Chapter 15 – She Loves Me?

Lotte Mart

“Cheese, cereals, diced pork, chicken, milk, drinks…” Yoona mumbled to herself as she checked the food in her trolley, today was her turn to buy the grocery in the house. The three friends took turns to do it once every week, “Do I need to buy some more fruits?” She thought for a while before decided, “Maybe some more apples.”

Yoona pushed her trolley to the produce section in the super market. As she was looking for the apples, a familiar figure caught her eyes.

“Hyunie?” She called out to the girl in front of her.

The tall girl turned around, “Yoona-unnie!” She exclaimed in excitement.

Yoona grinned seeing that her guess was true, “What a pleasant coincidence. What are you buying?” She asked while looking in Seohyun’s trolley.

“Oh, just some ingredients for our dinner.”

“Our dinner, eh?” Yoona chuckled.

Seohyun lowered her head in embarrassment. Yoona laughed as she watched Seohyun’s shy reaction she just loved teasing this pure girl. Just like old days.

“Where is Jesssica-unnie? Do you go alone?” Seohyun asked, tried to divert the attention on her.

Yoona shrugged, “This is my weekly obligation. We take turn in going shopping every week. Jessica and Taeyeon usually don’t tag along.” 

“You still eat lots of junk food, Yoona-unnie. I’ve told you that those aren’t good for your health.” Seohyun said when she noticed a load of potato chips bags in Yoona’s trolley.

Yoona scratched the back of her neck, “I…uhm… these are not for me. I buy them for Jessica and Taeyeon.” She lied. Well, part of it since Taeyeon and Jessica did tell her to buy them.

“That’s not the point. These aren’t good for them either. I’ll return these back to aisle for you and tell them to stop eating these too.” Seohyun said while taking all of Yoona’s potato chips bags out and putting them in hers.

“Bu-but…” Yoona was about to protest but she found it was useless when all of her potato chips bags were now lying peacefully in Seohyun’s trolley. She let out an amused chuckle and also a defeated one, just like in the past, she could never win an argument against Seohyun, “You may look a lot more beautiful than in high school, but there’s something about you that will never change, Hyunie.”

“Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?” Seohyun asked.

“Of course it’s a compliment.”

“If so then I have to-” Seohyun’s phone vibrated in her pocket causing the young girl to stop mid-sentence. She looked at the caller ID then excused herself for picking up the phone.

“Hello?... I’m going shopping for dinner… oh, is that so... It’s okay, work is more important… Seriously, I’m fine… Okay, bye.” Seohyun hung up the phone as she let out a heavy sigh.

“I guess it’s YongHwa then.” Seohyun nodded, “Is there something wrong?” Yoona said. Her voice was full of concern as she noticed how disappointed Seohyun looked.

“Well, he said that he couldn’t pick me up later and he had to stay late at the office because of some unexpected events.”

Looking at Seohyun’s depressed face, Yoona really didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t that great when it came to consoling someone, “Uhm… I don’t… uh… you know what, I can give you a ride home if… he can’t make it.” She awkwardly suggested.

Seohyun let out a soft chuckle as she heard Yoona’s offer. The doe-eye girl still acted all clumsy when she saw someone’s sadness, trying her best to make them feel better but never succeeded in doing that. “Yoona-unnie, you haven’t changed either.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“It’s the best thing.”

&&&&&&

Lotte Mart’s parking lot

“Where do you live now?” Yoona asked Seohyun who was sitting in the passenger seat in her car while driving out of the parking lot.

“In an apartment near STS. It’s pretty cozy and convenient. I just moved there about three months ago.”

A comfortable silence fell over them as Yoona drove Seohyun home. Every time they stopped at a traffic light, Yoona would take a glance at Seohyun. The young girl was still able to give her this easy feeling that no one could even though they hadn’t met each other for a long time. The sound of Seohyun chuckling to herself broke Yoona’s train of thought.

“Why’re you chuckling?” She asked amusingly.

“Something came to my mind. Remember our movie date where you were trying to help a little girl who was lost?” Seohyun recalled the memories. The amused smile was still on her face.

“Ahh… that’s embarrassing, I told you to forget it already.” Yoona whined in embarrassment.

“How can forget that? That’s in top five of my most memorable date with you.” Seohyun laughed.

“Top five?” Yoona let out a sigh as she continued, “Then I think you’re not gonna forget it anytime soon.”

“If you could see how flustered you looked when that girl burst out into tears, I’m sure that you wouldn’t be able to forget too, Yoona-unnie.”

“Aishh seriously, I really don’t know what I did wrong. Those security guards even thought that I was a kidnapper.”

Seohyun let out a scoff, “Right, you didn’t do anything wrong. At first she didn’t cry or anything, she just looked worried, looking around searching for her mom but after you came and said ‘Your mom shouldn’t leave you here all alone. It’s really dangerous, the kidnappers are all around’ as part of your ‘speech’ to calm her down and she immediately burst into tears.” She finished recalling the memory with a laugh.

“Jeez, I didn’t mean anything when I said that though. That was just something that came to my mind at that moment to comfort her.” Yoona unconsciously pouted her lips.

“Anyway, it’s still a good memory to me.” Seohyun smiled.

“Come to think of it, we never really have a fight, do we?” Yoona asked, thinking back to their good old times.

Seohyun nodded, sometimes thinking back to the past, she still wondered if she did the right thing letting Yoona go.

“You know what, Yoona-unnie. I was pretty surprised when I heard that you and Jessica-unnie wasn’t a couple. Have you guys ever tried?” Seohyun asked.

“What do you mean? Jessica and I are best friends; we don’t have that kind of feeling toward each other.”

Seohyun scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. It was either Yoona didn’t want to talk about her relationship with Jessica or she was really clueless about the blonde’s feelings.

“I mean… you must’ve known that Jessica-unnie feel something for you right?”

“Hyunie, you make me feeling lost here. I really don’t get what you mean.”

Seohyun leaned back in her seat as astonishment took over her. Yoona actually didn’t know anything about Jessica’s feelings.

“In the past more than five years, don’t tell me that Jessica-unnie didn’t say anything to you.” Seohyun said in disbelief.

“Tell me what exactly?” 

“That she likes you, no… she loves you.” 

Yoona immediately stepped on the brake pedal to stop the car in an abrupt way. She turned her head to look at Seohyun, hoping that the young girl was trying to pull a prank on her. She was trying to ignore the fact that Seohyun was never the type who had a good sense of humor, she never joked especially about something like this.

“You’re joking, right?”

Seeing Yoona’s reaction, Seohyun heaved a heavy sigh. Her unnie was really clueless. Seohyun thought that it was impossible for anyone not to notice anything about Jessica’s feelings toward her, it was as clear as daylight. She guessed she was wrong now.

“Yoona-unnie, do you have some spare time?”

&&&&&&

YoonSicTae’s house

“What took Yoona so long? She should’ve been home at this hour.” Taeyeon asked as she looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

Jessica shrugged, “Traffic, maybe?” She was sitting on the couch as she kept her eyes on the TV show.

“Well, it’s a good thing that she hasn’t come back yet because I have something to talk to you.” Taeyeon said as she took a seat next to Jessica on the couch.

“About what?”

“About that plan.” Seriousness was the only thing could be heard in Taeyeon’s voice.

“What about it? I thought you said you wanted to stay out of it, didn’t you?”

“I want to know what you’re thinking, your real intention when you decided to do this plan. And I hope that it wasn’t the same as what I have in mind.”

Jessica turned her head to Taeyeon, “What do you have in mind then? About my real intention.”

“Yoona.” Came Taeyeon brief answer. Yet it was enough for Jessica to acknowledge what her friend was referring to.

“You think that I somewhat force Yoona to do all of this was because I want her for myself even though I know she still feels something for that girl?” Taeyeon’s silence was the best answer to Jessica assumption. Indeed, that was exactly what her friend was thinking. “Well, you have a right to think like that. Maybe I am that selfish.”

“Jessica Jung, I want to hear your real intentions of this plan not a confirmation of what I’m thinking. I know you’re not like that so stop beating around the bush.” Taeyeon didn’t know why she was so mad at Jessica when she heard her confirmation. Truth to be told, if she didn’t know about Jessica’s feeling for that clueless girl she would never stay quiet about this plan and put her relationship with Tiffany on the line like this. She would oppose it to the max. She wanted an explanation from Jessica and she wanted it now.

Jessica took a deep breath in as she stared blankly at the TV screen in front of her, “Three years. It has been three years since Yoona came back to Korea heartbroken after that cruise ship. Three years and she hasn’t been able to forget that girl, Taeyeon-ah. Maybe you don’t know this but as we thought that Yoona could actually get over that girl step by step after all this time, in reality she has never been able to do so. Not even one second in her life. No matter what happens Yuri’s place in her heart is still the same.”

“H-how do you know?” It wasn’t like Taeyeon didn’t know that Yoona still had feelings for Yuri, but the fact that her love for Yuri still remained the same after three years had completely took her by surprise.

Jessica shrugged, “Lots of things. Her quite sobbing every night; wet pillow in the morning once in a while; the type of girl she’d randomly pick while going clubbing, long black hair, tanned skin, toned abs, whoever has at least one feature that resembles that girl. Or the most obvious one, Yoona had lost her smile ever since.”

“Smile? I thought she smiles all the time when we hang out together.”

Jessica shook her head, “That’s not a smile. The smile I’m referring to is the same silly one you had on your face when you’re thinking about Tiffany.”

“Yah… that’s not silly. It’s my happy smile when I think of her.”

“Whatever you want to call, I haven’t seen the same smile on her face ever since.” Jessica said sadly.

“You noticed all of that? How come I didn’t see or hear anything?” Taeyeon widened her eyes, it was either she was being such an extremely oblivious friend not to know any of that or Jessica just simply took notes of every little step Yoona did.

The blonde let out a soft chuckle, “Of course you didn’t notice, you know Yoona, she’s not the type who shows her emotions in front of everyone. Try to have an unrequited love for someone in ten years, I’m sure you’ll gain more experience.” She joked.

“Thanks, I’ll pass.” Taeyeon raised her hands, creating a shield in front of her chest.

Jessica laughed at Taeyeon’s reaction before continued her story, “Well those three years were hard for her but they weren’t easy for me either. Taeyeon-ah, you don’t know how many sleepless nights I’ve had, listening to her quite sobbing, wishing that I didn’t accept the promotion which sent me oversea for almost a month around the time her father announced the bankruptcy, that I was able to be there for Yoona so that she wouldn’t go on that cruise ship and then she wouldn’t meet Yuri. Three years ago, that girl could have the most precious chance to have a hold of Yoona’s heart but she cruelly threw it away, leaving an incurable scar in her heart. And now she’s back but… I’m also here and I won’t let that happen once again, I promise to myself that I won’t let anyone hurt her again. This time, no matter what other people says I’m determined to erase that painful memory called ‘Kwon Yuri’ out of Yoona’s head. Maybe when this plan is over, Yoona still won’t see me more than a good friend but that doesn’t matter. As long as Yuri’s out of Yoona’s life for good, I’m fine with anyone else who can offer Yoona the love which she deserves.”

Completely caught off guard because of what Jessica just said, Taeyeon found herself staring at the blonde in front of her and she didn’t even blink once. She wasn’t sure what the most appropriate phrase to describe Jessica at this moment was. Selfish? Selfless? Narrow-minded? Blindly in love? 

“Do you know why Yoona accepted this offer even when she still feels something for that girl?” Jessica’s voice pulled Taeyeon out of her train of thought.

Taeyeon shook her head slightly, “No, why do you ask?” 

“Because I know exactly why she accepted.”

“You know?”

“It’s pretty easy to guess. Yoona is always this kind of person who always thinks carefully before doing something. Whatever happens, her mind do the thinking first, her heart do the feeling later. In her mind, that girl is set as an untouchable subject, Yoona’s supposed to stop loving her, supposed to forget her, supposed to hate her so she accepted this offer as an attempt to convince other people that she is indeed able to get over Yuri, convince herself that she can do it even though her heart was screaming otherwise.”

“But… why did she have to accept? She can just stay out of it like I do.”

Jessica shook her head, “Staying out of this plan isn’t an option for Yoona because she isn’t in a position like you are. You’re our best friends but you’re also in a relationship with Tiffany which both me and Yoona know of and we approve this thing between you and Tiffany. You have your reason, good reason to oppose this plan as well as stay out of it. But Yoona have none. The only good reason she has was she still feel something for that girl which she couldn’t and wouldn’t say it out loud if Gyuri was still there.”

It amazed Taeyeon how Jessica could understand what was going on in Yoona’s mind way better than she could. Maybe not even Yoona could understand herself so thoroughly like this.

“If I understand correctly what you mean then Yoona’s listening to her mind at this moment. What if someday she’ll follow her heart? And I’m sure that that day will happen soon.”

“Of course I know that, this plan is like a two-edged sword to Yoona. If it works out the way we plan then Yoona will easily forget that girl once and for all. But if it doesn’t then…” Jessica trailed off, “…things will happen.”

“You mean like Yoona will fall for her all over again?” Taeyeon said bluntly.

Jessica stayed quite for a while as she was lost in her own thoughts, “I won’t let anyone hurt Yoona again. Not ever.”

&&&&&&

Star Cafe

“Hyunie…”

“Remember what I said when we decided to part way?” Seohyun cut Yoona off before she could start. Seeing her unnie nodded, Seohyun continued, “Looking like you’re not gonna figure out what I mean any time soon since you still remain so clueless after all those years.”

Yoona dropped her head in embarrassment. Thirty minutes had been passed since Seohyun told her that Jessica loved her and that idea still couldn't get through her thick head at all. It was impossible that Jessica could fall for her, the blonde knew all of her flaws which was a lot if she had to admit.

“What amazes me even more is that Jessica-unnie manages to hide her feelings for all those years.” Seohyun said while her chin.

“You must be mistaken, Hyunie. I’m sure Jessica won’t ever fall for the type of person like me.” Yoona said firmly.

Seohyun let out a chuckle when she saw how confident Yoona was acting, the girl would probably fell back in shock if she told her everything, “You know what is even funnier, Yoona-unnie? I actually thought that this thing between you and Jessica-unnie is two-sided.”

“What?” Yoona dropped her jaw in disbelief.

“Maybe you didn’t notice but… Yoona-unnie, you always mention Jessica-unnie at least once whenever we had a date, even when you asked me out for the first time.”

Flashback

SM girl’s high school

The doe-eye girl held on a box of chocolate in her hand tightly. She was extremely nervous because she was standing about five meters away from her crush for almost three weeks who was a hoobae, and ready to make a confession.

Gathered up all of her wits, Yoona boldly walked toward that girl who was so immersed in her conversation with her friends. As soon as Yoona approached the group of friends gasps and murmur could be heard everywhere. As expected, Im Yoona, the most popular girl in school was looking like about to make a confession to a hoobae, the title itself was enough to make the headline of the school newspaper.

Upon the noise around her, the young girl turned around to find that Im Yoona was walking toward her. Needless to say, she immediately felt weak in her knees, even amazed by the fact that she still able to stand right now. 

“Se-seohyun-ssh… Seohyun-ah… uhm… today… at night… tonight… are you free?” Yoona nervously said even though she had been practicing this dialogue more than thousands times in front of the mirror.
“Yeah… I’m totally free tonight, Yoona-unnie.” Seohyun eagerly nodded.

Yoona smiled even though the nervousness had yet made its leave, “Then… will you g-go… with me…” Yoona dropped her shoulders, wondering what the hell she was doing. What was so hard about asking a girl to go out with her? Im Yoona, she was Im Yoona after all, taking a deep breath before saying confidently, “Hyunie, will you go out with me tonight?”

“Yes, I’d love to, Yoona-unnie.” Apart from the two main character of our scene, Seohyun’s answer earned lots and lots of groaning from the crowd because that answer was more like a declaration that Im Yoona was no longer available.

“Really?” Yoona asked again as if there was another answer to say when you were asked to go out with the Im Yoona. Nevertheless, Seohyun shyly nodded as a confirmation. Yoona bumped her fist in the air along with her box of chocolate, “Yes, I knew I could do it.”

Suddenly it hit her, the box of chocolate was supposed to hand to Seohyun first before she made the confession. Now the confession had been made and Seohyun already said yes, did she need to give Seohyun this box of chocolate or not?

Yoona returned to her nervous self again as she raised the box in front of Seohyun, “Je-jessica told me to give this to you. She told me that girls love chocolate.”

Seohyun couldn’t help but laughed at Yoona’s honesty, “It’s not you who wanted to give me this box of chocolate but Jessica-unnie did. Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“No, no. I… I want to give this to you. Jessica just suggested and I think that it’s a good idea so I just agree to go along with it. I don-”

Yoona stopped herself as she saw Seohyun moved closer and closer to her every second and then she felt something soft brush against her cheek. The contact brought a new wave of heat to rush through her body before settling down at her cheek, the spot was kissed by Seohyun. Repeated: Seo Joo Hyun, the girl she had a crush on for almost a month. 

The box of chocolate was now in Seohyun’s hand, “I’m really looking forward to tonight, Yoona-unnie.” She said before walking away, chuckling with her friends.

End of Flashback

“Why do you always remember my embarrassing moment?” Yoona whined when she say Seohyun chuckling while telling their first moment.

“Because you’re so cute when you’re feeling embarrassed, Yoona-unnie.” Seohyun said honestly with a smile on her face.

“But… you can’t blame me on this one though. It’s true that it was Jessica who suggested me this chocolate thing. I was so nervous that I blurted out everything.”

Seohyun chuckled, she had expected that Yoona wouldn’t give in easily for her first try “Our first kiss then…”

Flashback

“Don’t try to peek, Hyunie.” Yoona warned while covering the younger girl’s eyes as she led the girl moving forward. Seohyun had had this blindfold on her eyes the entire time when they were still in their car that was why she was extremely excited about what Yoona was gonna show her in any moment which made the girl acted all concealed about it.

“Alright, I won’t peek, just tell me where are you taking me. You got me really anxious here.”

“Just a little bit more…” Yoona informed her girlfriend.

As they walked, Seohyun could feel the cool breeze hit her face. They were definitely in a park or a forest because only these places are able to bring this nature feeling.

“Okay… here we are.” Yoona announced as she slowly removed her hands from Seohyun’s eyes.

It took Seohyun a few seconds before her eyes could adjust to the sudden daylight. When she finally did, she realized that what Yoona was showing her was the most beautiful scene she had ever seen. In front of her there was a small lake, it was so crystal clear that one could see everything at the very bottom. The tall trees were everywhere around the lake and the flowers were blooming in every possible color, purple, blue, yellow, pink. From afar, she could see an old small dock, probably it was needed when people went fishing. The rolling hills in the background made the masterpiece in front of her even more alluring in every view.

Yoona shifted nervously next to Seohyun, the young girl hadn’t said anything. Maybe she was too confident to think that Seohyun would love this. These days, she had been trying to find the most romantic place to show Seohyun and then maybe, just maybe they could have their memorable first kiss there.

“You don’t like it, do you? I sh-”

“It’s beautiful…” Seohyun smiled as she turned to Yoona, “It’s beautiful, Yoona-unnie.”

“Really?” Yoona’s eyes brightened up at Seohyun’s compliment.

Seohyun nodded to confirm, “Why are you showing me this place all of a sudden?” She asked.

“Be-because I w-want to…” Because I wanted to have our first kiss here? Jeez, sounded just like a total ert, “… to share with you this beautiful place.”

“Thanks, I really love this place, unnie.” Seohyun said as she slowly leaned in closer to Yoona.
For one split moment, Yoona kind of hoped that she would have a peck on her lips as a reward. But her hope didn’t last long when she felt Seohyun’s lips touched her cheek. As Seohyun pulled back Yoona couldn’t hide the disappointed look on her face and of course her disappointed didn’t go unnoticed by Seohyun.

“You don’t like it when I kissed you, right?” The younger girl asked, worried that she might upset her girlfriend in some way that she wasn’t sure.

“No, no way. Where did you get that idea?” Yoona snapped her head up, surprised at Seohyun’s assumption.

“I don’t know… I thought that… somehow you looked disappointed when I kissed you.”

Yoona shook her head furiously, “No, no I didn’t mean it that way, I love it when you kissed me. Really. It’s just that…” Yoona suddenly lowered her voice as low as possible, “… I was expecting something else.”

“Something else?” Seohyun asked, she wasn’t sure if she understood what Yoona was referring to.

“I… uh…” Yoona was at a loss for words at the moment. Maybe it was better if she could show Seohyun what she meant in action. Yoona moved her eyes from Seohyun’s eyes to the young girl’s lips as she leaned closer to her. A small smile crept up on her face when she saw Yoona was leaning in, it was about damn time that her unnie made the first move. The younger girl closed her eyes, already feeling anxious for their first kiss.

Soon their lips touched, Yoona wrapped her arms around Seohyun’s waist to pull the latter closer to her. Like a reflex, Seohyun naturally wrapped her arms around Yoona’s neck to deepen the kiss. Only when oxygen was needed, Yoona pulled back to rest her forehead on her girlfriend’s.

“I was expecting something like this.” Yoona smiled.

“You have planned this beforehand right? Sharing with me this place is just an excuse.”

Yoona blushed as she shyly nodded. “Hyunie…” She called out to the young girl in front of her.

“Huh?”

“Can I ask you something?” Yoona said in a small voice, “Was I good?” The question came out almost inaudible. But Seohyun could easily hear it because of their closeness.

Listening to the question, the only thing Seohyun could do at this moment was shyly nodding. Seriously, what was Yoona thinking to ask her this type of question?

“I’m not bad, am I?” Yoona pulled back from her forehead-to-forehead position with Seohyun as she almost jumped in excitement, “I can’t believe that I actually feel worried when Jessica she told me I’m not a good kisser.”

“Jessica-unnie?” Seohyun asked, confused. How did Jessica know that Yoona wasn’t a good kisser? It wasn’t like she had kissed Yoona before. Right?

“Yeah, she always teases me about being a bad kisser because I haven’t kissed anyone before. No experience equals no good, that’s what she said.”

“Oh…” Yoona’s reply somehow answered Seohyun’s silent question. However, Seohyun couldn’t stop this uneasy feeling every time Yoona mentioned her best friend’s name. She didn’t feel like this when Yoona mentioned Taeyeon. Why Jessica?

End of Flashback

Yoona titled her head to the side as she tried to remember what Seohyun just told her, “How come I didn’t remember that I mention her?”

Seohyun shrugged, “Probably Jessica-unnie always sticks by your side so her name just naturally comes out of your mouth without you knowing it.”

Yoona thought for a moment before she asked Seohyun, “Is this the reason why you think we should break up?”

“Well, part of it. I’m not fully determined until I realized how much Jessica-unnie could do for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember when you broke your father old favorite CD and looking everywhere for replacement but couldn’t find one.”

“Yeah but later Jessica got me that CD saying that she came across it somewhere at an antique shop.”
Seohyun shook her head, “It wasn’t easy as it sounded. The shop owner didn’t want to sell the CD at first since that CD was also his favorite and only copy.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I also found the same shop that had the CD…”

Flashback

“That CD again?” The shop owner raised his voice, sounded fairly surprised when Seohyun asked him whether he had the CD. “Well, you’re one step late. Yesterday there was also a student around the same age like you ask for that CD and I sold it to her. And that was the only copy I had.” He said while turning to the shelves behind him.

Seohyun let out a heavy sigh. She had been asking numerous shops and this one was the only one had a positive reply yet someone already took it. “It’s really rude of me to ask this but can you please give me some of that student contact information so that I can ask for the CD from her? This CD is really important to one of my friends.”

A soft humorous chuckle escaped the owner’s mouth as he turned around to face Seohyun, “That student also said the same thing. Well, I really want to help you but I can’t. I really don’t have any of that student contact information. Besides even if I do have one, I doubt that she will ever give up that CD to you after all she had been through.”

“I’m sorry but I really don’t get what you mean.” Seohyun raised one of her eyebrow in confusion.

He heaved a sigh before continued, “At first, I didn’t want to sell the CD because that one is my favorite too. However, she kept begging me to give it to her for almost two days, kept lingering around telling me how important that CD is to her to the point that I actually gave in and gave her one chance. I told her that she could have it if she tasted my new recipe that one can’t easily find it tasty because of its heavy smell. Of course, she agreed and in result, she was hospitalized for… I don’t know, maybe 2 or 3 days.”

“Oh…” Seohyun slowly nodded, how bad it had been the shop owner’s cooking to get one person hospitalized for 2 or 3 days.

Seeing Seohyun’s reaction, the owner hastily waved his hands repeatedly in front of his chest in attempt to clear the misunderstanding, “It’s not like what you think at all. My cooking is fine, it’s just that I didn’t know she is allergic to cucumber and she didn’t tell me that either. Yet she agreed to taste my cucumber salad, that’s why she was hospitalized.”

“Allergic to cucumber?” Seohyun asked. That sounded quite familiar.

“Yeah. After one full mouth of the salad, her face turned pale immediately and she started to cough furiously that she actually fainted on the ground. Seeing her like that I felt really bad if I don’t give her that CD.”

Seohyun stayed quite for a while before she bowed to the shop owner and took her leave. Wondering if the person the owner mentioned a few moments ago was the same one of what she had in mind.

End of Flashback

“Maybe that person isn’t Jessica.” Yoona persistently denied.

“Student around my age, around that time looked for the same CD, allergic to cucumber and you’re telling that she’s not Jessica-unnie.”

“Well, maybe she is. But I think that she did all of that was because I’m her best friend. Good friends are supposed to help each other out when they’re in trouble right?” Yoona said, still stick to the idea that Jessica wasn’t madly in love with her.

“Yoona-unnie, you still don’t believe that Jessica-unnie is in love with you, do you?” Seohyun couldn’t believe how stubborn Yoona was acting.

Thinking for a while before slowly shaking her head, her best friend was in love with her. That was just unacceptable.

“How about this? Why don’t you check her feelings toward you yourself?” Seohyun suggested.

“How can I do that?”

Instead of replying, Seohyun stood up from her seat as she circled around the table to go to Yoona’s seat. Suddenly, she slowly leaned in closer to Yoona, lessened the distance between their face. 
Yoona leaned back in her seat as seat when she saw Seohyun leaned closer every second, “Hyunie, what are you doing?”

Seohyun took Yoona’s hand then placed it on the girl’s chest so that she could feel her heartbeat. “You see? When I’m leaning closer to you your heartbeat remained normal because you see me only as your dongsaeng now and you didn’t avoid eye contact with me. But… if you do this to Jessica-unnie, I’m sure that she’ll stutter when she asks the question you just asked me. Stuttering since her heart will beat faster than normal because of your action and she will also try to avoid eye contact with you as an attempt to calm herself down.”

Seohyun returned to her seat as she continued, “When you came home and said that you’ve been hanging out with me, probably she’ll scrunch her eyebrow, a gesture that people always do when something unpleasant happens to them. That’s when she shows her jealousy because you have been hanging out with me, your ex-girlfriend.”

“Is there more?”

“Well, if you ask her to hang out with you while stressing the point that only you and her go, I think that she’ll react… I don’t know overly happy?”

“What if she won’t show any of the reactions you mention?”

Seohyun smiled, “Trust me, she will if not more.”

&&&&&&

YoonSicTae’s house

“Guys, I’m home.” Yoona announced her presence as she pushed the door to the house opened, carrying four full bags of grocery.

Taeyeon immediately shot up from the couch, “Yah! What took you so long? I’m starving here.” The short friend ran to Yoona to take the bags from her hands, looking for the things she needed. “Yah… where are the snacks I told you to buy?”

“Well, you don’t have to look for those anymore because I didn’t buy any.”

“Why?” Taeyeon raised her voice.

Yoona let out a chuckle, “Because I met Seohyun at the supermarket, she insisted on returning back all the snacks I bought, telling that those aren’t good for us.”

Taeyeon laughed, “She hasn’t changed, eh?”

“I know, right? Anyway, it’s been a long time since we hanged out with each other so I decided to have a drink with her. It feels good to think back to the past once in a while.” Yoona said as she had her eyes fixed on the person behind Taeyeon.

“Is that why you came back home this late?”

“Yup.” Yoona answered.

Scrunched her eyebrows? Check.

“Uhm, why don’t you guys help me put these things into their places?” Yoona said while carrying the bags to the kitchen and placed them on the counter.

Taeyeon and Jessica followed Yoona into the kitchen. The three started to do their weekly jobs, arranging the grocery. Like usual, Jessica and Yoona took care of everything that was in the refrigerator and Taeyeon replaced all the necessary things in the bathroom with new ones.

As Yoona took out the grocery from the plastic bags and passed them to Jessica, she remembered what the next step Seohyun taught her. Leaning closer to Jessica. Yoona stopped passing the grocery and dropped down to Jessica’s level since the blonde was kneeling in front of the fridge.

Jessica was so concentrated on arranging the grocery that she didn’t notice that Yoona already stopped passing her those. She still had her palm opened as she waited for Yoona to place the grocery in.

“What ar-” Jessica was about to ask Yoona what she was doing but stopped herself as she realized how close Yoona’s face was to her. Jessica leaned back at once as she placed both of her hands on the floor behind her for support because she felt like she was gonna faint in any moment.

Just like what Seohyun did to her, Yoona slowly leaned closer to Jessica while staring into her eyes, watching her facial expression.

The more Yoona leaned closer to her, the more Jessica tried to lean back to keep their distance until she couldn’t lean back anymore because if she did she would probably in the lying position on the floor, “Wh-what are you d-doing?” Surprisingly, Jessica could find her voice to ask this question at this moment.

Stuttering? Check.

Yoona didn’t answer Jessica’s question, she just kept leaning closer every second. As expected, Jessica looked away from Yoona so that she didn’t have to look at those lips which she had been yearning to kiss every second of her life since she knew her feelings toward Yoona.

Avoiding eye contact? Check.

“You… you have something on your face.” Yoona said as she stopped leaning in. She pretended to brush the non-existent dust off Jessica’s face.

“Oh… th-thanks.” Still stuttering.

“What are you guys doing?” Taeyeon came in and asked her friends as she noticed the position which both Jessica and Yoona were in. One was almost like lying on the floor and one had this confused look on her face.

Ignoring Taeyeon’s question, Yoona continued her test on Jessica as she turned to the blonde, “Jessica, I own you a dinner and movie treat, right? So, are you free tomorrow night?”

“Wh-what? Why all of a sudden?” Jessica asked, wondering why Yoona was acting like this.

“We promise, right? That’s what I’m supposed to do. Tomorrow night, just me and you.” Yoona said as she kept her calm face.

Jessica couldn’t help but blushed at the phrase ‘just me and you’ came from Yoona’s mouth. Could anybody please tell her the reason why Yoona was acting like this?

“Yeah, I’m free, totally free tomorrow night.” No matter how hard Yoona tried to deny Jessica’s feelings toward her, she could easily notice the excitement in her best friend’s voice.

Overly happy? Check.

Yoona slowly nodded as a respond to Jessica’s answer. She stood up straight from her previous position, “I feel a little tired today, you guys can do the rest, right?” Without waiting for her friends’ approval, Yoona left the kitchen and went to her room.

“What’s wrong with her?” Taeyeon asked as she looked at Yoona’s closed door.

Jessica shrugged, “I’m not sure but do you think…” the blonde looked up at her friend, “… she knows something?”

Yoona’s room

Yoona leaned her back against the door while her hands kept a hold on the door’s knob. Everything Seohyun said was true. Every single thing. Now she couldn’t deny it anymore. The fact was there right in front of her eyes.

Yoona plopped down on her bed as she thought back to whatever happened between them in the past. Oh god… she was so clueless. How couldn’t she notice the way Jessica acted around her? Hyesun also hinted her about Jessica before but she just blindly chose not to believe it.

Right now in Yoona’s mind, there was only one statement. She loved her. Jessica loved her.

Her best friend was in love with her.

TBC