Hyomin was smiling at her. She had been smiling at her for the past few minutes and it was unnerving her.

“Why are you smiling at me like that?”

Sunny was alone with Hyomin, in her apartment, a few days after the musical. The musical had become the talk of the school and there were many different versions of Jessica’s valiant rescue being passed around.

“The latest version I heard is that you and Jessica were kissing madly after she rescued you.”

Sunny rolled her eyes at the piece of gossip. “They are too imaginative for their own good.”

“Well, you can’t blame them. Everyone enjoys a dramatic ending to a heroic rescue. Besides, I’m sure the two of you kissed later that night anyway.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Should we have kissed? I was probably too shocked to even think about it.”

Hyomin giggled. “I’m just teasing you.”

“I know.”

“So how are things between you and Jessica now? Have you sorted out your feelings for her and Taeyeon?”

Sunny looked down at her fingers and murmured, “I think so…”

“And the person you want to be with is…?”

Sunny took a deep breath and met Hyomin’s deep brown eyes calmly.

“Jessica.”

Hyomin did not respond for a while. Then she popped another question.

“Who do you love? Who do you truly love?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I won’t deny that I have feelings for Taeyeon. I am always very comfortable around her. She is the first friend I made in So Nyuh High… among other firsts…”

“What about Jessica?”

“I have feelings for her too. I have come to rely on her. I trust her and I feel that we can go the distance together.”

“Do you feel like this because she saved you?”

“It plays a part… but she’s been saving me since the beginning. She’s always been there for me. From the Arnica cream for my injuries, to Sungmin, to Taeyeon and now… this…”

Hyomin nodded. She could understand where Sunny was coming from. It wasn’t easy to choose but Sunny couldn’t very well just leave Jessica on a whim. That wouldn’t make anybody happy at all.

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

The finals were nearing and everyone was mugging their butts off. Corridors were full of pupils discussing that difficult to understand topic or that difficult to solve Math question. Sunny and Jessica studied at Sunny’s apartment mostly. Hyomin would pop in to join them sometimes and that was when they would bombard her with questions on Math.

Their relationship had stabilized somewhat. Sunny’s decision to be with Jessica had her focusing more of her time on the said girl and putting in the effort to make things work. Jessica was still Jessica. She was still a little quiet at times but Sunny found that she was a lot more willing to talk about herself and also her family. She learnt that Jessica missed her little sister dearly and was rather envious of her for having a younger sister.

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

“I’m the maknae of the family but my sisters are so much older than me that I’m left alone pretty much most of the time. I wish I had a dongsaeng sometimes.”

Jessica smiled at Sunny impishly and said, “No wonder you’re such a baby sometimes.”

“YA! Jessica Jung!” Sunny blew out her cheeks and pouted in mock anger.

Jessica merely giggled and squashed Sunny’s cheeks, forcing the air out from them. “I love it when you do that.”

“That’s because you love doing this to me.” Sunny pointed at Jessica’s hands that still covered her cheeks.

Jessica then smiled and planted a kiss on Sunny’s cheek before turning back to her books.

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

They went on dates once a week—they allowed themselves a break from mugging—to the movies or shopping. Sunny didn’t really like shopping very much, however. She was the type who would know exactly what she wants and it wouldn’t take her long to make a purchase. Jessica on the other hand, was the kind who would window shop. She also had a thing for designer bags, as Sunny found out very quickly after going on a few shopping sprees with her.

When it came to movies, Sunny always had fun teasing Jessica by choosing horror films.

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

“Let’s watch that one.” Sunny pointed at a movie poster of a scary looking girl who had blood flowing out from her eyes. “That movie has really good reviews.”

“U-Uh… d-do you really want to w-watch that?” Jessica gulped.

“I want to watch it… let’s watch that one… okay?”

“Alright… s-sure…”

Sunny struggled to suppress her giggles while looking at the brave front that Jessica put up.

About halfway through the movie, however, Jessica gave up on watching the movie completely. She had screamed herself hoarse and was practically sitting on Sunny—she was so scared.

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

Today was another day of mugging. There they were, in Sunny’s apartment, with books open at various pages, notes sprawling all across the coffee table and Jessica with her head on Sunny’s lap. They were deeply engrossed in their notes until Sunny was done reading hers. She propped her head back against the couch and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to relieve their tiredness from reading too many finely printed words.

Her movement must have jostled Jessica from her concentration for the older girl’s eyes left the notes in her hand to rest on Sunny instead.

“Are you tired?” she asked Sunny.

Sunny nodded her head.

“Lie face down.”

“Hmm? What for?”

“Just do it.”

“Impossible is nothing.”

“Huh?”

“You spoke for Nike, so I’m speaking for Adidas.”

“HUH?”

Sunny merely grinned and laid flat on her tummy. “Anyway… you got me on my tummy. Now what?”

Sunny yelped when she felt a sudden slap on her . “Oww! What was that for?” She turned back to look at Jessica and realized that the said girl was rendered completely helpless by laughter. Another slap came down on Sunny’s and she yelped again. “Stop hitting my !” Sunny whined, rubbing her tenderly.

“It’s your fault for making me laugh.” Jessica finally managed to stop laughing long enough to talk. Then she rubbed Sunny’s gently. “Does it hurt?”

“Mmm… not now, it doesn’t.”

“You’re such a , little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl.”

Jessica straddled Sunny and started to knead her shoulders. “It actually depends on what we’re talking about.”

“My s aren’t little.” Sunny couldn’t stop herself from grinning at the thought of Jessica’s size. They had compared sizes before and came to the conclusion that Sunny was ‘bigger’ than Jessica in that department.

“You’re such a .”

“And you’re in love with a which makes you a lover.” Sunny giggled cheekily, earning herself another slap from Jessica, this time on her shoulder blade. “OWW! Okay, okay… I’m going to stop talking now and just enjoy my massage. Knead harder please.”

“Yes, Little Miss Sunny.”

“Drop the ‘little’.”

“Not happening.”

Sunny pouted but remained silent for Jessica’s hands were beginning to feel really good and she was melting into the couch most comfortably. She felt her top being pushed up and lifted herself a little to co-operate with Jessica, allowing the older girl to remove her t-shirt completely. She felt her bra being unhooked and it was soon removed as well. Jessica’s slender fingers then began kneading her tensed muscles firmly and the pressure was just right, in all the right places.

“Oh… you’re so good at this… why haven’t you given me massages before?”

“You never asked… and the topic never came up.”

“Well… I want daily massages from now on.”

“Ya! I’m not your personal masseuse.”

“We shouldn’t let such talented hands go to waste, should we?”

“I can think of better things to do with my talented hands, Sunny.”

“For example?”

“How about I do a hands-on demonstration of what my hands are capable of doing?” Jessica’s tone was mischievous and Sunny was sure that Jessica was up to no good.

“I’d rather you stick to the massage, thank you very much.”

Jessica giggled but continued the massage for a while. Sunny soon felt herself drifting to sleep and darkness had fallen over them by the time she woke up. She could feel a body of warmth pressed up against her and she didn’t have to look to know who it was. She stayed still, enjoying the warmth emanating from Jessica and her thoughts soon drifted to the past.

She could still remember… she was injured at that time and it was Taeyeon who was massaging her. That massage had led to a very intimate act that Sunny had no prior experience in at that time. How things have changed… Now the girl who was beside her wasn’t Taeyeon but Jessica. And the massage had not led to anything yet it was no less intimate than the act of making love. Just lying there in Jessica’s arms, listening to her even breathing, was intimate enough for her. She felt at peace.

“Sica…” she whispered, “I think I really love you… in a very special way…”

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

Tiffany, Sooyoung, Yuri and Yoona with the occasional appearance of Hyoyeon met to study together almost everything. Tiffany and Yuri would share notes, while Sooyoung and Yoona helped each other out. Both couples understood that goodbye was imminent upon graduation but neither couple wanted to deal with it at the moment. They all had finals to deal with first.

Yuri had accepted the track and field scholarship to the prestigious American university, Stanford, and would fly back to America upon graduation. Tiffany on the other hand, wanted to get into a local university like Seoul University so it would not be difficult for her to see Sooyoung but the thought of spending most of their time in two separate schools was just a tad too depressing to deal with especially with the pressure of doing well in the finals being a pain in the .

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

“I can just foresee that you’re going to be the ultimate glutton in school after I graduate.”

Sooyoung merely chuckled. She did not deny the fact that without Tiffany around to distract her… food was going to be the biggest slice of her pie of time.

“You shouldn’t have any complaints, Fany. At least you don’t have to worry about me running off with some other pretty girl while you’re in SU. In fact, I think I should be the one who’s worried. There’s going to be so many cool and awesome people in SU that you might not want me anymore.” Sooyoung pouted sadly.

“Don’t be silly. You’re the hottest babe I know and when you get into university next year, I’m going to be really worried about people being interested in you.”

Sooyoung grinned. “My heart only has room for two and that’s you and food, so you don’t have to worry either.”

“The two of you make me sick. There’s so much sugar in you two that I swear I’m going to get diabetes just by looking at you.” Yuri butted into the conversation between Tiffany and Sooyoung. She had sensed that Yoona was feeling uneasy because of the things that they were saying so she found a way to stop the conversation as naturally as possible. So of course, the best way would be to insult them jokingly.

The diabetic couple took the bait and quickly defended themselves which solved Yuri’s problem for a moment.

“Look who’s talking!” protested Sooyoung. “Who were the ones I caught kissing at the lockers yesterday?” She eyed them cheekily.

Yoona turned pink and Tiffany giggled while Yuri opened to retort but ended up shutting it when Yoona kicked her, signalling her to be quiet.

Yuri narrowed her eyes into slits and said, “I will get you the next time.” And she kicked Sooyoung under the table.

Sooyoung merely chuckled and shrugged her shoulders, turning back to her books once more.

After studying for a few hours, they decided to head home. Sooyoung and Tiffany went their separate ways but Yuri insisted on sending Yoona back home. She wanted the time alone with her.

“Are you still worried about our relationship?” she asked as casually as she could.

Yoona sighed and looked at Yuri apologetically. “I’m sorry, I know that I’m worrying too much about it and it’s bothering you.”

“It’s not a bother. I just want us to enjoy the time we have left here together. I know that I’m going to miss you a lot when I’m over there but it will only be for a year, right?”

She had been trying to persuade Yoona to work towards getting a track and field scholarship just like her so that the younger girl would be able to get into the same university as hers. But each time Yuri brought up the topic, Yoona would try to avoid talking about it.

“Yuri…”

“Yoona… if you’re going to miss me, coming over to join me would solve that problem, wouldn’t it? What’s holding you back from applying for the scholarship?”

“I’m not like you, Yuri. I’m not from there. My family is here and so are my friends.”

“But I’m there. Is that not enough? Besides, don’t you want to try living somewhere else for a change?”

“I’m actually quite happy where I am right now. I don’t want to miss my family and friends, Yuri.”

“So you’d rather just miss me?”

It wasn’t a question and Yuri’s tone made Yoona flinch slightly. But Yuri was feeling hurt, so she continued with her ‘questions’.

“It’s only for a few years but you’d rather stay here and miss me? And risk our relationship too?”

“Risk our relationship? What are you saying? Are you threatening me?”

Yuri heaved a great sigh of defeat and her shoulders sagged miserably. “No, no, of course I’m not threatening you. Why would I? I’m just saying that things happen you know? You could meet someone while I’m not around you. You’re pretty and so charming. Lots of people are going to be interested in getting to know you. And you might just fall for someone else. I don’t want to lose you, Yoona ya…”

“And the same goes for me, Yuri… I’m worried you. You’re even more outgoing than me. You are a huge people magnet and I just know that there’s going to be tons of people going after you.”

“That problem can be solved if you’d just apply for the scholarship and join me there. Then we’d only be apart for a year instead of four.”

“It’s not so easy for me, Yuri… it really isn’t… and it’s not because I don’t love you enough.”

Yuri felt her chest tightening and was shocked to find that her eyes were burning. Was she on the verge of crying? No. Don’t cry. No! She was relieved to see that they were already at Yoona’s house for once. She didn’t want to get all emotional in front of Yoona and make her feel worse.

“Yoona, we’re at your house already. I will call you when I get home. And please don’t worry about it. I totally understand where you’re coming from.” And with that, she turned around quickly, leaving Yoona standing by her gate.

She walked down the street with a heavy heart, trying not to let her tears fall. Then she got pleasant shock when arms slipped around her waist from behind, locking her in a warm embrace.

“Yuri, I love you, call me when you get home.”

Then the arms were gone, just as suddenly as they came. Yuri turned around and saw Yoona running back up the street and into her house and she couldn’t help smiling through her tears.

•°★°••°★°••°★°•

A/N: We are entering the final few updates for this story and I don’t know if I will be continuing the story after high school. I hope you will enjoy the rest of the ride.