“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Yuri said to break the awkward atmosphere.

“I am.” She said in response. “Good night, Yuri.”

She left after her word and headed her way back to her room but before she could put another step Yuri called her.

“Wait.” Yuri said.

“Hm?”

“Come, sit with me. I really don’t feel like sleeping and I want to talk till dawn.”

“Why?” she was puzzled by Yuri’s sudden response. “You should sleep so your body won’t get tired.”

“I just don’t feel like doing it actually. It’s okay if you won’t. I won’t mind.”

“It’s fine with me, at least I can get to know you more.” She moved her way to the sofa and sat beside Yuri.

The tension was slowly breaking and something made Yuri’s heart beat faster than normal for no reason but still remained calm.

“So, what title is that book?” Jessica asked first.

“It’s Romeo and Juliet, the translated one. I love reading classics.” She replied with her eyes glued on the book just to avoid the other girls’ gaze.

“Oh. I love reading too but most of it are in English.”

“Really?” Yuri was amazed by the word English and just by hearing it, she averted her gaze from the book to Jessica’s eyes. She haven’t read a novel in English and was excited when Jessica bought the topic up.

“Yeah, I bought some of it here from America. Want to check it out?”

“Sure!”

Jessica went to her room and grabbed the two books from her closet and went to Yuri in a swift.

“Here, It’s Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol and Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. I really love these books.”

Yuri scanned the pages of the book from start to last and was amazed but none of the words were understandable in her case. She deliberately read the first sentence of the book and made multiple stops in each word. It wasn’t easy reading English but still, she kept trying. Jessica silently chuckled at her cute mistakes.

“Ahh! I give up! It’s really hard reading English when you’re Korean but I just couldn’t see the point of it in you.” She gave a loud complain and didn’t notice that her voice was echoing across the room.

“That’s because I’m born in California. In that case, I can speak English fluently.”

“Would you give it a try?”

“Of what?” Jessica was puzzled.

“Eng-uh-rish.”

“You mean, English? Hehe.” She chuckled at Yuri’s weird pronunciation.

“Yeah. That!”

“Alright!”

“Hello Yuri, I’m Jessica. It’s nice to see you and I hope we will get along soon.”

Her accent was superb and Yuri was just as clueless as a cat. None of what she said was understandable except for the part when her name popped up. was forming an O shape and just couldn’t believe of what she heard. The awkwardness soon vanished and the bond they became friends in an instant. They no longer thought of what happened earlier and just focused on their warm talk. It felt like they were friends for a very long time.

“So what did you say?”

“I said, Hello Yuri, I’m Jessica. It’s nice to see you and I hope we will get along soon.”

“You just spoke it like it was a piece of cake. Will you teach me?”

“Of course, I grew up in California so it should be expected. And sure, I can teach you but it would take some time.”

“I wouldn’t mind that as long as I know how. And by the way I already have an English dictionary I was thinking if it would help me?”

“Yes it can and we can start tomorrow if you want to.”

“Sure! You really can’t imagine how excited I am now.”

Time was fast and the last time Yuri checked was almost 1:30 and this time it was already 2:45. The time didn’t stop their long chat, they still continued from one topic to another and every topic was like a rollercoaster ride for Yuri she enjoyed being with Jessica and just couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her sweet smile captured her heart and her blonde locks just made her seem perfect. She loved everything about Jessica and her life story was one of it. Yuri couldn’t imagine someone like her to rent a house in a split second without hesitating. “Maybe she was desperate?” She thought. But regardless of that she was slowly falling in love with Jessica. She didn’t know why but it just felt right. Even though she was a girl, her beauty was just priceless and maybe even other girls would fall in love with her. Yuri’s just one lucky girl.

Their chat was still on going and this time it was Yuri’s time to talk. She told her where she was born, her birth date, school, personality and many more.

“I’m actually one of the top students in school.” She replied to one of Jessica’s questions.

“I really can’t imagine you, Yuri, to be silent. I never knew you are.” She was amazed by Yuri’s revelation about herself and she too can’t believe.

“Yeah, I really am and I can’t believe it myself too. Maybe I’m just like that? But it’s fine with me.”

“You know what? I want to change your shy self to an outgoing self. I really love to.”

“Well if it works, I’d be really grateful.” There was a hint of joy in her voice and just by Jessica’s sudden suggestion her heart skipped a beat.

They still continued talking and it seemed to be endless until Yuri stopped talking and felt a bump on her shoulder, realizing that Jessica already fell asleep. Her stomach was doing somersaults and her heart was beating faster and she could feel her face heating up and when Jessica moved her arms and wrapped it around Yuri’s waist, Yuri could feel her heart to pop out from her chest any minute already. It feels like time was slowing down. She felt like dying at her arms.

“Why do I have this urge to kiss her?”

“Why do you have this angelic face?”

“Why is my heart beating so fast when I’m with you?”

“Can you be mine?”

“Why am I falling in love with you?”

“I can’t.”

Her thoughts were going wild and her heart was beating so fast she just couldn’t control herself. She stood up and left Jessica lying on the sofa alone until she felt a warm hand on her wrist and stopped.

“Don’t go.”