“W-wh-what..?” Yuri stuttered on her words and began to sweat cold sweat, heart beating rapidly.

“I heard everything you said to me.” Jessica retaliated even though she wasn’t positive of what Yuri said was true or not. Her face flushed from embarrassment.

“I-I wa-was just t-t-ta-talking t-to myself. That’s all.” Her lies just buried her alive from her stuttering. She confessed, she wasn’t good at lying but was trying to make a good impression of what she said.

“Oh.” Was all Jessica could say. Her heart sunk and she was the one who was nervous now.

Yuri quickly picked up her feet and fastens her pace towards the door for embarrassment was swallowing them whole. She couldn’t believe that Jessica heard her mutterings from earlier. She could’ve sworn that Jessica was still asleep. She stopped just outside Jessica’s doorstep and continued to rant on her disbelief. Everything just turned awkward. She regretted what she said and wished she could turn back the time.

“Now what, Yuri?! Stupid as always!” she kept talking to herself. Her self-kept words are spilled and she has nothing to show up to Jessica. Not even her face she can show.

“What are you murmuring, Yuri?” Tiffany was staring at her with a question-marked face.

“Oh my Yuri!! You kissed her?!!” Her voice echoed across the room and sure of that, Jessica heard her. Since Yuri wouldn’t spill a word what happened.

Jessica upon hearing, blushed in disbelief but liked it somehow, even though they didn’t do it, she still smiled.

“KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT, Miyoung!” Yuri was somewhat angered by Tiffany’s act but deep inside, she could imagine herself kissing Jessica. “What am I thinking?!” she thought.

“Alright. Alright! I won’t stress on it. And what’s up with the attitude?” Tiffany was shocked at Yuri’s sudden outburst. “Sheesh, I bet you two did something there.” She thought.

Yuri had her face flushed from the incident and just couldn’t stop thinking about it. She walked towards her room and just lied on her bed for whatever reason she can think of, but none popped out. Everything was Jessica. Jessica. Jessica.

“Why couldn’t I just stop thinking about you?!” she screamed on her pillow and threw it up in the air.

“What’s with the sudden commotion, Yuri?” Tiffany stormed inside Yuri’s room for who knows what she was screaming for.

“Nothing…” she said flat.

“I know there’s something bothering you, Yul. You can tell me everything. We’re best friends, right?”

“Yeah. But I just couldn’t explain why and how. I’ll tell you when I can finally understand my problem.”

“Is JESSICA involved? Because I know for sure she is.” Tiffany stressed on the word ‘Jessica’ causing Yuri to look away. She made her way beside Yuri’s bed to comfort her.

“N-no. I mean, Y-yes. I mean, NO! No! Never!” she was stuttering but Tiffany knew that she was lying.

“You’re not a good actress, Yul. You need improvement.” *chuckles. “Your eyes tells it all, Yuri. There’s no need to hide it.”

The atmosphere was becoming awkward being ‘Jessica’ as their main and only subject, but she was all Yuri could think of and she was the reason why she just couldn’t stay put.

“Do you ever get that feeling when you like someone and fall for them immediately? Huh, Fany?” Yuri just asked directly, ignoring what her friend may think.

“You’re falling for your boarder, aren’t you?” Tiffany placed a big grin on her face and was positive of what she expected.

“Since you caught me already, then yes. I just don’t know, Fany. I’m new to this and I never felt something so strange and hard except for homeworks and other things.”

“You’re in love Yuri! You’re in love!!!” Tiffany hugged her dearest friend knowing that it’s the first time Yuri was in love and she was the first one to know about it. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Well maybe that’s the point. But why does it have to be like this? I bet this is harder than any Math problem. I can’t even figure this one out now.”

“Yeah. It’s harder than a Math problem. I don’t think you can solve it if you won’t try to understand it. Just try, Yuri! I know you can do this. FIGHTING!”

“Have you experienced this before, Fany?” Yuri hoped for a positive answer so that at least there’s someone who can give her advices.

“Yes, but I didn’t confess or anything. Not like what you did. Hahaha. We’re just friends and she didn’t know about my feelings for her.”

“WAIT! You have a crush on someone but you didn’t tell me?! And it’s a HER?! Why didn’t you tell me?” Yuri was shocked at Tiffany’s sudden confession about her having a crush on a girl.

“Because I thought that if I tell you, you wouldn’t accept me as your best friend anymore and maybe it would ruin our friendship since I like another person. So basically, I just kept it to myself. And there’s nothing to stress on it. It’s not like we really are a couple or anything. Just friends, just like that, Yuri.” Tiffany kept calm on her explanation and just let Yuri continue to her conclusions if she does.

“Really, Fany? You didn’t set me aside? I really love you! I wouldn’t ask for another best, best, best, best, BEST friend except you! But it’s okay, Fany if you like or maybe love another person. Just tell me who she is and tell me everything you love about her and maybe I could get some cues on how to deal this kind of relationship that I’m dealing.”

Yuri had a glimpse of hope in her eyes knowing that she isn’t the only one experiencing some ‘love troubles’ that she couldn’t understand by herself. Their heart-to-heart talk was getting momentous and each question they held and yet to be asked was nerve-racking since both haven’t experienced real ‘love’ before. Yuri being the one so curious and all starts the questions and Tiffany has to answer them, although only few were answered by Tiffany and the rest was for her to find out.

Question by question, Yuri hoped for her expected answer but none surfaced in. She randomly asks any question to Tiffany since she has a little experience to it but to her avail most were rejected or not a good idea to hear.

Time flew fast and they didn’t know that it was already past 11. Their heated talk was getting exciting but stopped when Yuri forgot that Jessica haven’t ate her breakfast yet and she told her that she would bring her her food. It was almost lunch and she was worried that Jessica was already hungry from all the embarrassment that happened that it made her lock herself up and didn’t mind of feeding herself. Yuri on the other side, being the one responsible for her was rushing to the kitchen to prepare the food not knowing that she was still in the middle of a conversation with Tiffany.

“I have to cook for her, Fany. Because I told her that I would be bringing her food and she didn’t even dare go outside her room. Ommo~!” her voice was quivering from all the worries and just went directly to the kitchen without hearing Tiffany’s response. “AND IT’S ALMOST LUNCH! I have to cook for us.” She was in the kitchen yet her voice was excessively loud.

She began to scrutinize the contents of her refrigerator and took some of the ingredients she could find and just left the fridge all messed up. One by one, she took one food and scanned front and back to see if it was good to eat. Apparently, it was still edible. All the food that was gathered on the floor (because of her excessive scanning) were inside in on go, she didn’t even bother arranging it and put them where it should be placed.

Everything she took out from the fridge was on the island counter; plates on side. She grabbed a wok and a spatula above the island counter where all her cooking utensils were hanged and she hastily opened the contents of her food. The wok was filled with oil; heated for a minute and good to go. She cooked what she can cook of what she has now and hoping to make it, somewhat, appetizing. Although she isn’t the type of cook you see on Masterchef, coz if she does, that would be cray-zeh. Anyway, she was already done cooking the blonde’s brunch; breakfast slash lunch. And before she could give it to her at her room, she was still hesitating whether to give it to her or not. Well, she was plainly being stupid. Cooking something for her and then hesitating whether to give it or not, but she gave it to her anyway… after 10 minutes of contemplating.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

She did this before entering her room and giving it to her. She knocked 3 times before entering and inhaled a big amount of air and exhaled through .

“Ugh… hey. Uhmm… here’s your brunch by the way. I know that you’re hungry and was thinking of giving you your food. Anyway, I’ll be outside when you need me.”

“Oh, thanks for that, Yuri.” She had her head down low to avoid any eye contact. “Oh, by the way, about what happened earlier, forget about that.”

She stopped on her tracks before she could leave the room. “… about that, I admit, I was talking to myself… but you were the one I was referring to. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s actually true. Well, you might think that I’m weird person now and I accept all the judgments. ” She confessed due to the fact that her alibis were of no way convincing and it’s no coincidence that she’s talking to herself and Jessica’s beside her, half-asleep.

“Oh! No, no! I really don’t go and judge people because of their preferences, but I respect you for who you are.”

“Well, that’s very kind of you. Thank you.” She replied with a light smile on her face.

“Hmm… not to pry or anything, but what do you mean about what you said earlier?” She moved her plate to the side table and sat comfortably; she just couldn’t resist and just had to ask her away.

“What I mean about that is this…” she gave her a quick peck on the lips and shifted her gaze to meet the blonde’s eyes.

Their eyes met for good 5 seconds and the blonde looked away. She wasn’t uncomfortable, at least. Then Yuri snapped out and thought about what she did and apologized quickly, but before she could do any apologies, Jessica held her wrist and pulled her closer to her bed and gestured her to sit down and just lean on the headboard and with a split second, Jessica’s face was just inches away from Yuri’s. She did it on purpose because she wants to see Yuri’s reaction, but there were none. Yuri was frozen on her spot and couldn’t do anything about it, she didn’t freak out though. Then Jessica crept closer until her lips and Yuri’s lips were already 2 inches apart, she smiled and Yuri, on reflex, smiled too, and finally, their lips met and Jessica even made the move, but Yuri was still frozen to her spot and then she realized what’s happening. She was shocked, but she returned the kiss anyway and Jessica looked at Yuri into her eyes. Then suddenly…

Ring, ring, ring…

The blonde’s phone rang and echoed across the room. An unknown caller, she picked up her phone just below her pillows and touched the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Hey Jess, it’s me, Eric. I’m wondering what you’re doing right now? Maybe we could meet up?” his voice full of delight.

 “Oh Eric! It’s good to hear your voice again. I miss you so much. By the way, I’m in Korea right now and I’m just renting a house here. What’s up? Are you here too? ‘Coz I didn’t expect you to be here.” Her expression changed and seems to be happy of what she’s hearing.

“Yeah, glad that I am. So where’s this house you’re renting? Maybe I could visit you and I miss you more.”

“Awwwwe, that’s so sweet of you. I’m not really familiar with the address, but let’s meet later. I’ll call you back. I love you, bye! And I’m really excited to see you.”

“Well, me too, I love you more, bye!”

Back into their own eye conversation, Yuri, her appearance just turned pale and frozen even more. She asked her who the caller was, despite the fact that she just heard her heart breaking.

“Oh, so who’s the lucky caller?” she asked with her not-so-happy tone, but tried talk normally.

“It’s Eric and he’s here in Korea. I can’t believe that he came here all the way from San Francisco!”

“Wow, really? You’re a very lucky girl. Anyway, I should get going, I still have chores to do. Just get ready for your date later!” she tried to sound happy for her even though she’s not. She stood up from the bed and walked slowly towards the door.

“Oh, leaving already? Wait!” the blonde stood up and grabbed her wrist before she could leave.

Yuri turned to her and asked what she wants. “Yeah?” she faced her.

The blonde came closer, their body only inches apart; she placed her arms on Yuri’s waist and looked at her in the eyes. She planted a soft kiss on her lips. Not the friendly kiss, but the romantic one. The tanned girl was really surprised of what just happened and even more surprised than what happened to them on the bed. She tried to remove herself from the kiss, but the blonde was stubborn. In the end, Yuri returned the kiss and the moment just spiced up. She removed the blonde’s hand on her waist and intertwined it with hers. They moved closer to the bed and plumped on it. Being the blonde on top, she stared into Yuri’s eyes. “Your eyes sparkle like diamonds. There’s something deep in those eyes that I really admire.” And she kissed her again, but this time just a quick peck.

The blonde laughed and lied down beside Yuri. The tanned girl didn’t understand why she laughed, but she laughed too, hard, until their laughs turned to chuckles, then to silence.

“This time, I should really get going. Tiffany’s gonna be suspecting what I’m doing in your room for half an hour.” She slowly stood up and fixed her clothes.

“Yeah, I think you should, but one thing…” The blonde stood up and gave the tanned girl another kiss. This time, a deep kiss, and on reflex, the tanned girl returned the kiss. “Don’t confuse yourself.”

The tanned girl slowly walked to the door and turned the knob. Now that she’s outside her room, she stood by the door and her hand holding the knob. Then sadness came, she wondered if Jessica was only playing with her feelings. What she couldn’t understand is the way how she and Eric talked over the phone and how they kissed in her room, but she left those questions hovering in her head and not wanting to be answered, unless the time is right and the feelings are real.

“So what were you doing in Jessica’s room?” Tiffany asked, an eyebrow raised, grinning.