Jessica POV

It’s 11:34pm in Newark, New Jersey when I hear a ‘Ting’ sound from the elevator bell, signaling it has reached the the Hotel’s rooftop. As the door opens, I’m greeted by a rush of air and magnificent night view of the city. It is a beautiful clear night, starts and moon shining down with a dazzling intensity that reveals its surrounding sharply. As I’m still gazing over the stunning view of the neon lit city below, I jump when someone taps me on the shoulder.

When I turn, I see Yuri is standing next to me and swallowing a Ritz cracker sandwich with Green Tea filling. The heavenly snack on the planet earth, according to Ms. Kwon Yuri. I absolutely agree that I also find the snacks to be irresistible. And I’m pretty sure she’s wearing the wide eyes of a child when she swallows the last of it. I look repeatedly from the panoramic night view to her face, and back to the view. I actually prefer to be myself, so I can be free to move or not move as I please and to enjoy the beauty of solitude. It’s also very rare for me to get comfortable with someone else, especially at a close range proximity. So, I find it strange I’m actually not pulling myself away, but rather enjoying it– I don’t know how to explain, but it’s… strange that I feel enthralled with the magic of the moment.

She senses my evident dismay.

I look again from her face to the Newark night view, and back up at her. My eyes always stop on her sharp nose. And framed like that, you can’t help but staring at it. Yet, the actual reason is because I can’t meet her eyes. I still find eye contact at close range is uncomfortable with most people. Plus, I don’t want to look in eyes and see her finds out about my scars. I just don’t want to be my scars to her….or anyone.

She lifts her hands, palms upward, in a questioning manner. “What?”

Shaking my head, I reply. ”Nothing.”

“Just tell me you want some…I’ve got plenty of ‘em over there.” She winks teasingly and points out her finger towards the wooden bench, where a box of large Ritz Crackers and jar of green tea spread are lying on the benchtops.

“Come…” Yuri makes a gesture to follow after her and I don’t refuse her at all. Not with her green tea proposition.

After we reach the bench, Yuri makes the green tea cracker sandwich and hands it over to me. She also pulls mobile phone out of her jacket.

“Wanna play a game?” She asks, as she slides out her Iphone pass lock.

I squint my eyebrows.” You want to play a game?”

She shrugs. “Yeah, why not. We’ve plenty of time for a few rounds of Heads Up.”

“Heads Up?”

“Yeah, Heads Up.” She says. She looks at me quizzically. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of Heads Up. We need to remedy that if that’s the case.”

“Nah..never heard of it.”

Yuri opens the games app from her mobile phone and selects one of the games categories, called ‘Act it Out’. “I always play this with the girls,” She explains.”It’s fun.”

I used to play games with Krystal a lot when we were younger, but it’s been years. Before I can talk myself out of it, I’m agreeing. What has gotten into me?

She explains the rules, and we play. It’s a fairly simple word-guessing game, where the guesser is supposed to hold the game to their forehead. After you press Play, the screen will say “Place on Forehead”; you then can hold onto the phone for a moment, but the second you flip it around and hold it up to your forehead, a 5 second countdown will begin before it starts.

At the first round, she beats me. So, we play another round. She beats me again. This game actually is not as simple as I thought it would. Not when it involves eye contact of more than two seconds, where it activates my nervous system, raises my heart rate and blood flow. I have to keep dropping my eyes straight down, then directly up again to her in order to ease my discomfort. Everything feels so intense…but, also surprisingly…comforting. I can’t deny that Yuri is such a funny human being and she isn’t afraid to act silly in front of me. I don’t even realize that I’m actually watching every single motion of Yuri’s witty gesture while we’re playing the games.

I smile to myself, because even though I prefer to be alone, this whole night has been kind of perfect in a weird, unexpected, unplanned way. It feels…well, nice. A kaleidoscope of butterflies even starts fluttering in my stomach when I caught glimpse of Yuri’s vivid eyes sparkling in the moonlight. I don’t know how to explain, but they draw my attention and her stares just manage to make every inch of my body to feel the warmth that I haven’t felt for such a long time. And I’ve also never been the stomach-butterfly-fluttering type, so it feels very strange.

Plus, I love Heads-Up. Who knew?

And I also know this can’t happen again. This was a moment of weakness. This was a moment of vulnerability. I can’t just slip into trust-mode with her. Trust. If I trust Yuri, it means I’ve got to let Yuri into my heart. It means I will trust her not to hurt me. And I’ve still never afforded to trust my heart to anyone. Not when I’ve almost slipped in.

Yuri POV

I had a great night; completely and unexpectedly great. But, I still haven’t really solved the