As I slowly closed the door, I could feel Jessica’s eyes on me. I said nothing, and just stood there, my vacant eyes staring at the floor. The girls crept up from the living room, and I realized that they had been eavesdropping since the start. They all had curious, troubled looks on their faces.

I tried to turn around—act as if all that was an illusion. But everyone in the dorm had heard it. What was there to lie about?

For a moment I stood there with nothing to say—and then I ripped the door back open and rushed out. I got to the elevator, only to find it empty. I pressed the button a hundred times, then took the stairs instead. But even when I arrived at the lobby below, Kris was already gone with no sign at all to prove that he was even here.

I was panting breathlessly from running down the stairs. My feet were cold. I hadn’t even bothered to slip on my shoes.

Getting back to the dorm was the only choice I had. And when I entered all the girls stared—then rushed to their rooms, as if they hadn’t heard or seen a single thing that had just happened. I stood there, my mouth ajar as I let out puffs of cold breath after going about the stairs.

“Erika?”

I didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Jessica. She was standing behind me, her face somewhat different than usual. I was expecting for her to snap, but she didn’t. She stayed there, nothing coming out from at all.

“Just as everything was going fine,” I said, and I marched towards the couch before picking up a pink cushion and squeezing it. I tossed it back down, letting it bounce off to the floor. Traces of my fingernails had been engraved on the edges.

I slumped down on the couch, my arms wrapped around together as I took in deep breaths.

“Hey, come on now,” I heard Jessica say, and she sat down next to me. “Relax, okay? You always get easily stressed out.”

“And how can I not?” I said, and the words came out sharp. “That— That jerk.” I chewed my lip. “Why did he— W-W-Why—”

I felt my nails digging into the surface of the couch. Jessica leaned over, taking my hand and settling it on my lap.

I inhaled sharply. “Who does he think is he is, barging in here like— like some kind of—” I couldn’t even release the words. They were all jumbled inside my mouth, all twisty and in knots.

When I couldn’t say more, Jessica squeezed my shoulder. I calmed down for just a minute, till I realized that the only reason I was suddenly angry was because Kyuhyun’s name had been said aloud.

“I swear,” I said, “I’m going to—”

“Don’t,” Jessica stopped me. I turned to her. Why would she be stopping me now? She shouldn’t be too surprised by what just happened. “Give him some time,” she said.

“Why should I?”

“Because he probably has a reason.”

I scoffed at the thought. “No, he’s probably just— j-just—” I cupped my face together, releasing a loud sigh as I tried to untangle my words.

I heard Jessica leave—then within a second she came back. There were chocolates in her hand. I blinked away, staring at the goodness within the sweetness, and she handed me one. I took it in my hand, popped it in my mouth, then finally calmed down as soon as I swallowed it. That was the one thing that she had always known. My sweet tooth.

“Rika?” she spoke at last. I looked up, my face screwed to the max. “How long had you actually been…hanging out with him?”

I shrugged. The question didn’t quite matter, but I answered anyway. “Pretty much half of my trip here. Why? It doesn’t make a difference. The only reason I was stuck with him because of that stupid deal—” I stopped short, retraced my words. “He’s finally showing his true colours. That’s it.”

“What do you mean? You make it sound like you were forced to be with him or something.”

I couldn’t tell her about the deal. She would chew me out and probably murder Kris if she knows that he was her supposed ‘blind date.’

“I needed him for dance lessons,” I said, which wasn’t a lie at all. I just skipped the part where I was held against my will.

I saw a smile form at the corner of Jessica’s lips.

“Huh, funny,” she said. “You wouldn’t dance with our dancing machine, yet you’d hire him as your instructor.”

“There’s a difference,” I told her. “Hyoyeon’s your group member.”

“And Kris is a total stranger,” she added.

“Exactly.”

Jessica was quite for a moment.

“Maybe I was wrong after all.” The words slipped right out of .

I raised a brow, then hoped that the conversation would be cut off from there.

“He…h-he didn’t have a right to suddenly scold me like that,” I said. All of a sudden my eyes welled up, my hands curled into fists. That overwhelming feeling attacked me out of nowhere, and at that moment, with Jessica being there, I had to hide away before I’d explode.

“Erika,” she called. There she goes again what that strange, unreadable tone.

I flinched. From the start I should’ve known, right? That all this was going to happen.

Sooner or later I would be heading back to California.

Sooner or later I would be leaving Seoul behind me.

Sooner or later Kyuhyun would finally be out and away from my mind.

And sooner or later, all that’s happened, all that I’ve gone through, would all be left behind, without a single piece of remembrance.

Then why was I receiving a different reaction? There was nothing else to be expected of. 

 “Never mind. I should pay attention on packing up,” I said.

“Erika,” Jessica said, with a tone that showed she wasn’t ready to give up on the topic. I rose from the couch. She caught my elbow. When I turned, I saw her sigh. “Just…give him some time,” she said.

“Jessica—”

“Just trust me.”

I sat back down. Jessica was looking at me while