. For a second she started thinking that maybe Jessica wasn’t the same girl, but dismissed that thought as soon as it had entered her head.

 

She stared at her hands that had held Jessica’s earlier. It had to be her.

 

 

The blonde stranger led her into a dimly lit coffee shop. There didn’t seem to be many people there. Her eyes fell to their hands. They were still intertwined.

 

She was surprised at how much comfort it gave her.

 

It was amazing how a gesture as simple as holding hands could provide so much security. It relaxed her in a way she never thought it could. No one had ever held her hand like this before.

 

She later found it to be a similar feeling of comfort whenever she held someone else’s hands. Whether it was a friend or something more, she felt just a little bit safer when someone’s hand was in hers. It was just a simple friendly gesture, and it meant the world to her.

 

But, no one’s hands could ever compare to that particular stranger’s touch.

 

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She heard the ruffling of clothes and the sink turn on. After a couple minutes Jessica had announced that she could turn back around. She was surprised at how fast she had cleaned herself up, but when she turned around Jessica was still shirtless and had regions of her torso splattered with paint that had somehow gotten past her blouse. It wasn’t the first time she had seen a girl shirtless. When you worked backstage in the theater business, it was a sight you’d probably see often. But, for some off reason, Yuri couldn’t hide the blush that took over her face as she tried her hardest not to stare.

 

“I-I need some help,” she shyly admitted, failing to hide her blush as well. Yuri nodded and didn’t say a word as she stiffly walked towards where she was and grabbed the towel from her hand. Yuri examined her hair and the blouse that was lying in the sink. It didn’t look like she even did much herself before she asked for help. She made Jessica lean her head back into the sink, placing her hair into the water before expertly beginning to wash the paint out of her hair. The atmosphere relaxed a little bit and before they both knew it, all the paint was out of her hair.

 

“All done with your hair,” Yuri announced. Jessica leaned her head forward and felt Yuri blow drying her hair as soon as she had done so. After a couple minutes, Yuri was finished with that as well.

 

Yuri handed her the sweatshirt she had taken off earlier. “Here, change into this and we’ll see what we can do about your blouse.” Jessica nodded obediently and Yuri turned around, knowing how shy the girl probably was. She heard the ruffling of clothes and when the voice called out to her saying that she was done, she let herself turn back around.

 

“It’s been quiet for a while. Do you think they’re doing it?”

 

“Shh! They’ll hear you!”

 

“Yah! Sooyoung! Hyoyeon! Get back to work!”

 

Yuri rolled her eyes at the two and mentally thanked Taeyeon for stopping them from eavesdropping. Yuri looked back at Jessica, who remained quiet the entire time. She had her back turned to Yuri, facing the sink and furiously scrubbing her blouse in an attempt to wash out the paint. Yuri looked over the blonde’s shoulders and chuckled before smirking and walking behind her and reached to grab her hands to maneuver them correctly.

 

“You’re doing it wrong,” Yuri whispered teasingly into her ear. She felt Jessica stiffen between her arms. Yuri noticed how her sweatshirt was just a little too big for her when she saw that the sleeves that Jessica had rolled up kept sliding back down.

 

“You’re pretty good at this…” Jessica mumbled to herself. Yuri chuckled again and leaned even closer to her ear.

 

“Well, believe it or not, I have done this before,” she whispered again. It sent shivers down Jessica’s spine and that was just enough to knock her back into her normal state. She quickly elbowed Yuri in the stomach and Yuri stumbled back with a groan and clutched her stomach in pain.

 

“Yah! P-ert!” she shouted before turning the water off and helplessly throwing the blouse aside. “Stop trying to take advantage of me!”

 

Yuri couldn’t hold in her laugh at how quickly she had reverted back into her icy state. But, Jessica had already revealed enough for her to confirm that she was the girl. There was someone beneath the icy exterior, and Yuri was determined to bring her out. But, she knew she had to take it slowly for her to even begin to open up to her. She knew a lust-filled relationship wouldn’t bring out that side of her. It didn’t matter to Yuri whether she remembered that night or not, she just wanted to meet that stranger again that she knew was inside of Jessica somewhere.

 

“Hey look –”

 

“What!?” she sharply interrupted. Yuri chuckled again at her antics, but this just made her get even more riled up as she impatiently waited for Yuri to continue.

 

“We kind of started off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we just…start over?”

 

Jessica scoffed at her. “It doesn’t work like that. You can’t just start over.”

 

“Yes you can!”

 

“No you can’t.” Jessica couldn’t help but laugh at Yuri’s naivety. “It’s not that easy.”

 

Yuri stared straight into her eyes and for the first time that day, she smiled at her instead of smirking. “It could be.” Jessica let down her guard for just a minute as soon as she saw the look of sincerity in Yuri’s eyes. That one minute was all Yuri needed to get past it. “You’re just making it more complicated than it should be. Sometimes, it really is that easy.”

 

Jessica rolled her eyes at the girl and walked past her towards the door and unlocked it. Yuri missed the confused look that flashed across Jessica’s face. Yuri frowned for a second before Jessica turned back around to face her once more.

 

“Jung Jessica,” she said with her arms folded across her chest. Yuri was confused for a moment before finally catching on. Yuri grinned at her.

 

“Kwon Yuri.”

 

“I will be your stage manager for this production. You are a stagehand. So you will listen to every word I say, got that?”

 

Yuri’s grin grew even bigger. “Got it.”

 

Jessica walked out first, the usual icy scowl glued onto her face as she did so. People didn’t fail to notice that she was wearing Yuri’s sweatshirt. Yuri walked out soon after with a big goofy grin on her face.

 

And, just like how it would happen in high school, the rumors spread like wildfire.

 

 

“So why were you standing out there on that railing?”

 

“I just…” she stared into the comforting eyes of the stranger across from her. “Life is just too hard. It’s not worth it.”

 

“Life’s not hard.”

 

She only scoffed in response. What did this stranger know about how hard life was?

 

“Well, not all the time anyway. But it’s definitely worth it, in my opinion of course. There are things out there worth living for. You just haven’t figured out what they are yet.”

 

“Have you?”

 

The stranger shook her head. “I’ll find it eventually.”

 

“You don’t think it’s too hard?”

 

The stranger contemplated the question for a bit. “I do, every now and then.” She took another sip of her coffee. “But I think that’s partially my fault.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Sometimes we make things more complicated than they are, and that’s what makes life seem so hard.”

 

The girl blinked in confusion. “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

 

The blonde girl smiled at her.

 

“Maybe not...but don't you wish it could be?”