Chapter 7

Korea – Cruise Terminal Pier

“Ahhhh… I didn’t realize how much I miss the fresh air in Korea till now.” Taeyeon said while taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

“Jeez, you’re just gone for 6 days, yet you make it sounds like you’ve been gone for years.” Jessica said

“Yah, it’s the first time I left Korea, and I’ve been away for almost a week so it’s acceptable that I miss my hometown. Not everyone is emotionless like you, Ice Princess.” Taeyeon stuck her tongue out at Sica.

“Seriously, can’t the two of you spend one day without bickering each other? We just got off the cruise and the first thing you do is bickering.” Yoona complained.

Jessica and Taeyeon looked at each other, “She started it.” They said at the same time while pointing at each other.

“Ah, when are you gonna come to STS for the meeting?” Taeyeon asked.

“Tomorrow, Siwon said he needed to settle something before the meeting.” Yoona replied “So, I’m free for the day, anyone interested in hanging out at Lotte World with me?”

“I’m totally in. I don’t have schedules for the next two days.” Sica said, already smiling at the thought of hang out with Yoona.

“Don’t you guys feel tired after such a long trip like this? I just want to go home and rest now. Besides, tomorrow I have to reopen my café so… I’m gonna pass” Taeyeon said

“Jeez, way to kill the mood Taeyeon-ah.” Yoona let out a sigh, “Well, looks like it just you and me now Sica, still in?”

“Yeah, why not?” Actually, Sica was more than thrilled when it just her and Yoona. She had to thank Taeyeon for being such a mood killer.

“Yah, why do I have the feeling that you’re happier when I can’t come?” Taeyeon said as she set her eyes on Jessica.

“It’s just your imagination.” Jessica said even though she can’t hide the grin on her face.

“Then let’s go home and change to more comfortable clothes and hit Lotte World, shall we?”

Sica nodded excitedly then the trio got in the taxi and drove home.

&&&&&&

Yulti’s house

“Home sweet home!” Yuri spoke loudly as soon as she stepped into the house while dropping the suitcases on the floor. She plopped down on the couch and ready to take a nap.

“I guess there’s no place like home, eh?” Fany followed soon after. She sit herself on the armchair next to Yuri and began to pulled out all of her shopping bags for the last 6 days.

Yuri looked at Fany’s shopping bag was pulled out one after another and shook her head at the girl. “Sometimes I asked myself if you could manage to wear all of your clothes, why do you keep buying new ones every single week when the you haven’t worn all the clothes from the last shopping yet?”

“I can’t help it, whenever I see a new dress or shoes I feel this urge to buy them regardless whether I wear them or not.”

“Whatever, just don’t invade my closet when yours is out of room.”

“Don’t worry about that. I plan to extend my closet soon.”

“What do you mean ‘extend’? It’s not like our house has any other room.”

“Well, not this house but other ones”

“Yah, Tiffany Hwang don’t you tell me you’re planning to move.”

“Exactly, what I mean. I’m getting tired of the squeak sounds come from my windows at night, a series of toilet bowls and broken plumbing. I’m gonna move.”

“Why did you make such a big decision and not asking for my opinion? Do you see me as your best friend or your housemate? I can’t believe you.” Yuri shot up from her lying position on the couch, she was indeed furious at Fany for leaving her in the dark like this.

“Wow, calm down, take it easy, Yuri-yah. Of course, you’re my best friend. I haven’t decided anything yet. I just said that we should move and I am discussing with you about this matter just now.”

“Wait…we?”

“Of course, we’re gonna move. Don’t you tell me that you think I was planning to move out.”

“Well, I heard you said you’re gonna move so…”

“You’re stick with me for the rest of your life so don’t even think about kicking me out of your house” Fany chuckled as she understood her friend’s sudden furiousness. “So what do you think?”

“I don’t know since the this house‘s rent is quite affordable for both of us.”

“Well, I’ve already got a promotion; I think we can handle higher rent fee. It’ll be much better if you accept the promotion too.” Fany said, suggestively

“Are you trying to make me change my mind?” 

“I don’t know, does it work?”

“No. Because I’m not gonna change my mind about the promotion. About the new house, I’ll think about that but for now I’m gonna take a shower.” Yuri said as she stood up and walked toward the bathroom.

“Yah, when will you have to give an answer to Siwon?” Fany shouted after the girl.

“Tomorrow.”

“Then you still have time to think about it. I still have hope, right?”

Fany expected an answer but all she heard was the sound of the closed door.

&&&&&&

Lotte World – House of Horror

“Yah Icy, my arm is gonna break if you keep on squeezing like this.” Yoona complained to the girl who’s holding her hand tightly.

No one noticed this, maybe not even Yoona but she just called her ‘Icy’ whenever there were only the two of them hanging out. It was like their secret code. This was one of many reason she wanted to be alone with Yoona, just to hear her call her ‘Icy’. “I don’t know anything anymore, just get me out of here” Sica said as she buried her head into Yoona’s arm, still holding her hands tightly.

“Aish, and you’re the one who insisted on going into the Horror House. If I knew this happened, I would never agree to go.” Yoona muttered, annoyed. At first, she wanted to ride the roller coaster but Sica was the one who dragged her into this house.

“I didn’t know that it’d be this scary.”

BOOO!!!!!!

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!” Sica released her massive dolphin ultrasound as she embraced Yoona tightly. She knew that she would be frightened to death if she went to this Horror House. Yet whenever just the two of them went to the amusement park, she would suggest the Horror House because it was the only place that she could hug Yoona or hold the girl’s hand freely without someone being suspicious of her.

Yoona let out a defeated sigh, “It’s okay, Icy. You have me here.” Yoona consoled the scared girl in her embrace. She gently patted Sica’s back several times and ran her hand through Sica’s hair to set her mind at ease. She cupped Sica’s face in her hand “Just close your eyes and hold on to my hand, okay? I’ll get you out of here in no time.”

That being said, Yoona took Sica’s hand in her right hand. She held the girl’s head against her left side while wrapping her left arm around Sica’s head and using her hand to cover her ear, so that she couldn’t hear scary sounds anymore. Sica was surprised at Yoona’s action but she didn’t do anything to protest. Never before in her life, she could feel her heart was beating so loud like this. Afraid that Yoona could hear it, she clutched her chest trying to control her heart rate. But no matter how hard she tried, her heart was still racing at full speed.

Yoona ran out of the house while holding on Jessica just like that, completely oblivious to Sica’s feelings. When they successfully exited, Yoona removed her hand from Sica’s ear and moved in front of her so that she could see her face.

“See? I told you that we’ll get out of there in no time.” Yoona said with a proud expression on her face while pointing at the Horror House’s direction. “Why are you clutching your chest like that? Are you hurt, Icy?” Yoona asked as she noticed Sica’s hand.

Sica looked down at her hand and immediately remove her hand from its previous position. “No, no, of course not, I was just… scared.” That was true, Jessica was scared, not because of those fake puppets in Horror House but her feelings for Yoona, they kept getting bigger and bigger and she was afraid that one day she wasn’t able to control them anymore.

“Look at you, your face is all red.” Yoona said as she reached her hand out to touch Sica’s cheek. 
However before Yoona could touch it, Jessica took one step back to avoid the gesture “Really, I’m fine. Do I look like a baby to you?” 

“Well, consider this’s the last time we go to the Horror House. I thought my eardrum just went out the moment I heard your scream. Anyway, wait for me here, I’m gonna get some ice-cream for you. You look like you really need one.” Yoona teased then she turned her back and walked away.

Jessica stuck her tongue out at the back of Yoona. She sat down at the bench near where they were standing. Little did Yoona know, her action was the sole reason which made Sica looking all flustered like this.

15 minutes had been passed and Yoona hadn’t come back yet. “What took her so long?”

“Well, well, look what we have here pal. Hey y, who are you waiting for?”

Jessica didn’t need to turn around to know that there were some as***** were after her. She was about to walk away then the guy with a cap stopped her from going by holding on her wrist.

“Yah, your oppa asked you a question. Don’t you dare to walk away from us like this.” The boy with the cap shook his head. “Girls these days are just so rude.”

“Yah, what are you doing? Let go of my hand.” Jessica tried her best to get out of his grip but he tightened his hand and she let out a low groan from the pain.

“Hey, hey. Don’t be mad. Don’t you know that you look even ier when you’re mad? I don’t know what I’ll do to you if you just keep getting ier and ier like this.” The boy who was wearing a red T-shirt said while running his fingers along her face line.

“You’re sick.” Sica looked at the two boys disgusted.

Instead of talking back, the red T-shirt boy locked Sica in his embrace and using the other hand to grab her face violently as he leaned in for a kiss. Jessica could feel tears welled up in her eyes as scare and helplessness took over her. Just as the boy thought that he could kiss the girl, he felt the cold of ice-creams on his eyes. As a reflex action, he loosened his grip on Sica and raised his hands to wipe the ice-cream which was getting all over the place off his face. As soon as he loosened his grip, Jessica felt her being pulled back into another person’s embrace. She immediately looked up at her savior.

“Yoona!!” She exclaimed, full of relief.

“Yah, Ajusshi what do you think you’re doing?” Yoona asked, more like threatened, annoyed. She eyed Jessica from head to toe to make sure that she wasn’t hurt anywhere that was when she noticed there were unshed tears in her eyes. Yoona’s inside was boiling with anger. Who was he to treat Jessica like this? She gently pushed Jessica aside so that she could hide behind her back.

The boy with the cap snorted “Ohh, the hero has come to save the day. Am I supposed to feel scared?” 

“Well, you should be because in the next two months you won’t be able to eat anything that required chewing.”

“Really? Well, let’s see about that.” The boy who was done wiping the ice-cream off his face was pissed out of his mind as he threw an expected punch at Yoona.

As if the punch was in slow motion, Yoona had easily dodged the blow and was now standing beside him with an amused grin plastered on her face.

“Missed.”

Growling, he swung his fist at her but got the same result as she gave him another cocky grin.

“A totally missed.”

After successfully dodging a series of his blow, Yoona drove her own fist straight into his stomach powerfully and accurately, taking his breath away. Yoona watched satisfied as the red T-shirt boy clutched his stomach painfully, trying desperately to get some air into his empty lungs. He deserved every hit he was taking for letting Jessica suffered like this.

The cap-boy looked at his friend in pain then he lunged at Yoona and threw a pointless punch at her. This time Yoona didn’t dodge like she did before instead she caught the boy’s wrist and twisted it behind his back. The boy yelped in pain as he thought that his arm was gonna break. Yoona pushed the boy forward, kicked behind his knees making him kneel down in front of Jessica.

“Say sorry right now and ask for her forgiveness.” Yoona demanded as she tightened her grip on the boy’s wrist earned another yelp from the boy.

“Sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do any of this, please forgive me.” The boy begged urgently, not caring about his pride anymore.

Jessica looked away from the boy then slightly nodded her head.

“Look, she’s already nodded.”

“Lucky for you.” Yoona let go of the boy’s wrist while pushing him toward his friend. “Now get lost before I change my mind.”

The cap-boy dragged away his friend who was still crawling on the ground clutching his stomach. And they were out of sight in no time. Yoona turned to Jessica who was still shocked; she wrapped her arms around her.

“I’m sorry for making you wait.” Yoona apologized as she held the girl’s head against her chest. “I’m sorry.”

Jessica didn’t want to cry, she wanted to be strong, to show Yoona that she was okay however the way Yoona hugged her, the way she talked to her made her let all her guard down. The tears that she was trying so hard to stop it from falling were now pouring out from the corner of her eyes. Please, Yoona-yah. Don’t do anything like this for me anymore. I’ve run out of strength to stop me from falling for you already. Jessica thought to herself but it didn’t stop her from hugging Yoona tighter.

They stayed in each other’s embrace for a while and then it was Jessica who released first. “I’m feeling much better now.” She smiled at Yoona.

“Seeing you like this I can’t help but feel this urge to beat the crap out of those guys again. I’d have taught those guys a memorable lesson if you didn’t forgive him so easily.”

“You almost broke his arm back then and you tell me it wasn’t memorable enough.”

Yoona let out a soft chuckle, “Well I’m not a black belt in Taekwondo for nothing, right? So, are you still up for another ride?”

“Why not? Don’t let those boys ruin the mood.” Jessica wanted to enjoy her time with Yoona as much as possible since they’re not working together anymore.

“Then, next stop: ‘Roller Coaster’ ride.”

&&&&&&

South Korea Elderly Care

“I don’t take no for an answer. Now tell me what’s bothering you, Yuri-yah.” Jang Yong asked the girl who wasn’t her usual self at the moment.

There were certain people in her life that Yuri came for an advice. If she needed a friend to give her an advice she would came to Tiffany, if she needed an elder she would came to Jang Yong appa. He’s always the best when it came to advice, she heard from the nurses that Yong appa used to be a CEO of a large corporation. However three years ago he was tricked by his closest assistant who he once thought as his own son caused him to lose the career which he had been building his entire life. Just when he needed his daughter the most and she wasn’t there for him that was the main reason why he treated her the way he did. 

“It’s about my job. I had an offer to become Call Centre Manager at my department. I don’t know if I should take this offer or not.”

“Why? It’s two ranks higher than your current position, right?”

“Yeah. But if I accept then I have to work with the person I hated the most.” Yuri said as she lowered her head.

“Hmm, may I know who the person is?”

Yuri hesitated for a moment and then she decided to answer truthfully, she felt that she could confess anything to Yong appa, “Uhm… she was... she’s my ex-spouse. We… got a divorce three years ago.”

“So I guess the break-up wasn’t pleasant.” Yuri quickly nodded. “Did she cheat on you?” Another nod. “I bet you don’t want to see her again.” Yuri shook her head as a confirm for his statement. “Hmm…” Jang Yong nodded his head to show that he understood her situation.

“Let me ask you one thing: are you sure that you could be able to avoid her for the rest of your life?”

Yuri wanted to say yes but she knew that it was impossible “No…”

“If you have to face her sooner or later then what’s the point of refusing an amazing offer like this just to avoid her?”

“So you’re telling me to accept?”

“It’s up to you to decide. But there’s a saying: Keep your friends close, your enemy closer. If I were you, I’d gladly accept this offer to show her that I am so much better without her.”

Yuri stayed silent. Yong appa’s words did knock some sense into her head. But the question of the day was: was she really better without Yoona?

&&&&&&

Yuri woke up to the sound of her alarm clock’s piercing shriek. Silencing the device lazily with one hand, she got up, scratched her head and yawned. She glanced at the wrist watch that read: ‘8:50am’. She closed her sleepily as she thought to herself 8:50

“8:50…” she mumbled to herself, eyes still closing.

She shot her eyes opened.

“8:50!!!!!” she shouted out loud as she checked her wrist watch once again. “Oh god, we’re so late.” She quickly got up from her bed while running to Fany’s room. She shook her friend violently as she was still sleeping soundly. “Fany, Fany wake up, it’s already 8:50. We’re gonna be late.”

Fany shot up from her bed “What?” she looked at the wall clock as she hurriedly get out of bed 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m late for the first day after my promotion.”

“Yah! This’s not the time for whining, hurry up and get ready.”

&&&&&&

STS’s lobby

“Wait, wait!!!” Yuri shouted out loud when she saw the elevator’s door was closing. Yuri made a dash toward the door but the door was closing faster than usual maybe the person in the elevator pressed the close button so she threw her briefcase in between the doors to stop it from closing.

“Didn’t you hea-” Yuri stopped herself when she realized who the person in the elevator was. Yuri was still until Fany came from behind and pushed her into the elevator.

“Why don’t you go in? We’re late.” Fany said then she noticed Yoona was standing in the corner of the elevator. shaped an ‘o’ as she had the answer for her question.

An awkward silence filled the room with Yuri and Tiffany sometimes exchanged glances. Each person in the elevator had their eyes locked on numbers showing which floor they were on. This was going to be the longest elevator ride ever.

When they reached 3rd floor, the doors wide opened. A group of janitors along with their carts entered the elevator. They pushed their carts in between Fany and Yuri made Yuri had no choice but stood close to Yoona because of the small space.

As soon as Yoona saw Yuri approached her because of the janitors’ arrival, she quickly hid her hands behind her back. Her action didn’t go unnoticed by Yuri.

“Jeez, what’s with the attitude? You don’t have to act like I’m someone who had an STD.”

“It’s not that you have an STD, I just don’t want you to accuse me of taking advantage of you on my first day here so it’s better that I keep my hands to myself. I have a reputation to uphold, you know?”

Yuri snorted “Yeah right, a reputation for being a player.” She said in a sarcastic manner. 

“You’re missing something, a reputation for being a picky player.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yuri furrowed her eye brows in annoyance.

“And I thought that you were smart, Kwon.” Yoona shook her head at Yuri, put on a disappointed act.

At the other side of the elevator, Fany shook her head at the duo who were bickering at each other non-stop. Truthfully, she preferred the way they were acting at this moment than the awkward silence before. The janitors had to cover their ears because of the loud arguing filled the elevator.

Before they knew it, the elevator had reached 8th floor. Yoona hurriedly pushed her way through the overly crowd in the elevator. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, a clerk came up to her while smiling politely.

“You must be Yoona-sshi, I’ve been waiting for you all morning. Please come this way to get to the meeting room.” The girl said as she guided Yoona to the meeting room.

“I didn’t know STS has such a beautiful girl as their clerk. It’s such an honor to be guided by you.” Yoona smirked as she decided to turn on her charm, a little flattery wouldn’t hurt.

The clerk blushed at Yoona’s compliment, her half-smile before now turned into a full-smile. Fany and Yuri who stood behind watched the whole scene then shook their head.

“Looks like another poor girl had fallen for her charm now.” Fany commented.

&&&&&&

Minutes later, Yuri also came in the same meeting room where Yoona was waiting. She sent a glare to Yoona before sit on one of the seats. The door flung opened seconds later, they expected to see Siwon but turned out it was Heechul, Siwon’s personal assistant.

“I’m really sorry for this inconvenience but Mr.Choi won’t be here for another 20 minutes. He got some business to take care of. Please wait here patiently for him.”

Yoona grinned when everything went as planned. Before she came here, she had texted Siwon to come late so that she could have time to ‘negotiate’ with Yuri.

“Why don’t we settle this thing before Siwon came? I don’t want to argue with you in front of him.”
Yuri didn’t reply Yoona; instead she took a piece of paper from the stack of papers on the meeting table and wrote down her answer.

‘I have nothing to say to you.’ She slid the paper to Yoona across the table without looking at her. Yoona picked the paper up then she let out a sigh as she picked another paper to write down her reply.

‘If you want to talk to me like this then fine, let’s talk this way. Why are you being such a child about this matter and don’t tell me that you’re not gonna accept this job just because you don’t want to work with me. Are you afraid that I’m gonna be better at this job than you?’ Yoona slid her reply back to Yuri.

Yuri snorted at Yoona’s answer then she took another paper as she wrote her answer. ‘It’s none of your business whether I accept this offer or not. Besides I don’t want risk my life to work with someone who has an STD like you.’ Yuri slammed the paper in front of Yoona.

Yoona furrowed her eyebrows while reading the paper. ‘Yah, I’m trying to be nice here. If you’re not being a thick-headed like you are then maybe we could make a great team now.” Yoona folded her paper into a plane and threw it at Yuri.

‘Whatever! If I’m too much of a thick-headed like you said then don’t force yourself to work with me. I don’t mind not having a co-worker who’s such a cocky player, full of yourself and acting like a jerk like you are.’ Yuri wadded her reply into a ball and threw it in Yoona’s face.

Yoona opened the crumple paper then she read the message. As soon as she was done reading it, she stood up and slammed the paper forcefully down the poor table caused a loud thud filled the room “Yah!! Kwon Yuri!!” She was furious. She was trying her best to be nice here yet Yuri decided to be such a pain in the neck. Despite her furiousness, Yoona dropped her head as she took a deep breath, trying to calm her down while chanting to herself ‘No this’s not it, Im Yoona. You’re here to persuade her to work with you not making a big fuss about nothing. Calm down Yoona, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. 

Having calmed herself down, Yoona sit down in her seat while closing her eyes thinking of ways to persuade Yuri. 

“I think that there’s something you should know about Sooyoung.” Yoona spoke loud enough for Yuri to hear even though she wasn’t paying attention to her. “Because of this promotion, Sooyoung had been whining to her father almost every day. Sooyoung probably didn’t tell you about this since she was afraid that you would quit this job. So, if you are a good friend then you should approach this matter as a mature person. That’s all I needed to say, the rest is up to you to decide.”

Yuri’s ear jerked up at the information. ‘Aish, this rascal. I’d already told her that i don’t mind about this position yet she still bothered her father about it.’

The room was filled with dead silence once again until Siwon pushed the door opened.

“I apologized for being late guys. So…let’s hear the answers first. Yoona, what do you think?” Siwon asked the person that he was sure of hearing a positive answer.

“I think that it’s an honor to work for STS as a Sales Manager.”

Siwon snapped his fingers “Just like I thought, you didn’t disappoint me.” Siwon grinned at Yoona then he turned to Yuri “What about you, Yuri?” Both Yoona and Siwon took a nervous gulp as they waited for her answer.

“I think… who am I to deny such an offer?”

“So, is that a ‘Yes’?” Siwon eagerly asked.

“Of course, it’s yes.” Yuri said with a smile.

Siwon clapped his hand together gleefully. “Great! I already have the feeling that you two will make a great team together. One more thing: since you’re both promoted. It’s reasonable that you need to have your own personal assistant. I can have a recruitment notice later but I’d like to hear your opinions about this first. Do you have any suggestions?”

Suddenly, Yoona thought of Jessica, why didn’t she think of this before? If she accepted the job then she wouldn’t be able to work with Jessica anymore, it explained why she looked so down yesterday. It was a relief that Siwon asked this question “Uhm… I don’t know if I can have my old PA on the cruise ship as my PA? You know it’s much easier for me to work with someone who knows me well.”

“That’s actually a good idea. But are you sure that she’ll leave her current position to become your PA? Sometimes, it’s really hard for someone to change their work environment.”

“Actually, she’s one of my best friends. I think she’ll agree.”

“Okay, if she agrees then you can bring her to work tomorrow. It’s totally fine by me. What about you, Yuri?”

“I really don’t have anyone in mind. I’m fine with anyone.”

“Okay, then I’ll send someone to your office tomorrow. Alright, this meeting went really well just as I expected. I hope that we’ll have a great time working together while I’m here.”

The meeting was dismissed seconds later. Yuri gathered her belongings on the table and hurried out of the room behind Siwon. She didn’t notice where Yoona was until there was someone come up to her from behind.

“Nice decision, babe.” Yoona huskily whispered into Yuri’s ear sent shivers down her spine. She smirked when she saw the latter lifted her hand to touch her ear because of the sudden contact. Then she walked past the unmoving Yuri and left the room. “Later.” She said over her shoulder, a visible smirk was still on her face.

&&&&&&

Coffee Prince
The first thing Taeyeon did in the morning after she had reopened her café was keeping her eyes on the front door, waiting for a certain black-hair girl with eye-smile walked through that door. And right now, at the end of the day, she found herself still waiting for that someone who probably never came.

Taeyeon let out a heavy sigh as she reluctantly turned the sign which was hanging on the front door from ‘open’ to ‘close’. She sat herself in one of the chairs in her café and let her mind wonder. For the first time in her life, Taeyeon didn’t want to go home and went to parties later with her friends. She wanted to stay here, at this café.

Taeyeon closed her eyes as she let her mind wander off to that night. Her touch, her lips and most of all her confession. What did she mean by ‘the first time she met her 4 years ago’? She didn’t open this café until 2 years ago when Yoona asked her to move in with them.

“Four years ago? I must be in college then. When did I meet her, make her fall in love with me and I don’t even remember any of that. Aish!!!!” She ruffled her hair out of frustration. 

“Alright, Tiffany Hwang if you don’t want to see me then I’ll come to get you. I’m not letting this go easily.”

TBC