“It’s no problem Mrs. Im I was already going to the office!” Tiffany spoke into her cell as she walked to work with her briefcase in one hand and a basket of party invitations in the other. “Anything I can do to help!... Yes… Alright see you later!”

Tiffany had agreed to stop by the Im residence in the morning where she picked up the invitations to Yoona’s birthday party to hand them out around the office. Mr. Im had already learned of the request and made sure Tiffany’s work load wasn’t too much. Sometimes Tiffany wished she’d been born into their family instead of her own.

“Good morning!” Tiffany greeted her coworkers and handed out the invitations of those she saw. She had gone through them already and made sure to put Jessica’s at the end of the pile. That one was going to be a special delivery. She was planning on seducing Jessica once and for all tonight.

From afar Tiffany saw Jessica walking her way. Jessica, being immersed in her work, didn’t notice this. Tiffany quickly changed direction and walked away from Jessica. In order for her plan to work she had to leave Jessica for last.

“Ms. Hwang!” Jessica called out to her when she looked up.

“…” Tiffany mumbled under her breath and hid the invitations behind her back. “Yes?”

“Mr. Im asked me to give you this file.”

“Right.”  Tiffany grabbed the file quickly and said her goodbyes, walking away in a hurry.

“Okay…”

Jessica was completely confused by Tiffany’s actions. She would normally make some comment, usually with a ual innuendo, and not let her get back to her work. Of course Jessica knew she was had been avoiding Tiffany but that had never stopped her before.

“Strange…”

XXXXXXXXX

Yuri spotted Yoona on the swinging loveseat in the backyard. Mrs. Im had mentioned to Yuri before that it was Yoona’s way of thinking and she just had to move it to their house. Yuri sighed and walked up to her. When she reached the swing Yoona still hadn’t noticed her.

Yuri stood there for a moment wondering what the best course of action would be. It had been two days since Yoona just ran off mid-conversation and since then she had been acting strange. She was always spacing out and hadn’t asked Yuri to take her out anywhere. Yoona had spent the last two days either swinging in the backyard or sleeping in her room.

Yuri looked at her and followed her line of sight. Yoona was just staring out into the view of the city. At first Yuri thought it was just Yoona admiring the view, an advantage they had from living on top of a hill, as she herself did when she drank her morning coffee. However it was obvious something was wrong.

In her worry of what was happening to Yoona, Yuri had forgotten her hurt feeling from before. They had been replaced by concern. Making up her mind Yuri sat down beside Yoona.

“Hey.” Yuri said abruptly, which startled Yoona.

“Oh my god!” Yoona looked to her side and finally saw Yuri. “I didn’t notice you there.”

“I know…” The awkward atmosphere was making Yuri slowly regret coming over. Before her resolve was gone she decided to just ask straightforwardly. “Yoona, what’s up?”

“Huh?” Yoona knew very well what she was asking. However she couldn’t just tell Yuri she was having these feelings she couldn’t explain.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting pretty weird the last couple of days…”

“I-I’m just lost in thought… I don’t know what to do with myself…”

Yuri sighed and patted Yoona’s back. “You’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”

“I hope so…” Yoona looked back at the view and looked lost in thought once again.

“Well… if that’s it then… I’m gonna get going and leave you to your thoughts.” Yuri got up but before she could walk away Yoona grabbed her arm.

“Wait!” Yoona looked surprised at her own actions for a second before regaining her composure. “Why don’t you watch the sunset too? The sun’s going down…”

“I…um…”

“It’s quite beautiful…” Yoona looked at Yuri with a pleading expression that was one Yuri could simply not turn down.

“Sure.” Yuri sat back down and looked out as the city was being engulfed why the orange hue of the sunset.

“Yuri, by the way…” Yoona turned to look at her but Yuri just kept looking out, mesmerized by the view.

“Yeah?”

“I truly am sorry about the other day.”

“It’s okay Yoona. I forgive you…” This time Yuri really did mean it.

XXXXXXXXX

Tiffany bolted to Jessica’s office. Although she wanted to give Jessica time, it was running out. As she ran she barely saw anyone in the building aside from the custodial staff. Outside of Jessica’s door Tiffany took a deep breath before barging in.

“Ms. Hwang!”

Tiffany disregarded Jessica’s exclamation and locked the door behind her. “We need to talk Jessi.”

“About what?” Jessica furrowed her eyebrows at Tiffany’s urgency.

“Us.” Tiffany grabbed Jessica’s hand tightly. “We need to clear up what’s going on between us.”

“Ms. Hwang there is nothing going on between us!”

“Jessi, with all due respect, that’s bull and you know it!” Tiffany exclaimed. She was trying to keep her cool but what her father had told her just moments ago had really thrown her off her game.

“Ms. Hwang! I don’t kno-“  

“Jessica! Please just tell me why we can’t be together!”

“It’s jus-“

“Is it my father!? We can run away together Jessi! I can make it go away!”

“It’s-“

“I’ll be good and treat you right! So why can’t we be together!? Why can’t you say you’ll love me too!? Why are we-“

“I JUST DON’T LIKE YOU OKAY!” The words had come out before Jessica could stop them.

“Oh.” Tiffany felt a piercing pain in her chest. She placed her hand over it and clutched it in hopes that it would stop. “I see…”

“Ms. Hwang…” Jessica felt bad for yelling it out so harshly.

“It’s okay Jessi… Just give me some time and a little therapy” Tiffany tried to laugh but her tears fell instead. “I’ll be okay.”

“I-I…” Jessica hated herself as she watched Tiffany slowly fall apart inside.

“I have your invitation for Yoona’s party… See you then.” Tiffany’s shaking hand handed Jessica her card before quickly exiting the room.

Tiffany ran as fast as she could to her car and got in. She gripped the steering wheel and began to sob. burned as she tried not to cry too loudly. A huge clump began to form and her tears wouldn’t stop running.

Tiffany looked out into the darkness of the parking lot. “I guess its fate, right…”

*Flashback*

“Tiffany!” Mr. Hwang called out. When Tiffany walked into the office she saw her father with a smile on his face.

“Yes daddy?” Tiffany was a bit confused that her father was actually almost excited about something.

“I have great news!” He put down his newspaper and looked at Tiffany, who was standing by the door.

“What is it daddy?”

“I found the perfect man for you to marry! Arrangements are being done as we speak.”

Tiffany felt her knees buckle as she whispered. “What?”

*End of Flashback*

A new wave of tears fell from her eyes and Tiffany wondered what she had done to deserve the misery that was to come.