Looking back on it, Tiffany figured it started a few weeks after the beginning of their first semester. There was one particular day she though was odd even before they even saw each other. While she was waiting for her best friend’s class to finish she had situated herself at one of the benches around the small botanical garden that was positioned smack-dab in the middle of their school’s intersecting hallways.

 

It was a nice place to study with the air smelling fresher, cleaner, and definitely more aromatic than the nauseating mix of perfumes and body sprays that competed in the stale air of closed off classrooms and lingered around the stuffy corridors. Ignoring the hall that was bustling with activities, and from whatever magical powers the garden had possessed, Tiffany suddenly had the urge to review her notes. The idea alone should’ve set off the warning signals in her head. Her studying at school, no deadline or impending tests within the day, was not something she'd normally do. But not one to believe in superstitious mumbo-jumbo she had taken out her notebook anyway, plugging in her ipod and started to go over her notes.

 

She had just gotten to half of what she had written - somehow managing to grasp the content despite missing most of the important details as she scribbled nonsensical words and doodles along the borders of her notebook in boredom- when a pair of arms circled around her neck. She stiffened for a second, her hands tightening their grip on her flimsy notebook in case she needed to defend herself. Then she sniffed the familiar scent of the fresh agua body wash her roommate loved using and felt the familiar fluttering in her chest and stomach and she relaxed, leaning her head back to the warm body behind her.

 

“Wow, look at this.” She felt one of her earbuds plucked off her ear, the small weight falling on top of her notebook with a soft tap. The newcomer’s face pressed against hers, briefly scanning the writing across the pages before letting out a soft chuckle. Tiffany breathed in deeply, forcing the growing heat down her face.

 

“D’you have another lecture later?” Yuri asked, nudging the side of her face with her own. “I don’t remember you having classes after my last ones.” Her heart fluttered at the statement, a grin pulling at her lips at the knowledge that Yuri knew her schedule.

 

She shook her head, repressing the huge smile forcing itself at her lips as she closed her eyes, settling for the nice warm feeling of being enveloped into Yuri’s hug. It might sound weird to some, but she hadn’t felt any place safer than when she was right there, arms wrapped around her and the calming scent of fresh agua. It’s why she always initiated skin-ship with her best friend. Yuri was always glad to return the favor. “I don’t. I’m just studying.”

 

“Ppany, Ppany, Tippany, studying? Wow. Is it the end of the world already?”

 

“Yah!” Tiffany wrenched free from the hug and shoved the girl. Yuri laughed, stepping back and raising her hands in mock surrender.

 

“Kidding, Ppany-ah. Just kidding.” Tiffany shot her a glare, clicking her tongue at the cheeky grin.

 

“Why do you keep teasing me?” She asked, not for the first time.

 

“Because you look cute when you’re pouting like that.” Came Yuri’s expected answer. Tiffany rolled her eyes and shook her head. Same answer every time.

 

Reaching out for Tiffany’s bag Yuri slung it behind her before extending her hand. Tiffany wasted no time in grabbing onto her and let the taller girl help her up from the bench.

 

Placing her things back into her bag and zipping it close Tiffany nearly jumped at the feel of Yuri’s arm snaking around her waist. It had always been the other way around. She brushed back the thought and happily slipped her own arm around Yuri’s waist, letting the taller girl lead the way.

 

“Do you wanna swing by Java Jive with me?” Yuri suddenly asked. “My treat today.”

 

Tiffany cocked her head to the side. “Wow. First, all these intimacies, and now I’m getting a free treat.. Are you trying to make me fall for you Yuri-yah?” Tiffany teased, playfully batting her eyelashes as she leaned her head closer to Yuri’s. Part of her wished she would say yes, God how she wanted her to say those three letters. Her eyes darted to Yuri’s lips, once again wondering how it would feel with her own pressed against them. How would it taste? Would it produce those tingling sensation those romance novels always talked about?

 

But the other part, the more rational part, just hoped they would always have this comfortable aura around each other. It was enough. Being that close was enough, she convinced herself.

 

Yuri laughed. “I’m just happy today, Ppany-ah.”

 

“You’re always happy. Why aren’t I being treated like this every day then?”

 

“Oh, should I retract my offer then?” Yuri teased.

 

“Oh my God! Yuri-yah, you’re so happy today! You’re practically glowing!” Both girls laughed, lightly shoving each other now and again. Tiffany loved the easy air around them.

 

They had met back in their 1^st year of high school. Everyone had thought they would go well with each other since they were loud, happy-go-lucky, energetic extroverts. They were right.

 

It had even come to a point that whenever they were in the same class their teachers had made sure that they were separated from each other in their seating arrangements and group works. Now, 5 years later, they were still as thick as glue. There were no secrets between each other, at least as far as Tiffany was concerned.

 

Except for the whole crush thing, but that was a whole different thing.

 

“Seriously, Yuri-yah. What’s up with you today? You seem more.. enthusiastic. If your smile grows any wider people might mistake you for a spotlight.”

 

Yuri quirked a brow. “Am I really that transparent?”

 

“So there really is something.” Tiffany nudged her side. “Come on, out with it. I thought we don’t keep secrets from each other.”

 

“You’re right. But let’s order first, I can use a cup of joe.” Yuri reached forward, pushing the door open and motioning for Tiffany to step in first. Tiffany curtsied, then both girls laughed again.

 

After giving their order, Yuri graciously paying for the both of them, Tiffany had set off to claim a recently evacuated lounge type table. The one with those leather two to three seater sofa’s and wooden coffee tables pushed to the farthest corner for both comfort and a little privacy from the rest of the cafe.

 

Yuri came down a few minutes later, carrying a tray of their drinks plus an addition of New York cheesecake that Tiffany liked so much. Tiffany’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights. Yuri knew her favourites alright.

 

“Wow, coffee and New York cheesecake. Did you get a high grade or something?”

 

Yuri set their orders down, waving a server to pass the tray back before settling herself to the opposite chair. “You and I both know high grades are one of the few things that’ll forever be unreachable for me. And besides, classes have just started. I’m still a little hung up on our vacation.”

 

“I know right? I still have a lingering summer fever. I’m almost tempted to just get up and ride the bus to nowhere.” Tiffany sighed, idly stirring her latte, watching the steam lightly waft up before dispersing into the air. “So, spill.”

 

Yuri made a noise between a chuckle and a cough, leaning back against the leather backrest. A smirk was present on her face as she shut her eyes and exhaled. Tiffany was debating whether to give a light kick to Yuri’s shin or brush her legs against hers when the girl started “Well.. Do you remember me mentioning a girl from my class?”

 

“You mention a lot of people from your class.” Tiffany said, rolling her eyes. “Can you be a little more specific?”

 

“The girl that went by her English name.”

 

“Oh.. well that cuts that down to roughly a third of the people you’ve mentioned.” Tiffany smirked, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her head over her hands. “Or do you mean unforgettable California girl Tiffany? I’ve lost my sun-kissed skin, but I’m still rocking the bikini.” She ended with a wink.

 

“I bet you do Ppany-ah.” Yuri smirked, wriggling her eyebrows dorkily. Tiffany reached over to playfully shove Yuri’s shoulder. “But sorry to say, no. I meant another girl.”

 

“Remember me telling you about this girl in my management class? The one who stared icily at me on the first day of class when I passed her the eraser that fell off her table, then thanked me later before I left the classroom. The same girl who saved me from humiliation when terror Park called on me when I was sick and out of it and wrote the answer on the edge of her notebook so I could see.” Yuri didn’t wait for Tiffany’s answer and continued. “Well, we were grouped together for our group reporting and we actually hit it off well. She’s really smart and a little bit too serious. She doesn’t talk much except when she’s around her buddy Taeyeon, who also happens to take the same course. Pretty aloof and guarded.. I would go as far as saying she’s your complete opposite, and I have a feeling you guys aren’t all that different. Anyway, I asked to exchange numbers and got her facebook account, cause of the report. I’m not being a creeper, but I swear she actually smiled at me.”

 

“You know, that last thing you just said just screams creeper. How do you even know her friend is also taking the same course as her if she really is guarded, as you say she is, hm?”

 

Yuri coughed, raising her mug of cappuccino to her lips and pretending to look interested at one of the framed canvasses decorated around the café walls.

 

Tiffany’s face broke out into a teasing grin. “Oh my God, creeper much.”

 

“It’s called investigative research!” Yuri defended, her face reddening in embarrassment and adamantly refusing to meet Tiffany’s eyes.

 

“Please tell me you didn’t try to stalk my facebook account back then.” Tiffany continued to tease.

 

“Of course I didn’t!” Yuri pouted, finally turning to look Tiffany in the eyes with a cheeky grin. “We didn’t have facebook accounts then.”

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany had definitely noticed a difference in Yuri. Specifically during Wednesday and Friday classes. After classes. No matter what condition Yuri left their shared dorm room she’d be all smiles when she got back and it was like nothing the world could do would take the smile out of her face.

 

The most notable difference was that the girl was practically glued to her phone until she retired to her bed to sleep. The Yuri from before would always discard her phone as soon as she got home, often times lose it in the process. Tiffany couldn’t forget the last phone incident when they had given up in looking for her missing phone and ended with Yuri having to buy a new one. The next day Tiffany had found Yuri’s phone, in the freezer right under the ice cream box, frozen and out of battery. She had teased Yuri for weeks because of that.

 

She didn’t question her, after all, she was still the same Yuri she knew. Still doing everything to make her smile and laugh and sometimes pulled off pranks that had her running out of the room faster than the eye could blink. In fact, her happiness seemed to be contagious as Tiffany would find herself smiling every time Yuri looks her way and grin, but then again it could be just her. She always was easy to sway, especially when Yuri had something to do with it.

 

Tiffany was happy for Yuri, truly.

 

Except that there was a nagging feeling incessantly prodding at the back of her mind. And she didn’t know what to make of it.

 

 

 

 

 

A week later Tiffany realized why.

 

She had gone home late one day after meeting up with a few of her classmates to discuss the latest lecture that had needed a bit more thorough dissecting to understand. At the end of the day, she had dragged herself to her dorm room wanting nothing but to crash on her bed and sleep the rest of the night away.

 

What she wasn’t expecting was to stumble into Yuri and an unknown brunet lip locking right in front of their doorway. Yuri had noticed her first, as the brunet’s back was facing the doorway, and had quickly pulled away with her face pale and eyes wide.

 

Tiffany didn’t know how she looked like, to her it seemed like her face froze and try as she may she couldn’t open to say anything. Yuri had quickly regained her senses and coughed awkwardly, reaching to grab the unnamed, and now flushed, girl’s hand and introducing her to Tiffany and vice versa. When a reaction wasn’t forthcoming from Tiffany’s side Yuri had hurriedly excused themselves and squeezed past the still frozen roomie.

 

Unlike the movies, the heartbreak wasn’t something that came at that instant. It seemed more like ages for her brain to properly process the information and then the hurt began to settle heavily on her. And the pain was drowning. There was a burning pain in her chest and her whole body felt cold and hot at the same time. Next thing she knew her nose had clogged up and her breathing short as she blinked through the tears falling fast down her stinging eyes.

 

She didn’t stay long in the dorm. After regaining a bit of self-control she dropped her things, taking only a few bills she stuffed into her pocket and she was off. She knew she wouldn’t be able to control her emotions for a while -she tried and failed- and not wanting Yuri to see her in her most vulnerable state, decided to take a walk down town to gather herself.

 

Her first heartbreak, and yet she has yet to even experience what it was like to be in a relationship.

 

When she arrived back to their room she was met with a distraught and frazzled Yuri. The second she stepped into the room Yuri wasted no time and took wide steps towards Tiffany, arms up to engulf her into a hug. She had faltered when she got within three feet from the surprised Tiffany, her brown orbs reflecting her wariness as her arms dropped lifelessly to her side as she shuffled awkwardly. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she nervously bit her bottom lip, lost for words.

 

Tiffany closed the distance, reaching to gather Yuri into her arms as she apologized for disappearing and leaving her phone, stating that she was just out to clear her mind after an incredibly stressful day at school. It was half the truth.

 

Yuri had broken down then, her tears soaking up Tiffany’s shoulder as she clung to her. The poor girl had thought Tiffany was disgusted with her after catching her in the act. After finding out that her best friend had actually batted for the other team and kept it a secret all those time. Tiffany didn’t know what felt worse, seeing Yuri kissing someone else or Yuri crying because she was afraid of what she thought she’d think of her.

 

It had taken a while to console Yuri, telling her she wasn't put off by her and that she was only caught by surprise earlier and that she would never think differently of her because of her choice. Tiffany stayed strong through the end, cooing and smiling the whole time Yuri sent her an uncertain glance. After tucking Yuri to bed and making sure she was fast asleep Tiffany silently crept and locked herself up in the bathroom, finally letting the tears she had been holding back loose.

 

It was glaringly obvious. The mysterious wide grin that broke out of Yuri’s face whenever she was looking at her phone. Her sudden attachment to said phone. Her recently glowing features and those times when she'd suddenly drop whatever she was doing and rush out of the dorm like the hounds of hell were nipping at her feet.

 

Tiffany should have realized sooner.  After all she had done the exact same thing. But as the saying goes ‘love is blind’ and Tiffany was the blindest fool of all.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hi. You’re Yuri’s friend, right?” Tiffany glanced up from the book she had been vacantly staring at for the past few minutes and blinked. A short girl with shoulder length, strawberry blond locks grinned at her. Obviously, she knew who Tiffany was, or at least was familiar with her face since she hasn’t mentioned her name and referred to her only as Yuri’s friend. That one stung a little, but Tiffany masked that with a smile of her own and nodded her head.

 

“Tiffany.” She supplied. The blond girl’s eyes lit up and she heaved a sigh of relief.

 

“I’m Jessica’s friend. Taeyeon.”

 

“Ah..” Tiffany closed the book she was reading, tried to read, not even bothering to bookmark the page she was on. Her vision had gone out of focus the second she opened the book and she hadn’t even bothered to refocus them ever since. Even her favourite coffee, the one she usually gulps down the second it arrives, was left to cool on the table, untouched.

 

She glanced back at Taeyeon, who was still standing by the chair opposite of Tiffany. Yuri, she remembered, did mention a few names besides her new found love interest. One of them started with a T though she couldn’t remember if she was the one that had the same classes as Yuri or if she was the one studying biology.

 

“Tae..yeon-ssi.” She said haltingly, watching Taeyeon’s face in case she pronounced her name wrong. Like Yuri, who had problems pronouncing certain alphabets, like the f’s in her name, she had a little trouble with her Korean intonations, but at least she was getting better at it day by day. She had long given up in correcting Yuri’s pronunciation and had lived her years in Korea with the nickname ‘Ppany’ as the younger girl had so innocently bestowed on her. Surely the girl would never have known the American meaning of the word with the synonymous pronunciation. Though yes, she did have a fine . Tagging along Yuri’s morning jog had seen to it that they were well maintained.

 

“You came alone?” she asked, motioning for the empty seat while taking a quick sweep of the café.

 

Taeyeon wasted no time sliding into the seat, breathing another sigh of relief when her aching feet could finally find some rest. “Yeah, Yuri and Sica sent me ahead. They still had to have a meeting with their group mates for their upcoming report for our next chapter. Yuri said you’d probably be here by now since your classes ended half an hour earlier than ours.”

 

Jessica had actually ordered her to run all the way there to meet up with Tiffany after seeing the agitated Yuri frantically pulling out every item from her bag in search of her missing phone. Their classes had ended later than usual, neither the lecturer nor the sleepy class had noticed the time going by and had extended roughly 10 minutes more until the next batch of students started knocking on the door. She was hesitant at first, until Jessica promised her half a gallon of her favourite ice cream if she got there in less than 10 minutes. Taeyeon's short legs made sure that she would never be able to win any race, but for ice cream, she had gotten there in record speed.

 

“Thanks. I thought you guys flaked on me for a while there.”

 

“Aw.. we’re not that bad.” She paused. “Well, at least I’m not.”

 

“That’s nice to know.” Tiffany chuckled. She raised her eyes back up to Taeyeon’s face, memorizing her features whilst trying not to look creepy by openly staring at her. It was surprising how young Taeyeon looked. Almond shaped, dark-brown eyes, a pert nose, full, squeezable cheeks, and to top it all up the huge varsity jacket she was wearing that hung from her small frame made her look even smaller than she already was. She looked like one of those babies parents dress up in their clothes and show off in their facebook accounts.

 

“You look a little flushed.”

 

“That’s just normal. I’m too pale for my own good. I stay under the sun for more than 5 minutes and hello roasted peanuts!.. I can’t believe I just dissed myself for a joke. ” Taeyeon said, grinning sheepishly.

 

Tiffany giggled. “Yuri failed to tell me that you were funny, Taeyeon-ssi.”

 

“I’m glad you think so Tip-pany-ssi. Sica thinks my jokes are lame and all Sunny does- ah! she’s another friend, by the way, you’ll meet her soon. Now, where was I?” she trails off, reaching to pull at her earlobe in thought. Tiffany thinks it’s cute and smiles at the sudden seriousness falling upon the cute face. “Right, jokes and Sunny.. hm.. Sunny really just make fun of me… I have mean friends.” Taeyeon pouted. Tiffany had to hold herself back from squealing like a child and reaching out to pinch those chubby cheeks, reminding herself that Taeyeon wasn’t exactly a friend that she could physically harass, yet. She laughs softly instead.

 

“Hey! I made you laugh again! Not only do I have Yuri to laugh at my oh-so-lame jokes, now Tip-pany-ssi too!” She grinned again, this time Tiffany noticed the small dimple by her chin.

 

“Oh my God! Why are you so cute?”

 

The smile dropped out of Taeyeon’s face and a small frown took its place. Tiffany mirrored Taeyeon’s expression, her brows slightly furrowing in thought. Had she offended Taeyeon with her comment? Before she could apologize Taeyeon cut her off.

 

“I’m not cute. I’m 21 years old.” She deadpanned, then a grin slowly eased into her child-like features as she said “I’m sekshi.” and did a little body wave on her seat- attempted to since she didn’t really know how to do a proper body wave. Not that it mattered because the huge jacket she was wearing only made her look like a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. Tiffany laughed at the visual image playing in her mind. On the other side, Taeyeon grinned. That was the fourth time she has successfully made Tiffany laugh.

 

Hah! Take that Sica! I so can make people laugh! She mentally celebrated, her grin growing wider.

 

 

 

 

 

Pulling out her clothes from her trolley bag Tiffany ungraciously dumps them onto her unmade bed before taking another armful and repeating the process until she unloaded everything from her bag. She huffed, running the back of her hand over her sweat drenched forehead and stood back to check her progress. Her new room was smaller than her previous dorm, but the wallpaper was pink so she wasn’t going to complain, much. She glanced over to the cabinet she was going to share with her new roommate, then to the vanity table, then over to her things. She was going to have to segregate the clothes she wouldn’t be using and stuff them back into her bag, else her clothes would pile up on her half of the room.

 

“How’s your unpacking going?” Tiffany grimaced, looking up to her new roommate, then shook her head.

 

“Taeyeon-ah, would it be possible to put in another cabinet here?”

 

Taeyeon laughed as she took a 360 view of their room, resting her hands against her hips as she mulled it over. “I guess we could try, but I doubt we'd have any more space to move around in.”

 

“But my stuff!”

 

“You won’t actually be using all of your clothes this season Tiff.” Another voice joined in.

 

Jessica idly steps into the room, her eyes quickly inspecting the pink room. A thin eyebrow lifted as her gaze landed on a pokerfaced Taeyeon. One side of her lips pulled into a small smile as she reached out to touch the shorter woman by the elbow. Taeyeon glances back at her and subtly nods her head. This time it was Tiffany’s turn to raise a brow, but she decides not to probe. “Just stuff the long sleeves and winter stuff back into the bag.”

 

Tiffany sighs, but concedes defeat.

 

“How’s the unpacking going?” Yuri’s head popped in from behind the door. She let out a low whistle when her gaze landed on the messy half of the room. Jessica reached out to slap her arm and sent her a warning glare. Yuri lifted her hands up in surrender, her lips twitching from trying to keep a smile from forming.

 

“Why is everyone interested in my unpacking? Don’t you guys have to unpack too?” Tiffany said, exasperatedly throwing her hands in the air.

 

“Her royal highness wanted to take a break as soon as we hauled all our things up.” Taeyeon receives a light slap to the back of her head. Yuri got a harder slap to her arm when she laughed at their friend’s statement. Taeyeon reached up to rub the spot Jessica hit, absentmindedly running her fingers through her hair and continued. “After a while, we were wondering where you went. We didn’t think you actually started unpacking already.”

 

“What?! Why didn’t you guys call me earlier?” Tiffany pouted, ungraciously flopping on Taeyeon’s bed and laying half of her body on the comfortable mattress.

 

“That’s why we’re here now.” Yuri chuckled as she stepped into the room. Like Jessica, she made a quick inspection of the room. “Looks like you got your wish Ppany-ah.”

 

“Pink!” Tiffany squealed, splaying her arms out, earning her a round of chuckles from her friends.

 

“Taeyeon-ah, you alright with this?”

 

Tiffany sat up from the bed, her brows drawn in confusion. “What do you mean, Yuri?” she asked, switching her gaze from Yuri to the shrugging Taeyeon.

 

“It’s fine. At least it’s not blinding, hot pink. I’ll live.” Then it clicked.

 

Tiffany gasped. “Oh my God! I totally forgot, Taeyeon-ah.” Hopping off the bed Tiffany began gathering her clothes and stuffing them back into her bag. “We can still switch rooms. I’ll pack up everything-” Taeyeon grabbed Tiffany’s wrist, stopping her from shoving her things back and shook her head.

 

“It’s fine. Besides you’ve already made your bed. I’ll just use different coloured sheets, like lavender to counteract all the pink. It’s no big deal.” She grins, slightly easing Tiffany’s conscience. Tiffany smiles gratefully back as she resettles on the unmade mattress.

 

“Okay, as long as you mean it. There are no take backs after today.”

 

Taeyeon chuckles. “I’m sure.”

 

“Now that that’s settled, Pizza?” Yuri suggested, grinning widely. “Let’s see… we’ll get half meat-lovers and half vegetarian. By the way, if all vegie is called vegetarian, shouldn’t all meat be called meatarian?”

 

“Yuri, babe, can you not be stupid right now?” Jessica groaned, turning to push her girlfriend out of the room by her face. Yuri whined about ruining the money maker, which only aggravated Jessica’s unmerciful face-pushing.

 

Taeyeon chuckled. “And Sica says my jokes are lame.”

 

Tiffany giggled, looking after the half-shut door. She had long gotten over her one-sided crush, but still a small part of her felt envious of how carefree the two were of their relationship. She could only wish she’d find someone for her. Someone who’d look at her the same way Yuri looked at Jessica, full of love and tenderness.

 

She looks over at her new roommate, invitingly patting the empty space beside her. Taeyeon eagerly hops onto the bed and they both chuckle at the childish display. Tiffany lays her head on the shorter woman’s shoulder, sighing softly in content.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“Oh, nothing. I’m just…” Tiffany lifts her shoulders. “You know, just a new place… I guess it’s just now sinking in that I’m sharing the room with you.”

 

“Oh, do you not want to share?”

 

“It’s not that.” She nudges Taeyeon’s side, earning her a soft giggle, and Taeyeon’s arm coming to rest around her shoulder. “I think it’s going to be fun living with you guys.”

 

“Oh, you say that now. Wait until the evening and you’ll be cursing them.”

 

Tiffany lifts her head off the comfortable spot she’s in, straightening up to properly look at Taeyeon’s innocent face.“What? Why?”

 

“Oh, let’s just say I have bad sleeping habits.” Taeyeon replies with a wide toothy grin. Slipping off the bed, she pops her hand in a quick wave before scurrying out the bedroom.

 

“Wait! What habits? Taeyeon!” Tiffany jumps to her feet to give chase, tripping on one of her discarded items on the floor. A short curse leaves her lips as she’s flung out of the room, just managing to save herself a face plant on the wall by grabbing onto the doorway the last second. “Taeyeon! Get back here!”