Chapter 20 – We’re Going Round And Round

Goddess Cruise – Room A115

Yuri came out of the shower, wrapped in a thin towel. The only thing to cover her luscious body. That thin fabric.

Not waiting for Yuri to acknowledge of her surrounding, Yoona pushed the tanned girl against the hard wall of the bathroom, eliciting a quiet groan from the latter because of the sudden force. Yuri was now trapped between Yoona’s body and the wall as Yoona placed both of her hands on either sides of Yuri’s head, prevented her from getting away.

Before Yuri’s right mind could come back, Yoona grabbed her precious chance as she quickly captured the girl’s lips, kissed her passionately and forced Yuri to feel her desire, her unspoken love for her. Unlike what Yoona had expected, Yuri didn’t have any kind of protesting act instead, she could feel Yuri wrapped her arms around her neck, pulled her closer, returning the kiss with equal passion and probably lust.

Yoona thought that Yuri would never let her kiss her this way anymore but the incredible long-lost feelings of her soft lips against hers were all too real. It was so real that Yoona felt her whole body was burning up every second. Ever since the day Yoona met Yuri again, she knew that this would happen one of these days. The day that she would ignore her stupid logical mind and follow her heart then scream to the world that she was still madly in love with Kwon Yuri.

“Yul… I love you.” Yoona whispered softly against Yuri’s lips as she merely broke their heated kiss.

As if it was an expected confession, Yuri simply raised her hand to cup Yoona’s left cheek and smiled genuinely at her. Naturally, Yoona smiled back happily as she took Yuri’s smile as a positive reply for her out-of-nowhere confession. She closed her eyes, leaned in to connect their lips again.

Suddenly, Yoona felt her body was being pushed away forcefully, made her stumbled a few steps back.

“I’m sorry… Yoong…” Yuri said apologetically while looking at Yoona with those pitiful eyes of hers. “… but I don’t love you… I only see you as Nicole’s substitute.”

“Wh-what? Yul…”

“Now everything’s back to the way it used to be so I don’t need you anymore.”

“No… please, don’t do this, Yul. Let’s…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No… no…”

“NO!!!!!” Yoona screamed as she shot up from the couch which was now her place to sleep for the time she acted as a married couple with Yuri. She panted while beads of cold sweat dripping down her forehead. Taking a look of her surrounding, Yoona realized it was just a dream… or a nightmare to be exact.

Yoona slid her fingers through her hair and ruffled them, “Aishhh… I’m going to go crazy.”

It had been two days since Yuri’s birthday and this was the third time Yoona had this kind of dream about her. But unlike the first two times which ended to her satisfaction, this one ended with a painful memory that she desperately wanted to forget. 

Yoona placed her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her palm. This was just great. Now she couldn’t get the feel of Yuri’s tempting lips on hers out of her mind. No wonder everything felt so real even though it was just a dream. In addition to that, the memory of seeing Yuri’s flawless body in the bathroom that morning kept haunting her, torturing her whenever she let her mind wander at ease.

Every time Yoona closed her eyes, completely relaxed, the image of Yuri just automatically appeared in her mind as if it was imprinted into her brain. And when it did, Yoona couldn’t stop herself from letting her imagination run wild. She would imagine herself crashing her lips down onto Yuri’s sweet ones, tasting her, kissing her till she was breathless. She would imagine herself kissing down Yuri’s perfectly shaped body, feeling every inch of her silky tanned skin with her bare hands. She would….

“Hey… are you okay?”

“Woah!” Yoona jumped off the couch in surprise, literally, because of Yuri’s sudden voice from behind and her delicate hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry… did I scare you?” Yuri apologized as she realized that she might startle Yoona unintentionally caused the girl to fall off the couch. She approached closer to the girl who was lying on the floor in order to help her get up.

“No, no, st-stay there, do-don’t come… closer…” Yoona quickly blurted out and raised both of her hands up in front of her chest as her barrier. The last thing she wanted right now was skin contact with Yuri – the sole reason leaded to those heated dreams. Her kiss and her body was quite enough, she didn’t want to add another one to her craving list.

“Oh… o-okay.” Yuri awkwardly stepped back, wondering why Yoona got all flushed when she only wanted to help her up.

Yoona quickly stood up and brushed her clothes. Seeing Yuri standing awkwardly in front of her, Yoona knew that she had been over-reacting so she added, “Err… the thing is… I can get up on my own. I don’t want to… bother you.”

“Oh…” Yuri nodded, obviously not buying it.

“A-anyway, is there s-something you want to tell me?”

“Oh, it’s just that I was taking my morning shower and I heard you called my name so… I quickly dressed up and went out to see if you needed something.” Yuri explained casually.

Yuri was taking a shower? Damn… no wonder her dream was about Yuri getting out of the bathroom. Her hair was still damp, the smell of her shampoo was still lingering somewhere in the air and she looked… Yoona shook her head furiously to stop what she was thinking. How great! Now her imagination was just flowing on its own with or without her mind’s permission. She needed, desperately needed to get her act together as soon as possible.

“Y-you were saying?” Yoona asked again. Apparently, after the shower information, her mind was too busy imagining to pay attention for something else.

Yuri raised an eyebrow at Yoona before quickly dropped it down, “Did you call me earlier? I thought you needed something from me.”

“I called you? But I didn’t…” Yoona gasped as she remembered what happened earlier. That dream. Aishh… this was so embarrassing. But there was no way she was going to explain herself by admitting to Yuri’s face that she had that kind of dream toward her. “Ah… uh… yeah, I did. I just wanted to know… if…” Yoona glanced at the clock behind Yuri’s back “… if you’ve waked up yet.” She grinned nervously. 

“That’s all?”

“Y-yeah, that’s all. Err… a-are you done with your shower? I so-sort of need to u-use it.” Yoona shuttered while awkwardly pointed back at the bathroom. She kept her head down, not making eye contact with Yuri so that she could hide the obvious blush on her cheek. Truth to be told, she really looked like an idiot now.

“Yeah, I think so.” 

Yuri’s eyes followed Yoona’s hasty figure walking passed her and disappearing behind the bathroom’s door, occasionally stumbled over a few things on her way. A loud sigh escaped , Yuri could easily sense that her ‘temporary seobang’ was hiding something from her. Something really big. She wasn’t that slow not to notice her odd attitudes these days. However she chose to ignore them because Yuri knew that even if she wanted to know the truth, Yoona wouldn’t tell her wholeheartedly.

Earlier, the reason Yuri had to dress up and come out of the shower in a hurry wasn’t that she heard Yoona called her but how she called her was what really mattered. Even though her call was just barely audible, Yuri was still able to hear it clearly. Yoona called her ‘Yul’. Not Yuri-sshi, not Yuri, not baby, she called her ‘Yul’. Not once, but three times in total, it meant that she called out her name on purpose not blurted out something randomly. But when she was standing face to face to Yoona, she said that she just wanted to know if she had waked up yet. Yuri was disappointed, truly disappointed. About what, about whom she wasn’t sure, she just felt… simply disappointed.

Yoona never gave her a proper answer to all the questions whirling in her head. Every time Yuri asked something like this, she would always become flustered and paused as she talked then hurriedly tried to find a way out. Just like what happened when she asked Yoona about her birthday’s preparation two days ago.

Flashback

Room A115

“Goodnight honey. Once again, happy birthday.” Misun smiled happily at her daughter before planted a kiss on her cheek. Throughout the night, the woman couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. Partly because she hadn’t been able to celebrate her daughter’s birthday for too long, another part of her felt satisfied as she looked at the picture of her kids in her camera. 

“Bye, omma. Goodnight.” Yuri also pecked her mom on the cheek then both her and Yoona waved goodbye to her parents before they got in their room as Yoona closed the door behind them.

“Can we talk?” Yuri asked.

The seriousness in Yuri’s tone caught Yoona off guard. The tall girl slowly nodded to Yuri’s request as both of them settled down in their seat.

“So…” Yuri took a deep breath in, “Firstly… thanks. For being there… for me.” Yuri was hesitant whether she should say those last two words or not. Yoona was there for her… right? They both agreed that they had finished their filming before Yuri came to meet Gyuri so the reason for her presence there, wasn’t that obvious?

She was there with Yuri? Yes. Being there because of her? Yes. There was no need to deny or correct what Yuri said now. For Yoona, it was too pointless to do that. Too tired to do that. Not physically, but mentally. “I agree to help you and I keep my promise. You really don’t have to thank me.” Yoona said in a calm voice. She knew that this was just a beginning, she had lots of explaining to do.

“You know Gyuri before, right?” Yuri just jumped straight into her self-conclusion. How Yoona was being able to appear at the right time to save Yuri from her no-way-out situation because of her parents, Yuri guessed Yoona must have been informed about the date of her and Gyuri beforehand and then came across her parents while they were on their way looking for them. She never once mentioned it to Yoona so she must have been heard of it from Gyuri which also meant that they had known each other before. Then it would easily explain the reason why Gyuri also knew of their situation and backed away before her parents got suspicious.

Yuri was smart, Yoona acknowledged that clearly this time. Was this the right time to tell her everything? The plan and all? So that she could receive another slap on her face from Yuri because of her selfishness when things just got a whole lot better between them? Yoona snorted. Yeah, right. That was such a great plan and a great timing. Gyuri had agreed to help her hide the secret anyway so why didn’t she take took her time and try to fix her relationship with Yuri till it was stable enough before she told her everything and begged for her forgiveness so that they can remain friends afterward? Right, this sounded so much better to Yoona’s ear.

“Yeah, I know Gyuri before.” Yoona simply admitted.

Yuri nodded. So it was true. Yoona knew Gyuri before. This answer was supposed to clear out all the queries inside of her but in this case it only brought a whole lot more complicated questions into her head. What Yuri expected from Yoona wasn’t this simply answer. Yuri expected her to explain, waited for her to say something, anything to explain more and more to her. Explaining to her until this unsecured feeling inside of her disappeared. 

As of now, Yuri had no idea what was going on in Yoona’s head. She really didn’t have a clue what her next move was. What she was feeling, what she was thinking, to Yuri, it was a big question mark. Yoona was now a complete mystery to her. That was when she felt unsecured when Yoona was around her. And she hated this feeling. Hated it to her guts.

“You told her everything about us?” Yuri urged. If Yoona didn’t want to say on her own, Yuri would ask her until she got the answer she wanted. She demanded Yoona to explain everything to her. Right now, it was okay to Yuri if Yoona lied to her as she explained. As long as Yoona’s words could make this unsecured feeling went away, Yuri would accept any possible explanation from Yoona. It doesn’t matter if she was telling the truth or not.

Everything… It seemed to Yoona that this word had a lot of meaning to it. Yuri always gave her this type of question which wasn’t clear enough about what Yuri wanted her to explain. Everything here referred to ‘everything’ three years ago or ‘everything’ meant the reason why they had to act as a married couple? Yoona held in a heavy sigh. It looked like Yuri wouldn’t let this go easily until she got the satisfied answer.

“Yeah… I told her everything about us.”

Again. Yuri held back a snort at Yoona’s answer. She just repeated Yuri’s question exactly the same, she only replaced her question mark with a dot. An affirmation instead of a question. Of course, Yuri wasn’t satisfied. Yoona’s answers were getting on her nerves since Yuri was never the type who could tolerate her temper well.

“How come do you know about my parents were going to be at the Royal Ball?” Yuri asked, raised her tone a little bit this time.

If Yuri gave a specific question like this one, she would receive a specific answer like Yoona guessed she wanted. “I was on my way back to the room until I came across your parents at the hallway asking a cruise staff. I waited until they went away as I came up and asked that staff what they wanted to do. After I knew that they wanted to find the place where we celebrate your birthday, I asked him to take them to the Royal Ball but in a roundabout way to buy some time. I’m a former Cruise Director on this cruise so it wasn’t that hard for me to ask the chef prepare a birthday cake immediately.”

One question was solved completely. A lot more to go.

“How do you know I was there?” Yuri asked. Others might think that she was too much of an idiot to ask this question since Yoona already admitted that she knew Gyuri. But Yuri wanted to hear more than just a simple answer liked ‘Yeah, I know Gyuri before’.

Yoona let out a small chuckle as she felt the demand in her voice. This question was like a warning to her, Yoona had better not repeat that same simple answer again or this conversation would have no ending. Maybe she would tell Yuri the truth. Or half of it to be exact.

“Gyuri and I are childhood friends. I only met her again recently. And… err…” This was the point that Yoona had to omit some unnecessary part. “… she told me that she met this girl whose face looked a lot like me but her skin was slightly tanned. Err… and then I… sort of accidentally met her again on this cruise ship and she told me she was gonna have a date with that girl at the Royal Ball. So… err… from the way she describes, I just thought maybe there was a chance that the girl she talked about was you so… err… I just came to look just in case… you know?”

This explanation was somewhat acceptable if Yuri just ignored all the ‘err’ and pausing while Yoona was talking. But like she told herself before, as long as it was a fair enough explanation, Yuri would choose to blindly believe in what Yoona said. Who was she to demand a one-hundred-percent-truth explanation from Yoona? After all, she was just a co-worker who was asking a favor from her, no more, no less, just a co-worker.

Yuri guessed for a moment she got herself too immersed in her character as Yoona’s temporary wife. She needed to try harder to keep one thing in mind: everything happened between them now was just an act, temporary meant temporary, this thing wouldn’t last. Suddenly she hated herself for suggesting this crazy idea so now she couldn’tdifferentiate what right from wrong, good from bad, real from not real. She hated herself for wanting something she shouldn’t want, longing for something that didn’t belong to her, loving someone who she thought would always be a mystery to her.

When her parents weren’t around, she would try her best to keep her distance with Yoona. She would try to control her own feelings, try to draw a line between them. This was the least that she could do at this moment. Trying.

Yuri tried to force a smile on her face as she continued, “Now I got it. Thanks for clearing everything up.”

Yoona knew that the latter didn’t fully believe in what she said. What was that with all the ‘errs’ and pauses? It wasn’t like this was the first time she lied to someone. Probably, it was Yuri who made Yoona felt like it actually was. Stealing her confidence and taking her breath away seemed to be Yuri’s special ability.

As Yoona noticed the sad smile on Yuri’s face, she just slightly shook her head as a respond for her thank. She couldn’t utter a word because of the guilt was eating up inside of her. Time after time, she couldn’t believe that she was still able to lie to Yuri, to watch the hurt look on her face knowing she was the sole reason for that. The truth was the only thing Yuri wanted from Yoona but it was also the only thing Yoona couldn’t offer. She couldn’t bring herself to expose the whole truth and then take the risk of losing her for sure once again.

“Uh… it was kind of late now. You should go rest, we’re going to have lots of work to do tomorrow.” Yoona said as she started to settle down on the couch. It looked like she was gonna spend the night here.

“You… you sleep here? Again?” Yuri asked.

Yoona shrugged, “Where else?”

“You… you should go to your room. It’s… your room, right?”

Yoona let out a soft chuckle. She wondered why Yuri was acting so shy all of a sudden. “Well, since you’re here. It’s yours now.”

“But I’m ju-“

“Stop with the nonsense guest thing Yu…yuri-yah…” Yoona stopped for a second as she pondered whether she should use honorifics or not. Then she decided not to since they had agreed to be friends again. The formalities could be dropped. “I don’t want you to sleep here and then sneeze or cough all night long. You can’t sleep. Neither can I. You will sleep in the bedroom from now on. This was the end of this matter.” Without waiting for Yuri’s reply, Yoona lay down on the couch, pulled the blanket over her and closed her eyes.

Yuri felt kind of bad for dominating the entire space. This wasn’t even her room to begin with. Now that she came and Yoona had to sleep on the couch. She couldn’t share a room with Yoona though, that was for sure. Feeling guilty, Yuri didn’t move from her position, she just sat there, tried to think of a better solution.

As Yoona waited, she didn’t hear any sound of movement came from the opposite sofa. She knew that Yuri hadn’t gone to the bedroom yet. She slowly turned her head to the opposite sofa, peeked one eye opened, “Why don’t you go to sleep?”

“I… this isn’t what I… expected.”

Yoona clicked her tongue in annoyance. Seriously? This wasn’t what she expected? What did she expect then? Suddenly, something came into her mind and Yoona’s annoyed expression was replaced by a playful one as a witty grin plastered across her face.

“Why are you smiling? What is so funny about this?” Yuri asked in confusion.

Yoona lazily sat up and looked at Yuri in the eyes with this knowing look on her face, still grinning like an idiot, “Why can’t I notice this before? I think I know what you’re thinking.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you want me to carry you to your room then why don’t you just say so? I’ve done it several times, it won’t hurt if I do it once more.” Yoona said casually then she slowly got up.

Yuri immediately shot up from her seat as her cheeks were tinted red almost as a tomato, “Yah! I didn’t mean it like that.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be embarrassed. Just thinking of this as me being a good friend helps you to go to your room… in a more comfortable way. I promise that I won’t tell anyone about this later.” Yoona walked leisurely to Yuri’s side while rolling up her sleeves, getting ready for what she was about to do.

“Wait, wait... I really didn’t mean it this way.” As Yoona took a few steps toward her, Yuri hurriedly took the same steps backward, kept a safe distance between them. 

“Alright, I’ll just make this quick and we both can sleep peacefully in no time.” Yoona insisted, quickened her pace toward Yuri.

Sensing no sign of giving up from Yoona, Yuri decided that she should act obediently to the latter if she didn’t want her cheek to heat up all night long, “Go-goo-goodnight!!” She stuttered while not waiting for Yoona’s reply, Yuri quickly zoomed out of the living room to get to her room, away from Yoona.

“Finally…” Yoona breathed the word out as she plopped herself back onto the couch and drifted off to sleep soon after.

End of Flashback 

“Have you packed your things yet?”

Yuri snapped her head back as Yoona’s voice pulled her back to present. The latter just came back out of the shower and found Yuri stared blankly at the non-working TV screen.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you had packed your things yet. The cruise will go back to Korea today so we will have to check in the hotel in LA for the business trip.” Yoona explained.

“Uh, yeah. I’ve packed everything last night.”

“I guess… your parents will also stay in LA like us, right?”

Yuri nodded, “Yeah, I think so. But don’t worry, I think my parents will stay at our house in LA while we will stay in the hotel for our business trip.” She said as her lips curved into a small smile to reassure Yoona while walking away to her room.

Yoona kept silent when she heard the word ‘worry’ came from Yuri’s mouth. It seemed like the latter had misunderstood her question in some way. Yoona wasn’t worried, what was there to worry about? She was just simply wondering. Yuri had been very distant to her lately, Yoona knew that but she didn’t try to get closer. She decided to ignore this gap between them to grow as big as possible until she could sort out the disagreement between her head and her heart.

&&&&&&

LA – World Cruise Center

“Promise me, you must come home as soon as you finish your work, Yuri-yah.” Misun said while holding on to Yuri’s hand tightly, not wanting to let go at all.

Yuri gently placed her other hand on her mother’s to comfort the old lady who was looking was on the verge of tears. “Omma, it’s not like we’re not able to meet each other again. I promise, I’ll pass by as soon as we’re done filming for the day, okay?”

“But I don’t understand, Yuri-yah. You have a home here in LA. Why don’t you guys stay there with us? As little time as you can stay in LA, I just want you to spend your time with us. You know that this kind of occasion won’t come often.” Misun complained. 

“Omma… I explained everything to you already, it’ll be much more convenient for both parties if we stay at the hotel. Besides we can’t leave Jessica alone in the hotel while we stay at somewhere else.”

“How about Jessica will have one of our guest rooms? I’d love to have her as a guest staying at our house.” Hyesung quickly added in. This was a great chance for him to get to know the blonde better.

“Uh… I don’t know, appa. I…” Yuri was hesitant. Just a moment ago, she told Yoona for sure that they would stay at the hotel then they could stop acting as a married couple since her parents weren’t around anymore. But now, seeing how desperate her mom wanted her to stay at their house, Yuri just couldn’t deny their offer directly like she planned.

“Right, it’s such a great idea, honey.” Misun grinned happily at her husband’s good idea, “Come on, Yuri-yah. I really want you to stay with us, it’s been so long.” The old lady whined as she slightly tugged on Yuri’s sleeve leaving everyone to wonder, who was the mom in this situation?

Watching the scene which Yuri was biting her lips while looking at her pouting mother, Yoona let out a heavy sigh. It was hard for Yuri, Yoona knew that. She also knew that at this moment, only one word from her, Yuri would gladly accept her mother’s offer without hesitation. Then again, she found herself standing rooted to the ground about five meters away, clamping closed. What would happen if they lived in the same house with Yuri’s parents when she didn’t know how to control her feelings as well as her acts around Yuri yet? Yoona was sure that if she continued to stay by Yuri’s side, soon she would definitely step over the line which she had been drawing for three years. She must stop herself from falling deeper in something that she told herself for the umpteenth time to stay away. Im Yoona was such a coward sometimes.

“Why don’t you go and help her?”

The low voice caught Yoona by surprise as she snapped her head to the right, “Oh… here you are.” Yoona said as she saw her best friend was standing next to her while pulling the suitcase toward them.

Jessica let out a low laugh, “Of course I’m here. I’m always here. It’s just that you never notice.”

Yoona tried to ignore what Jessica was implying in that sentence as she drifted her eyes back to Yuri who was trying her best to console her mother.

“You haven’t answered my question.” 

Yoona slightly shook her head as she heaved a sigh, “I think I should stay here, keep silent. It’s better this way for all of us.”

“Yoona-yah…” Jessica said softly.

“Huh?” Yoona turned her head to look at Jessica at her call.

“Who am I to you?”

Yoona raised an eyebrow in confusion at Jessica because of her sudden question. Out of every time to talk about their relationship, Jessica just had to choose this one when Yuri’s family was standing only a few meters away from them. “Why d-”

“Just answer me first.”

“You’re my best friend. Who else?”

“Always will be, right?”

Yoona nodded firmly, “Certainly.”

The corner of her lips curved upward into a sad smile. As expected, always her best friend. In the last few days, Jessica had seen a lot of things from Yoona that she had never seen before. The Yoona she knew wasn’t the type who was bad at hiding her feelings but these days she was just as easy to read as a book. It was almost like she didn’t bother to hide it anymore. More importantly, the ‘player’ trait was completely gone, it seemed like there was only Yuri in her eyes. Yuri, Yuri and Yuri. Honestly, if she didn’t watch their interactions with her own eyes, Jessica would choose not to believe in Yuri’s great impact on Yoona to the point that she could effortlessly change Yoona into a whole new different person. As much as she hated to admit, she had to because it was the truth.

Every time there was something bothering Yoona, she would always choose to run away from it, to bury the pain deep inside of her till it was completely vanished. Like when her father scolded, probably yelled at her for being too stubborn, she would hide somewhere secret while curling up like a ball in a corner for days without talking to anyone about her problems. She chose to run away as she skipped school for over a week when Seohyun suggested breaking up with her. The first thing came to her mind when she overheard Yuri used her was also running away without asking her why. Just to be fair, her plan could work smoothly almost every time, she was succeeded in forcing herself to forget. Except this one, when the matter involved her heart. Running away was definitely not a possible solution anymore since Yoona hadn’t been able to forget a single thing about those fated seven days for the past three years. Now it was about the right time to stop running away to face her problems.

And as her forever best friend, Jessica knew what she needed to do right now. Help Yoona facing her problem, placing a bet on her behalf. Right now, it was all or nothing.

“As your best friend, if I say I want to do something, will you support me?” Jessica said as she had her eyes fixed on the Kwon.

“Why do you have to ask? I’ll support your every decision, that’s for sure.” 

Jessica nodded satisfied, “What if I told you… that I want to stay at Yuri’s house?”

&&&&&&

Kwon Household – Guest Room

“What do you think, Jessica-sshi?” Hyesung asked. He had his eyes fixed on the blonde who was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes wandered around, examined the small and cozy room.

Jessica turned around to smile warmly at the elder, “Thank you for letting me stay here, Mr. Kwon. It’s a really nice room I must say.” 

Hyesung quickly shook his head, “It’s me who need to thank you. Yuri would never agree to stay with us if you didn’t agree to stay here.”

“Yuri is such a lucky girl to have such great parents like you and Mrs. Kwon.” 

“Uh… I heard from Yuri that you met Yoona in an orphanage, right?”

Jessica nodded, “Yeah, that’s true. I was an orphan when I was little.”

“Oh, so… have you ever met your parents?”

“Err… actually, I lived with my mother till I was nine. She passed away from a fever one winter and I’ve become an orphan ever since.”

“How about your father? Have you ever met him?” Hyesung eagerly asked. His easily seen interest in Jessica’s family confused the blonde girl greatly.

“Uh… no, my mom never showed me any of his pictures. I don’t know much about him though. Whenever I asked my mom about him she only cried her heart out without telling me anything. So… in the end I decided to stop asking so that I didn’t have to see her tears falling anymore.”

Hyesung remained silent as she took in what Jessica just said. The more he asked, the more he knew his suspicion at the beginning was right. 

“Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay here, Jessica-sshi. If you need something, don’t hesitate to tell me, okay?” 

Jessica smiled warmly, “Will do, Mr. Kwon.” 

Seconds later, Hyesung left the room and Jessica threw herself onto the comfy bed. She raised a hand on her forehead as she looked at the ceiling, “I need some fresh air.”

LA – Donut Kings

“I’ll have this one, this one and this one… hmm...” The tall girl pointed continuously through the glass to the donuts on the display. Then she her chin, thinking whether she should buy more donuts as dessert for her lunch, “I think I’ll have three more donuts. I’ll take these too.” She told the salesperson while her finger moving in a circular motion above the three donuts in front.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at it to check her schedule for today, “Hmm… a conference at STS headquarters at one, meeting with Mr. Park at four…” She glanced at the clock on her phone then started to mumble to herself, “Damn… it’s half past twelve already? I’ll be late for that conference if I eat these donuts here. But I don’t like eating in the office at all, making me lost my appetite. Maybe… just a few minutes late won’t hurt anyone.” The tall girl cheered up at the thought of staying for her love for the donuts, just when she was about to settle down on her seat, the sound of her phone ringing in the pocket caught her attention.

She cringed at the name appeared on the caller ID screen, ‘Cutie Goo’, her assistant. Taking a deep breath in, the girl pressed the phone to her left ear.

“Hello?”

“Miss Choi, where are you? The conference at the headquarters is about to start in 30 minutes. Don’t you check your schedule I save in your phone? You need to be back as soon as possible. You should know that our business partners are serious about punctuality.”

Hara’s loud voice was quite impressive. Even though Sooyoung had turned the volume to the lowest and held the phone far away from her ear, she could still hear what the young girl was ‘shouting’ very clearly.

“Alright, I know. As soon as I finish my lunch, I’ll be there.” Sooyoung promised.

“Lunch? Miss Choi, yo-”

“Call me Sooyoung, Hara-yah. I told you to address me like this when no one was around, remember?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, it just slipped my mind for a moment.” The sound of chuckling could be heard on the other line. “Sooyoung-ah, you have over an hour to enjoy your lunch and now you’re telling me you haven’t finished yet?”

“Well, I…”

“Never mind. It’s not like this’s the first time. How about this? You’ll have to try to finish your lunch while I drive there to pick you up, okay? I have to make sure that you’ll be here, at your office when the conference starts not some fast food restaurant. Now tell me where you are.”

Sooyoung pouted unconsciously. Her assistant’s refusal listening to her explanation was somewhat offended. This wasn’t the matter of how much time she spent for lunch, it was the matter of whether she was feeling full or not. When she was still feeling hungry, of course she had to stay to eat more to fill her stomach. It was one of the most common human needs. Eating to live, right?

After this phone call, Sooyoung would change Hara’s name in her contacts into ‘Annoying Hara’.

“Fine, you don’t have to worry, Miss Goo. I promise I’ll be there in ten minutes or else I won’t be able to eat meat for the next three days. Is that okay for you? Bye.” Sooyoung hung up the phone before Hara could reply. She also stuck her tongue at her phone before stuffed it back into her pocket.

Sooyoung laid her eyes back on the box of donuts in a very pitiful way, “I guess there’s no other choice now. Hara Goo, don’t you ever expect me to share any of my donuts with you. Hmph!!”

Stepping out of the donut shop, Sooyoung turned her head from left to right to look for a taxi while taking out the first donut out of the box with her left hand.

Suddenly, a small red ball bouncing its way across the road caught Sooyoung’s attention. The traffic light flashed red in an instant, cars started to move in a rapid speed. From the sidewalk, a kid started to chase after his bouncy ball regardless of the dangerous surrounding around him.

Reflexively, Sooyoung threw the box of donuts which she held on so dearly before to the ground, running at full speed toward the boy, hoping to save his life in time.

But before she could reach him, she found the tiny figure being pulled back into the sidewalk by a delicate arm. Sooyoung immediately swept her head to that direction and then stood frozen on her spot when an image of a girl came into view. Despite the blonde hair was flowing in the air because of her swift move, this girl’s overall beauty gave off a very Asian feel to her. The beauty which successfully took our CEO’s breath away. As a result, Sooyoung blurted out the word which was most likely considered as the bluntest one she had ever said ever since she was born.

“Go-goddess…”

Fortunately, the girl seemed to not notice Sooyoung’s odd remark as she bent down on one knee to look at the little boy’s eyes.

“Kid, don’t you know it’s very dangerous to cross the road like that. You have to wait until the traffic light turns green, remember?” She gently scolded the boy in English.

The little boy didn’t answer instead he sadly brought his gaze across the road, looking for his ball. He began to sob when he didn’t see it anywhere, “My ball….” He mumbled to himself.

“You lost your ball?” The girl gently asked and the little boy burst into tears right after he heard her confirmation.

She began to panic while looking around, trying to find something to get his attention, stop him from crying so hard. Once she found it, she quickly ran to a convenient store nearby to buy an ice-cream and waved it in front of him.

“Here, for you…” She smiled charmingly at the boy as she offered the ice-cream.

The little boy sniffed and wiped his nose with his sleeve as she looked at the ice-cream in front of him. He raised his little finger to slightly touch the ice-cream hesitantly, not willing to eat it. His reaction confused the girl greatly since there was no doubt that this kid loved ice-cream judging from his facial expression when first he saw it.

“Mo-mommy told me not to talk to strangers.” He cutely dropped his head as if he was ashamed of himself.

The girl let out a soft chuckle at the boy’s cute act as she gently ruffled his hair, “Aww, so cute. You’re such a good kid.”

“Jackie!!!” A lady in mid-forties from afar yelled while running toward the kid.

The boy’s expression brightened up in a flash as the sight of the lady came to view, “Mommy!!” He ran into her arms when he saw his mom spread her arms waiting for him. The mother came up to the young girl to say her thank and then bid their good-bye soon after. The little boy also gladly accepted her ice-cream after he had his mom’s permission.

Sooyoung stood motionless as she watched ‘her goddess’ every gesture. How her angelic voice nicely filled her ear, how she clumsily comforted the boy resulted in he burst into tears, the way she ran hurriedly to buy him an ice-cream, how she smiled every time that kid did some cute little act, also the sweet sound of her chuckling at the last minute. Every little thing her goddess did, away more and more air around her. Sooyoung knew for sure that she was now under a spell. The spell of love.

As quick as it sounded and some might find that it was hard to believe but that was actually how our Choi Sooyoung fell in love for the first time. Aside from her big love for food.

Wait… her goddess was walking away. No, no… don’t go.

“Wait!” Sooyoung shouted out loud in English to get the girl’s attention.

The girl turned around, it was almost like she was wearing a mask, that charming smile for the little boy earlier was now changed into a cold, blank expression. “Excuse me, do I know you?” She replied also in English while staring into Sooyoung’s eyes, trying to remember if they have met before. 

“Did it hurt you?” Sooyoung blurted out without thinking for the second times in ten minutes. Apparently, her CEO mind was not functioning very well at this moment, especially when her eyes locked on those brown orbs of ‘her goddess’.

“What?” The girl scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

“When you fell down from the sky… did it hurt you?”

The blonde girl frowned. What was this? Some cheesy lines from the “10 ways to approach your crush” book? She shook her head, “Aish… I don’t have time for this.” She said in Korean, thinking that this tall weirdo didn’t understand what she just said.

“You’re Korean? That’s awesome!!” Sooyoung said cheerfully in Korean.

“Yeah, right. It’s awesome.” The blonde said sarcastically. She turned her back to walk away from this girl as soon as possible. Today wasn’t her lucky day at all.

Sooyoung quickly ran in front of her goddess, blocking her way, “Go on a date with me.”

“Date?”

“Yes, a date! I want to spend some more time with you. I need to get to know you better. I…”

The blonde cut in, “Don’t tell me that the next thing you are going to say is ‘I love you’.”

Sooyoung shrugged, “No… not really. I’m not sure if it’s love yet. Love is a very big word. I need to spend some more time with you before I can say those words to you. Don’t worry, that time will come soon, very soon. But right now, I can say that I like you, a lot.”

“You sure love to talk, don’t you?”

“Great guess, that’s my specialty.” Sooyoung grinned as she continued her persuasion, “If you go on a date with me, I promise I’ll make it the best date you have ever had. First we can have dinner at a fancy restaurant under the candle light and soft background music. Then we’ll go to movies, some ice-cream after movies sounds good too. After that I’ll take you to somewhere romantic so that we can have some desserts and enjoy some wine together there. Fin… Hey, where are you going?”

The blonde stopped abruptly in her track as she shut her eyes tightly, wondering why she got stuck with this talking machine. “How about this? Let fate decide, okay?”

“What do you mean?”

The blonde raised her three fingers in front of the tall girl’s face, “In three days, if I could meet you again in LA. Then I’ll go on a date with you.”

“Promise?”

“You have my word.”

“Alright, I accept. Let fate decide.”

“Right, hope to see you again in three days. Bye…” The blonde waved before hastily ran away before the tall girl could catch her again. While running, she had that smug grin on her face as she thought of the possibility of meeting the latter once again in three days. It was something impossible when they didn’t even know of each other’s name. Frankly saying, she just wanted to get away from her so she just said anything that came to her mind first. 

Sooyoung watched the petite figure running away till it was disappeared. She knew that they would meet again because they were meant together. She had better start planning for her ‘perfect date’ with her goddess from now.

In the end, Sooyoung was still late for her conference. Even so, she believed that she could smile all the way to her ears for the next three days without eating meat as she thought of their possible upcoming exciting date.

TBC