[Yuri]

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but nonetheless I turned the first page of the report made by the adoption service in Korea. The second page was a brief overview.

“A one-week old baby boy was found at the doorsteps of Mr. and Mrs. Jung’s Korean residence by a maid. The baby had only one identification: a 14K gold necklace with the name Yuri etched onto it.” I repeated aloud. “A search of the baby’s parents was conducted, but no signs of the either the mother or father were found. Mr. Kwon Charles, Mr. and Mrs. Jung’s head butler, expressed concerned for the baby and decided to adopt and raise the baby as his own.”

A sigh escaped me as I disappointedly slid the papers back in the envelope. It was the exact information Charles gave me when I first asked about where I came from. The only thing they knew about me was my name.

I placed the envelope in my desk drawer and put my laptop back in my backpack. After turning off the lights, I disheartened went to lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling, wondering whether I would meet my birth parents.

---

[Jessica]

“You should’ve seen Jessi’s reaction when this guy named Donghae walked into our first class. She was speechless.” Tiffany exclaimed to Taeyeon and Yuri during lunch.

“I was just surprised he went here.” I defended myself. “I wasn’t expecting to see him again.”

“You probably thought he was a hot piece of candy and will soon fall for him.” Tiffany playfully pushed my shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

“There’s no way I’m going to fall for him.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what they all say.” Tiffany waved me off.

“Who said that? I’ll destroy them.” I grumpily mumbled.

The entire table laughed at me. I tried to hit Yuri’s arm out of embarrassment but he scooted away from me.

“You’re supposed to defend me. Why are you laughing at me?” I childishly whined. He calmed down his laughter and explained himself.

“You’re just too silly. I can’t help but laugh.”

Tiffany and Taeyeon were giggling quietly on their side of the table. Although they tried to hide their smile, I could see straight through them. I sent them an icy glare that shut up Taeyeon but not Tiffany. She laughed even more.

“That doesn’t work on me. I'm too hot that I have a high tolerance to ice!”

She was slowly coming down from her controllable laughter when Yuri’s watch alarm , indicating that we should start heading to class.

“Well, see you guys later. Let’s meet up at the main parking lot. We can leave from there.” Tiffany said with a little bit of laughter left in her system.

Tiffany and I had planned to shop at a recently built mall close to school. And obviously, Yuri and Taeyeon were going to tag along.

Going our separate ways, Yuri and I walked to our next class. The next few hours would induce boredom in me but that’s expected. After Yuri and I were dismissed from our last class, we headed straight for the parking lot. The sooner we arrived at the mall, the more time there would be to shop.

“Over here!” Both our heads turned to the right. Tiffany was waving excitedly at us from the window of a sleek black car. We reached the car and slid inside.

“Nice car.” Yuri complimented. Taeyeon dramatically rubbed his hand along the front dash board.

“I know. It’s my babe. You know only seven were ever made.”

“Taetae, get a move on.” Tiffany whined. I agree but not with that high pitched aygeo voice. Instead of talking about cars, he could be driving his car to the mall.

“Okay. I got it.” He said in a funny English accent that we all laughed at.

The mall was very close as it was less than a twenty-minute drive. When we first entered the mall, Tiffany and I went to the first store that we saw. Clothes modeled by mannequins enticed us, something that would give us the pleasure of browsing and trying on clothes.

Although, the same couldn’t be said of the boys. Yuri could withstand hours’ worth of shopping with me, but I don’t think the same could be applied to Taeyeon. Store after store, the bags they were carrying increased in amount. Yuri could keep up while Taeyeon started to lag.

“Taetae~, come on. You’re too slow.” Tiffany said as she sipped her ice americano.

“I’m on my way.” Taeyeon’s voice was muffled from the tower of bags he was carrying.

“You should take notes on Yul. He’s able to carry all the bags. Jessi even bought more things than I did.” Tiffany observed Yuri who was carrying every single bag without breaking a sweat.

That made me smile. Yuri is always dependable just like a super hero.

“Well I’m sorry I don’t have superhuman strength like Yul. These bags weigh a ton.” Taeyeon panted as he placed the bags on the ground and sat down.

“I don’t have super strength. I just plan out in my head which bag to carry first and next to efficiently carry all the bags without doing any more work than I need to.” Yuri explained. Taeyeon’s jaw dropped.

“Yul, I’m not that smart yet.”

Tiffany and I snickered. Yuri smiled to hold in his laughter as Taeyeon pouted.

“Aw~, is Taetae sad?” Tiffany said in a high pitch voice.

My fingers and toes curled at the sound of that cringey voice.

“Please, never talk in that voice ever again.”

I grimaced at even the memory of that voice from Tiffany. Her eyes turned to crescents.

“Yeah, you’re right. It made my insides churn inward too.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

Yuri cleared his throat and we all turned to him.

“We should head back now. It’s getting late.”

I looked at my phone’s clock and it was indeed late. Nine o’clock late. I’m surprised the mall was still open.

“Finally!” Taeyeon jumped to his feet and started to gather all the bags and carry them. “I’m ready to go and sleep!” He jumped up and down like a little boy about to get his birthday present.

“It is pretty late. I guess we should get going. You okay with that Jessi?” Tiffany asked after looking at the time.

“That’s alright with me.” I answered.

“Then let’s get going then.” Taeyeon said and started walking to the parking lot. Taeyeon and Tiffany walked together in front while Yuri and I walked in the back.

“Did you have fun?” Yuri asked me. I nodded my head.

“Yes, shopping with Tiffany and Taeyeon was fun.” I boasted.

“That’s good, then… Jessica?”

“Yes?”

“I did some thinking, and I want to try out for the basketball team.”

That did not surprise me. I knew he would want to take the offer of being apart a sports team.

“That’s great! That’ll mean when you play games, I’ll be there to cheer for you.” I beamed. I could just imagine me at one of his games and cheering for him from the stands. Well not really, at least silently cheering. I don’t think I could bring myself to cheer like a rabid fan at a concert.

We reached the parking lot in no time. When Tiffany opened the trunk, we were all wondering how all the bags would fit. And like always Yuri was there to solve the problem.

“I’ll put the bags I’m carrying in first and then we can adjust everything to fit all of the bags.” Yuri said.

He placed everything he was holding into the trunk. Then, one by one, he took a bag from Taeyeon and placed them in the trunk. He managed to fit everything in the truck. Tiffany and I childishly clapped to celebrate Yuri’s ability to think on the spot, making Taeyeon look like a puppy who got scolded. We all got in the car and returned to university.

Yuri and Taeyeon walked Tiffany and I backed to our dorm. Since we had lots of bags, Taeyeon and Yuri were given special permission to drop off the bags in our dorm and immediately leave. When they had dropped off the bags and left, Tiffany and I tiredly said good night, going off to bed.

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