“Yah! Why do I have to take her home?  We don’t even live near each other!” Yuri said, trying to plead her case.

“Well…,” Jessica started, trying to buy some time.  “You were the one who invited her; telling us how she could hold her alcohol and all, but look at her,” she said, pointing to a slumped over Tiffany resting against a mailbox.

“Hurry and take her home,” Seohyun said with a worried look on her face.

“Yeah, you can’t just leave her there,” Sooyoung added.  “They won’t be picking up the trash until next week,” she said with a smirk.

Sunny and Yoona started to laugh hysterically, mostly because they were too drunk to realize what they were laughing about.

“She’s usually not like this,” Yuri said in Tiffany’s defense. 

Why did she drink so much?    

Accepting defeat, she let out a small sigh and knelt down, grabbing Tiffany by the arms to pull her up.

“Ummaaa, can’t you just let me sleep five more miiiinutes?” Tiffany slurred, suddenly coming to life as Yuri attempted to carry her on her back.  “Waaaah, what’s wrong with my legs?  Oh nooooo, I lost the use of my legs!”  Tiffany screamed, disturbed by her newfound discovery.

“Yah, stop kicking your legs!  Can’t you stay still for one minute?” Yuri pleaded as she adjusted her hold on a very heavy Tiffany, who was now comfortably resting her head on her personal taxi’s shoulder. 

“Hey, hey, I see where those hands are going,” Taeyeon warned.  “I’m watching you,” she said, pointing to her eyes and then to Yuri’s. 

Yuri could only roll her eyes in response.  “Whatever, I’m going to take Tiffany home now.  She’s a lot heavier than she looks.”

“Drive carefully,” Hyoyeon said.  “And don’t forget to put her seat belt on!” she yelled after them.

“Thanks for the reminder, Mom!” Yuri shouted back.  “Geez, no one wanted to take her home, yet everyone is so concerned about her well-being.  Go figure,” Yuri mumbled to herself as she made her way to the car.

After securing her sleeping passenger, seat belt and all, she was finally ready to head home.  Within minutes, Tiffany had fallen asleep. 

Besides her passenger’s wide open mouth, Yuri noticed her seat belt was slightly twisted.  With one had on the wheel, Yuri tried to adjust it with the other, being ever so careful not to come into contact with any personal areas.  Remembering Taeyeon’s words earlier, Yuri shuddered at the thought of her wrath. 

Without warning, Tiffany sprang up, her eyes wide and alert.  Caught by surprise, Yuri jumped in her seat, nearly swerving into oncoming traffic. 

“What is wrong with you?” Yuri shouted.  “We could have gotten into an accident!” 

“I only screamed cause….cause I felt a erted ert’s hands on meee,” Tiffany managed to say, still very much drunk.  “How was I supposed to know that ert was you, Kwon Yureee…..Kwon, Kwon, Kwon.  That sounds funny, like a duck.  Quack, Kwon, quack, Kwon.” 

“What?  What are you talking about?  And why are you so drunk?” Yuri asked, even though she knew she wouldn’t get an answer let alone a coherent one.

Suddenly, Tiffany reached over and put her finger over Yuri’s mouth. 

“Shhhh, did you hear that? I think the car is bugged.”

The headlights of the car behind momentarily flashed in Yuri’s rear view mirror and Tiffany let out a gasp. 

“Oh no, no, no.  They’re following us!”  She quickly threw on her sunglasses and pulled the hood of her jacket over her head as if that would somehow help. 

“What, who is following us?” Yuri asked, not even sure why she kept asking questions she knew she would never get answers to. 

As she started to turn her head to look behind, Tiffany quickly placed her hands over Yuri’s ears to prevent her from looking back.  For a split second, she felt a spark and her focus shifted to that strange feeling and Tiffany’s warm hands. 

What was that?      

Before Yuri had time to process anything, Tiffany interrupted her thoughts.

“What are you doing?  That’s just what they want!  Keep your eyes on the road.  That way, they won’t know we’re onto them.”  Tiffany seemed sober enough, but everything that came out of was anything but sober. 

Satisfied no one was following them, Tiffany turned to Yuri and as if seeing her for the first time that night, blurted out, “Omo, why are you so dark?  Confused by her unexpected observation, Yuri didn’t know what to say.

“Was it from last week when we stayed at the beach all day?  I knew you didn’t put on enough sunscreen.  You really do look like a black pearl!”  

With her head still firmly held in place, Yuri exclaimed, “Yah!  I’m not that dark!  Take off your sunglasses!” 

Hoping to calm Tiffany down, Yuri pleaded, “Please, just sit in your seat.  I promise no one is following us and there are no listening devices of any kind in my car.”

As if she understood, Tiffany slumped back in her seat, releasing Yuri’s head which was held prisoner only moments ago.

Just as quickly as the madness started, the car was silent again.  After a few minutes, Yuri glanced over at Tiffany to make sure she was okay. 

Yuri let out a sigh of relief when she noticed her eyes were closed. 

Good.  She must have tired herself out.

Just then, she heard Tiffany whisper something.  Although the car was quiet, she could barely make out what she was saying.  Leaning a little closer, Yuri strained to hear what Tiffany was mumbling.

“I’ve made up my mind…I’m just going to say it.  So what if I’ve never had my first kiss yet.”

Huh?

“Don’t try and stop me.”

I don’t think I could even if I knew what you were talking about.

“I love you…..”

What?  Who is she talking to?  She’s still drunk; probably doesn’t even realize what she’s saying.

To Yuri’s surprise, Tiffany added, “I love you….Yuri.”

Me?  There must be some mistake.  Probably another Yuri.

As if responding to Yuri’s thoughts, she said, “I love you, Kwon Yuri.”

I got nothing else.

Those three words Tiffany said, so casually and without hesitation, swirled around Yuri’s head.  For the third time that night, the car was silent again.  In a way, she was glad.  Yuri wasn’t sure how many more confessions she would be able to take.    

Finally arriving at Tiffany’s house, Yuri tried to sort through everything that happened; Tiffany’s unusual drunken state followed by her half conscious confession.  None of it made sense.  Confused and tired, Yuri looked over and noticed Tiffany was still fast asleep with a big grin on her face.  What a cute dork. 

Knowing they couldn’t stay there all night, Yuri reluctantly reached over to unfasten Tiffany’s seat belt.  As she held it, Yuri couldn’t help but stop and gaze at the sleeping beauty.  It was only then that she realized how stunning she really was. 

As if in a trance, Yuri closed her eyes and slowly leaned in closer.  Her heart began to race and her hands started to shake, causing Tiffany to turn her head as she shifted in her seat.  Caught by surprise, Yuri’s eyes flew open as she froze in place.  She inhaled sharply as if hoping that would stop Tiffany from moving.  Their faces, which were already only a few inches apart, were now separated by a few millimeters of air space. 

That was close.

Before Yuri had time to catch her breath, Tiffany shifted again.  This time it wasn’t a close call. 

--------------

Feeling extremely hot and stuffy, Tiffany quickly sat up, noticing she was at home in her own bed.  Wondering how she got there, she tried to retrace her steps.

“I remember being carried, grabbing someone’s face, and then saying I love- no, I couldn’t have….,” she whispered to herself.

Out of habit, she checked her phone, hoping it would help answer the million questions she had running through her head.  It automatically opened up to her camera.  A little confused, Tiffany noticed there was a video recently saved. 

“I wonder if this was filmed by one of the members…probably intended for blackmail or further humiliation.” 

She hesitated a little, but decided to watch it anyway.  To her surprise, Yuri appeared.

“I’m sure you’re still passed out and probably won’t see this until tomorrow.  I wasn’t really sure why you drank so much until after I took you home tonight.  Was it that hard for you?  Were you so scared that you thought some liquid courage would help make things easier?  I don’t really know what to say or think right now.  Let’s talk tomorrow when you’re feeling better, okay?”

Tiffany couldn’t take any more and pressed pause.  She held her face as it turned three shades of red. 

“I really did say it.  Of all the times, why did I have to say it when I was drunk?”  Tiffany threw herself onto the bed, using her pillow to muffle her screams of embarrassment.

When Tiffany finally calmed down, she picked up her phone again and noticed there was still twenty seconds left.  Convincing herself that watching the video was a lot easier than facing Yuri in person, she pressed play again.

“There’s actually something else I wanted to say, so I’m just going to say it.  Don’t try and stop me.  I was planning on telling you this in person, but I don’t think it can wait until tomorrow.   I love you, Hwang Miyoung.”

Hearing those words from Yuri, Tiffany almost floated off the bed.  All those times of not being able to read the other girl’s feelings, finally hearing the words she had been so patiently waiting for made her feel like it was all worth it.  She couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come when she and Yuri could begin what she hoped would be the start of something wonderful.  After a few seconds of being lost in her own thoughts, she was brought back to reality when she heard Yuri’s voice once more. 

“I think I should also mention this, I mean, instead of having you find out later.  It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but that was my first kiss too.”

Tiffany took a few moments to process everything before realizing what she meant by that last statement.

“YAAAAAAH, KWON YURI!”