“AISH~! YOUNGSTERS THESE DAYS!”

“We’re sorry!” Both girls profusely apologized to the Ajusshi. The Ajusshi just scoffed and skated away taking his children with him. This left both girls in a daze.

What. Just. Happened? Both girls were left speechless.

We just kissed! Tiffany was still trying to register what had just happened. Her mind kept replaying the image of her lips being pressed against Jessica’s. She felt her cheeks become warm as her mind kept repeating that image of her and Jessica kissing.

“Umm...hahaha…”Jessica nervously laughs off the awkwardness and turns to face Tiffany. Tiffany did the same and looked at Jessica.

“I’m sorry!” Both girls said in unison. Their reactions mirrored each other. Both girls laughed.

“I-it was an accident.” Jessica says. “I-I didn’t m-mean to…”

“Y-yeah...m-me too...I didn’t mean to…” Both girls laughed nervously. They had trouble saying a simple word.

“Do you want to get some hot chocolate?” Jessica asks.

“Have you had enough of the Ice?” Tiffany still manages to tease the girl despite the awkwardness that was still in the air.

“Yeah, I don’t want to end up with bruises.” Jessica says. Or cause another accident.

“You’re such a baby you know that?” Tiffany continues to tease the girl.

“Nu uh! I just don’t want to get hurt. Plus, we’re celebrating later. I’d like to arrive there in one piece.” Jessica defends her position. “So hot chocolate?”

“Sure,” Tiffany smiles.

“Great.” Jessica slowly turns her body. Tiffany watches the older girl try to balance herself and laughs.

“Will you be alright there?” Tiffany continues to tease the girl.

“Y-yeeeaaaahhh!” Jessica accidentally slips on her left skate and nearly falls face forward. The older girl closes her eyes shut ready to take the impact of her fall. Lucky for her, Tiffany was quick on her feet and manages to skate towards Jessica and pull her from the collar of her coat preventing her from falling face forward. “Oh My God…” Jessica sighed in relief.

“Here, take my hand.” Tiffany extends both her hands out towards the older girl. Jessica takes Tiffany’s hand and together they skate to the edge of the rink on to the platform and off the ice.

***

“Careful it’s still hot.” Jessica carefully made her way towards Tiffany, who had just finished replacing the skates with her shoes, with two cups of hot chocolate. The Ice Princess offered Tiffany one cup and the eye-smiling girl happily accepted.

“Mmmm~” Tiffany takes the first sip and manages to get a whip cream mustache. Jessica giggles. “What?”

“You have a little…here let me…” Jessica takes out her handkerchief and gently wipes away Tiffany’s cream mustache.

Tiffany blushes and looks away, “You still carry a handkerchief?”

“Yeah, believe it or not Yoona has fallen a couple of times. I’m usually the one to patch her up. Also, she and Soo are messy eaters so I have to have one handy.” Jessica lets out a chuckle.

***

“Why a lawyer?” Tiffany asks. They left the ice rink and were now taking a stroll around the concession stands.

“Why business?” Jessica asks in return.

“Hey, I asked you first.” Tiffany says.

Jessica laughs,“ Hmmm, I guess it all started when a lawyer visited our school during career day. I’m not sure if you had career day in the states but at the boarding school I attended with Hyoyeon and Sunny we had one every year. Anyway, the Lawyer spoke about her work and how many people she’s helped. I guess that’s where it all started. Oh, I also like helping those who need defending. What about you? Did you choose business so that you could take over Hwang enterprises?”

“Partly.” Tiffany says. “I mean if not me who else? I knew from the start that Yoona was never interested in the family business….” Before Tiffany could finish she was interrupted.

“Such a beautiful couple,” a woman, an artist pulls the girls aside. “Do you mind if I draw a portrait for you two?” The woman wasn’t really asking for permission because she practically forced the girls to stand in front of her easel.

“Ajumma we’re not…” Jessica tries to tell the woman they’re not a couple but the woman is very persistent.

“I insist.” The woman directs Tiffany to stand in front of Jessica while she brings Jessica’s arms around Tiffany initiating a back hug.

“Come on Jagiya~” Tiffany plays along with the charade while Jessica looks at her with a confused ‘what are you doing’ look.

“See? Your girlfriend wants a portrait.” The woman says. “You wouldn’t want her to be upset do you?”

“Yeah Jagiya~” Tiffany playfully pouts.

“Fine,” Jessica sighs and plays along.

“Perfect, now all you two need to do is keep still.” The artist returns to her easel and prepares her canvas—her sketchpad. “Talk amongst yourselves.” She says and begins sketching.

Jessica on the other hand tries to keep composed.

“So…tell me about your first love.” Tiffany strikes up a conversation.

“You’re not serious are you?” Jessica asks. The artist hears Tiffany’s request and just smiles to herself as she continues to sketch and listen to the two.

“Tell me yours,” Jessica says.

“I asked you first.” Tiffany pouts. “It’s Yuri isn’t it?”

Jessica chuckles. “Believe it or not…no. It’s not Yuri.”

Tiffany wasn’t surprised—not after finding out about Jessica’s feelings towards her. “Do I know her?”

“I’m not sure.” Jessica says coolly.

“Does she know you had feelings for her?” Tiffany asks.

“No, I never told her.” Jessica says.

Except you did. You just don’t remember because you were wasted. Tiffany thinks to herself.

“Why not?” Tiffany kept asking questions. She wanted to know why Jessica never had the courage to confess.

“It’s better if we stayed as friends. Besides, she’s boy crazy; she’d never like someone like me.” Jessica spoke truthfully. Tiffany kept quiet. She didn’t know how to answer to that statement. She never really thought about what she would do if Jessica ever confessed to her in a sober state. “What about you?”

“Me?” Tiffany asks. Jessica nods. “Do you remember 5th grade before you transferred…”

“Him? That boy?” Jessica asks. “Really?”

“Hey, you can’t control what the heart feels.” Tiffany says in her own defense.

“Oh I know that feeling,” Jessica mutters under her breath thinking she said it in a low voice low enough that only she heard it, but Tiffany heard Jessica’s comment clearly and felt affected by the confession. She couldn’t help but feel bad.

“You know I never really liked your exes. They were all s especially that Nick guy. He has trouble written all over his existence.” Jessica says with a tone of bitterness.

“Hey, Khun was nice.” Tiffany says.

Jessica scoffs, “My . That womanizer!” Jessica grits her teeth. “He made you cry all those times. I can’t even believe you’re defending him. I also can’t believe you gave him your attention at the club last time.”

Is Jessi Jealous? Tiffany wonders, but quickly brushes those thoughts aside. She has Yuri. Why would she be jealous?

“If you could talk to your first love what would you tell her?” Tiffany asks. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to know if Jessica would ever confess her feelings. “Would you tell her you love her?”

“Why are you suddenly so interested in my first love?” Jessica asks defensively.

“Why are you so defensive?” Tiffany shot back. “Are you hiding something from me?”

“What? No! Of course not.” Jessica lies.

“Then you shouldn’t have a problem answering my question.” Tiffany says.

“Aigoo~ you’re worse than the paparazzi.” Jessica sighs before answering the question. “First I’d ask her how she is and wish her happiness even if I couldn’t be the one to bring her happiness.” Jessica says sincerely. Her words felt like an arrow being shot at Tiffany’s heart. “I’d tell her thank you.” Jessica closes her eyes; a smile forms across her face as she unconsciously drew Tiffany closer to her body. “Thank you for letting me love you silently despite not being aware of my feelings.” Tiffany felt tears start to form as she listens to Jessica’s words. She knew they were for her. “Thank you for teaching me that love is something beautiful…Even though we never had our chance...” Her words shattered Tiffany’s heart. “I don’t regret ever loving you. You’ll always have a special place in my heart…that’s what I’d say to her.” Jessica smiles. “Are you crying?” Jessica hears sniffles coming from Tiffany.

“No,” Tiffany lies. Clearly, she had been crying.

Jessica giggles. “Aigoo~ who’s the cry baby now?” Jessica jokes as she leans in to pinch Tiffany’s cheeks.

“Yah~!” Tiffany elbows Jessica to the stomach.

Jessica laughs. “Here,” She pulls out her handkerchief and passes it to Tiffany. Tiffany accepts it and wipes her tears away.

“It’s done,” the woman says with a smile as beckons for Jessica and Tiffany to come look. The woman works fast.

“Wow~!” The two look at the picture in awe. They can’t help but smile. It looked too realistic. They actually looked like a real couple.

“Like I said earlier,” the woman says as she tears the drawing from the sketchpad and beings to frame it. “Such a beautiful couple.”

“How much is it?” Jessica asks as she takes out her wallet.

“No need. It’s yours free of charge.” The woman says as she hands the framed portrait over to them.

“We can’t possibly…” Before Tiffany can finish her sentence, the woman interrupts her.

“If you want to pay me, you’ll have to accept my words as my payment.” This puzzled the girls. The woman smiles. “Do we have a deal?”

“Um…yes?” Tiffany nods. The woman looks at Jessica for a response and the older girl nods silently.

“Love…how should I say this….” The woman pauses and chooses her words carefully. “Love is a beautiful thing. To love and be loved is a precious experience. However, love isn’t always as lovely as it is portrayed to be in the movies and dramas. Love is… Love is Bittersweet and crazy. In the beginning, it makes you feel alive. You feel as though you’ve become complete, but as time passes, you start to run into bumps in the road of your relationship. Then things aren’t as sweet as you’d thought it would be. Your relationship starts taking a toll until you feel consumed by everything that’s fueling the craziness that has formed in your relationship…when that starts to happen there’s many outcomes but two come to my mind immediately. The first is separation. Both parties decided to part ways, because ‘it’s just not working anymore.’ The second would bring a stronger, deeper bond between both parties in the relationship. The love they had in the beginning would blossom into something even more beautiful than they imagined.” The woman smiles when she sees the puzzled look on Jessica and Tiffany’s face. “Why do I say this? Well it’s clear that there’s something brewing between the two of you. Now I don’t know what you two are going through…but from what I observed…there’s pain rooted in your relationship. I’d like the two of you to heed my advice when I say that love is like a flower. Once the seed is planted you two must care for it. Water it everyday; remove the weeds that threaten to destroy its growth, do this with care and only then will your flower grow and blossom into something beautiful. Love is the same. There will be others that will stand in your way, but if you establish and solidify your relationship with communication, love, and patience I don’t see why your relationship won’t last long.”

Tiffany and Jessica were left speechless. Neither one could find an appropriate response to the woman’s advice.

“Remember, Love is beautiful, but it’s also bittersweet and crazy. If you want your relationship to last, you must care for it and continue to care for it. Love is a flower. It needs your care and attention. Only then will your relationship be able to withstand anything that threatens it.” The woman summarized her advice to the girls before shooing them away.

“That was…” Tiffany tried to find the right word to describe her reaction to the woman’s advice.

“Enlightening?” Jessica says.

“Yeah…and insightful.” Tiffany adds.

***

After their encounter with the artist, the girls decide to continue walking around the park in silence. Both girls were still trying to process the advice they received from the woman.

Tiffany sighs. Jessica notices Tiffany is getting tired so she stops and takes the frame from Tiffany’s hands and kneels in front of her. “Hop on.”

Tiffany was hesitant at first, but Jessica convinced her to get on her back. “Come on, I promised I’d give you a piggy back ride didn’t I?”

“Yeah but…”

“No buts. Hop on.” Tiffany had no choice but to comply.  Once Tiffany climbed onto Jessica’s back,