Yuri felt tired. Tired of bawling her eyes out and tired of thinking about Tiffany. She stood up and leaned on the sink. She stared at her reflection before taking a quick shower. Swollen eyes, runny nose and her lips felt numb.

She got dressed and decided to skip breakfast for it would only mean seeing Sooyoung and Tiffany together. She stealthily got out of the house. She took her time walking from their house to the building where her first class would be. 

When she got there, she couldn’t help but release a sigh. The door is locked. She looked at her watch. Of course, it’s only 7 in the morning. She decided to just sit down in the hall and wait for the guards to open the door of the classroom. She sat there and sulked. It’s official. I’ll be miserable for the rest of my college life. Probably, my whole life. Gosh, how could I have been so stupid? A total idiot.


---


Jessica was silently eating her pancakes while Taeyeon stared at her, thinking her girlfriend was still mad at her.

“Taeyeon, could you please stop staring and eat your food right now?” she said coldly. 

“Sica, I’m really sorry. I was—“

“I need you to finish your breakfast quickly and come with me to the library. I have to borrow something,” said Jessica as she shoved a large piece of pancake to Taeyeon’s mouth.

Taeyeon chewed it quickly and held Jessica’s hand. “You’re not mad at me, right?”

“Eat. Now.”

They’ve already finished their breakfast by the time the other girls got inside the dining area. The maknaes greeted them. “Good morning, unnies. Sica-unnie, you woke up early, that’s new,” said Yoona.

“I have to go to the library before the first period starts.” She looked at Taeyeon who was still washing the dishes. “Taengoo, hurry up.” 

“I’m almost done,” she said as she hurriedly washed it. She doesn’t like making Jessica wait. “There! All done!” she said with a smile that almost ripped the sides of .

Seohyun looked at her weirdly. “Taeyeon-unnie, I’m sorry to ask this but…are you on drugs?”

Yoona giggled. “You are very hyper, unnie.”

Jessica couldn’t help but join in. “She had a sack of sugar for breakfast then drank the whole bottle of maple syrup. Sugar rush,” she joked.

It was Yoona’s turn to look at her unnie weirdly. “Sica-unnie, you’re unusually cheerful this morning. That rarely happens.”

Jessica just shrugged. “Come on, Taengoo. We still need to go to the library.”

Taeyeyon walked beside her and they headed out. The maknaes were left wondering what might have caused the sudden change in their unnies.

“They’re weird,” said Yoona.

Seohyun nodded. “Yuri-unnie’s weird, too. I think she also went to the classroom early. I didn’t see her when I went back to my room.”

Then they saw Sooyoug and Tiffany. They had their arms linked and were giggling as they made their way to the table.

“Good morning,” Sooyoung greeted.

I think someone drugged all the unnies.

“Unnie, you’re unusually lively today, just like Taeyeon-unnie and Sica-unnie,” said Yoona and Seohyun nodded.

She stared at Tiffany who sat beside her. “How can I not be lively? I woke up and immediately saw this lovely creature. If Kim Jong-il’s wife looked like my Tiffany Hwang, he wouldn’t have been such a pain in the . If everyone’s wife is as lovely as her, then we would’ve achieved world peace.”

Yoona pouted. “Yah! You wake up everyday seeing MY Hyunnie first thing in the morning and she’s just as lovely as Fany-unnie. No, I think, she’s lovelier than Fany-unnie.” She looked at Seohyun and smiled, “You’re the loveliest, Hyunnie.”

Tiffany chuckled. “Fine, fine. Sheesh! No need to use the positive, comparative and superlative form of the word.”

Yoona defended herself by saying, “I just wanted to let Sooyoung-unnie know how lucky she is to be a roommate of my Hyunnie.”

“You’re not even an official couple yet, right? Well, you were but then you broke up with her.” Sooyoung grinned, “I know the whole thing.”

“But we have an understanding that we won’t go out with anyone. Right, Hyunnie?” Seohyun nodded while she fed Yoona and to shut her up, as well. But the food in didn’t stop her from talking. “See? She’s even feeding me.”

“Whatever. I’ve got hands to feed myself,” Sooyoung retaliated. 

“Oh, you don’t want me to feed you?” Tiffany asked, making fun of the loud girl beside her.

“What? Of course, I do!” Like a child, she stuck her tongue out to Yoona and the latter did the same.

“Seohyun-ah, aren’t you just thankful people don’t think of us as es for being with these two?”

“Their height must’ve been the factor. If they had Taeyeon-unnie and Sunny-unnie’s height and someone saw us with them, they’d probably call the police and arrest us.”

“That’s so true. I couldn’t agree more,” said Tiffany as both of them continued to watch the two.


---


“I can’t believe they’re still not having doubts about us being closer,” said Taeyeon. They were on their way to the library. “Do you think we should just tell them?”

“Nah, let them think you’re just high,” she answered with a playful smile.

Taeyeon took it the wrong way. “You don’t want them to know that you’re my girlfriend, do you?” She stopped walking. 

Jessica looked back at Taeyeon. The shorter girl was staring at the ground. The blonde girl couldn’t help but to feel sorry. She didn’t mean it like that.

“Yah,” she said softly and approached Taeyeon, “You idiot, I’m not embarrassed to let them know that I’m your girlfriend. Besides, we both agreed not to tell them about us and let them figure it out.”

Taeyeon was still looking at the ground.

Aish! Why is she sulking about this?

Jessica was getting frustrated. She sighed and tried her best to lift Taeyeon’s mood. “Hey,” she said as she reluctantly placed a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder. She quickly removed it when she realized how awkward it is. Damn it! Why is this so hard? How will I comfort her?

“Listen, I’m not ashamed to tell them that we’re a couple.” She let out a sigh before continuing, “There are a couple more things you should know about me, Taengoo. I’m not like my sister. I don’t have a way with words. I can’t sugar coat my words. I don’t know how to. I could be very blunt and I might say stupid words. I just…I blurt out stupid words most of the time. I’m kind of an airhead when it comes to this…this whole ‘being in a relationship’ thing. Give me some time to adjust and please forgive me if I say stupid things later, tomorrow, the day after that and the next. Just…try not to take the bad things I say too seriously.”

Jessica held Taeyeon’s hand. “I’m sorry. Please stop being upset. I’m really not good at cheering people up.”

Taeyeon looked up then smiled. “I lov—“

She got cut off when Jessica covered . “I don’t want you to wear out those three words. Wait ‘til I’m ready to say it to you. It’s awkward for me to answer back with ‘I like you’ all the time.”

Taeyeon couldn’t help but smile. It turns out that Jessica could also be cheesy. She’s just not aware of it. “Let’s go get you your book.”


---


Taeyeon and Jessica proceeded to their classroom after borrowing the book Jessica needed. When they got there, they saw Yuri sitting on the floor staring into space.

“Hi, Yul.” She snapped back to reality when she heard Taeyeon’s voice.

“Hi, Taengoo. Hi, Sica. You guys are early.”

“We could say the same thing to you,” said Jessica.

“You girls are early.” The guard was staring at them and looked for the keys for the door of their classroom.

As soon as the door opened, the three went in and uttered a simple ‘thank you’ to the guard who unlocked the door.

The three of them sat in the first row. “So why are you here so early, Yuri-ah?” asked Taeyeon. “You didn’t eat breakfast, too.”

“I’m not hungry,” she answered and positioned her head on the table sideways. “Why are you two so early?”

Jessica told her about the book she had to borrow. 

Yuri bolted up when she realized something. She looked at Taeyeon and Jessica who was happily chatting with each other. “Something’s weird about you guys,” she said. “Are you two…are you two like…a couple now?”

Jessica was taken aback. “How the heck did you know?” 

Taeyeon nodded. “We’re not even doing couple stuff. Do you have a radar for couples now?”

Great. I was trying to stay away from couples and now these two…

“You two have this aura that couples emit,” she joked. 

The two, however, thought she was serious. “Aura? That’s cool. I didn’t know there is such thing.”

“Yuri-ah, can you not tell anyone that we’re going out?” asked Taeyeon.

“Sure. Why would I go around saying you two are a couple anyways.”


---


First period ended. It was a good decision to sit in the front row. Now, I only have to figure out how to ignore Tiffany without her knowing the reason why I’m doing it. I bid goodbye to the other girls and hastily made my way to my next class. Algebra. Unfortunately, Tiffany’s in the same class, too. Good thing we’re having our midterm exam today. There would be no chance for her to talk t—“

“Hey, Yul! Wait up!”

Damn! I pretended not to hear her and walked faster but she was still able to catch up.

“What’s the rush? You’re not normally excited to attend that class.”

“I have to review my notes for the exam.”

I thought she wasn’t going to say anything anymore. Dead wrong. 

“Let’s study together then. I didn’t see you this morning when we were having breakfast. Seohyun said you left early.”

I just nodded and sat in the front row. I hoped and prayed that Miss…whatever her name is, she didn’t really tell us, would arrive earlier than usual.

“Yul, how would you solve this problem?” she asked while showing me the problem in the book.

I glanced at it for a second and answered, “No idea.”

“Oh, how about this one?” she pointed her finger at another problem.

“I don’t know.” What the heck am I doing? I don’t want to be cold towards her but how the heck am I supposed to ignore her. I know that I won’t be able to get over her but I still have to try.

“Okay.” 

She stopped talking and I should be thankful that she’s not talking to me anymore but why the hell do I feel bad?! Sheesh! 

“Good morning,” said the professor when she came in. 

I looked over to her side. She was still reading her notes. I feel bad for what I just did but when I decided to answer her questions earlier, I heard the professor said, “Keep your notes. Pen and a scratch paper are the only things allowed on top of your desks. Your exam will begin now. As soon as you finish the exam, you could hand it to me and go out.”

I finished the exam in about half an hour and quickly handed it over to our professor. I gathered my things and glanced at her paper. She’s only halfway done. I got out of the room and went to my next class which will start in about an hour. It’s better to be in this hallway alone than be with her.

Surprisingly enough, I was able to do this for the whole week. When I was in our room, I’d put on my earphones and listened to the songs I have in my playlist. There are times when I pretended to listen to songs but I was actually listening to her. I couldn’t help but admire her more when she sings. Then there are times when Sooyoung would ask me if she could sleep in our room. It actually happened twice and I, being the stupid person that I am, would switch rooms with her. But I’ve learned from my mistakes. Before I go to the other room, I would get my clothes for tomorrow so I don’t have to see them in the morning. 

I’ve also seen her looking at me. It’s as if she wanted to talk to me but since I have the earphones glued to my ear every night, she just retreats back to her bed. One whole week of ignoring her was a success.

But then that faithful day came. We were asked to be in pairs by our professor in Communication for our final project. I wasn’t supposed to be her partner but I can’t let her be partners with some creep.

“Yuri-ah, can you be my partner?”

“Sorry I already asked the tall blonde girl to be my partner,” I lied.

“Oh, I guess I just have to be partners with Siwon then.” She walked away but turned and said, “I just thought it’d be better if we’re partners since it’d be easier for us to work on our project ‘cause we’re housemates.” When I didn’t answer, she turned away and walked towards Siwon.

SIWON?!! There’s no way in hell I’m going to let her be partners with HIM! I immediately reached for her wrist and said, “I could tell blondie that I’ll be partners with you…since we’re housemates…it’d be…be easier…for us.” Why did I have to stammer and repeat what she just said?

She shrugged and said, “Okay. We’ll be partners then.”

She showed me her amazing eye smile that anyone, even gay men, would fall for.

So I was still able to ignore her and I only talk to her when we’re making our project. We usually do our project downstairs, in the living room, sometimes in the kitchen. We both think that if we do it in our bedroom, we’d both end up falling asleep. It didn’t stop her to fall asleep though. She must’ve gotten it from her sleepy step sister. 

Every time she falls asleep on the couch I would contemplate on whether I should carry her to our room or wake Soo up so she could carry her instead. 

The first time it happened I’ve already decided to bring her to our room but Soo, who was supposed to go to the kitchen to get a snack, has already picked the sleeping girl up and carried her up to our room.

I was left to gather our stuff and bring it in our room. So every time she falls asleep, I would wake Soo up and tell her that Fany fell asleep on the couch again. I was given another reason why I shouldn’t get in between those two. No matter how tired or how sleepy Soo is, she would still wake up, go downstairs and carry Fany to our bedroom. There are instances when Soo would sleep beside Fany because the latter would cling on her like a koala to a eucalyptus tree.

I’m not gonna lie and say that I don’t get hurt when I see them like that. There are nights when I’d cry myself to sleep. I am fully aware of the fact that Soo loves Fany and Fany loves Soo. I love Fany but I don’t want to interfere. 

We finished the project in a week and I went back to ignoring her completely, pretending she doesn’t exist, just like Khun-oppa said. It somehow worked and I get to hang out with our other housemates more. At dinner I would usually be with Taeng and Sica. I know I said I wanted to stay away from couples but these two aren’t even acting like one. They’re just like best buddies or something. Oddly enough, the other girls never noticed how close they are nowadays. I don’t know if the others are just too slow or I’m just too smart to figure it out. Then again they don’t really act like a couple in front of other people.

The three of us are in the living room watching some random movie while everyone else is upstairs. We were sitting on the couch with Jessica in the middle. I felt Sica’s head on my shoulder and I didn’t do anything about it. I don’t really mind but Taeyeon does.

When she saw Jessica’s head on my shoulder, she pouted and immediately but carefully made the unconscious Sica lean on her shoulder instead. I smirked at how jealous Taeng could be. I was in the mood so I decided to a little bit and did the same thing she did to Sica. I was careful not to wake her up though. I don’t want to get a bruise. I positioned my head above Jessica’s and smiled at Taeng. That earned me a hard flick on the forehead. I rubbed it to get rid of the sting. She scowled at me and I can’t help but laugh.

Jessica flinched and glared at both of us before standing up. Taeng hit the back of my head and said, “Yah! Look at what you did! You woke her up!”

“It was your fault you idiot.” 

It was always like that. If I’m not with them, I’m with the maknaes or Sunny and Hyo. 

The five of us were eating lunch together. Taeng and Sica had classes and Soo and Fany were out on a date. It’s been two weeks since I’ve had a decent conversation with Fany. I always gave one line answers and I could tell she’s getting annoyed by it. 

“So Yuri-ah, who are you going out with?” Hyo randomly asked.

“No one. Why? Are you trying to ask me out?” I’ve learned how to say stuff like that ever since I started hanging out with them more. I got it mostly from Hyo and Yoona.

“Gross,” she said with a serious face.

“We’ve never heard you talk about anyone you like, Yuri-ah,” said Sunny. “Aren’t you interested in dating anyone? I have this classmate from one subject and I think she has a crush on you. Major crush.”

“Oh yeah. That Krystal girl. She’s in our Physics class, right?”

“Yup. I hear her talk about this ‘Kwon Yuri’ with her friend all the time. I don’t know any other ‘Kwon Yuri’ who’s tanned, who’d look hot if she’s turned into a guy, tall, has three ear piercing on her right ear, has a perfect set of teeth and a ‘Kwon Yuri’ who has a smile that would make people faint. I don’t know about the last one but that’s what she says to her friend all the time.”

Wow. She talks about me like that? I never knew Krystal acted like stalker Taeng.

“I don’t want to date anyone right now. If I would go out with someone, I want her to be the last person I’d go out with.”

Yoona grinned and raised her hand. “High five, Yuri-unnie.”

I chuckled before doing a high five with the choding. 

“We have the same ideology when it comes to being in a relationship, unnie. I will never ever go out with anyone else other than Hyunnie. She’s my first and my last. That’s how much I love her.” She was grinning like an idiot.

Sunny made a face and said, “Whatever. How sure are you that my cousin won’t go out with anyone else either?”

“Because we agreed on it, right Hyun? I will never cheat on you or look at other girls.”

“You’ll never cheat on me but you’re willing to give me away,” Seohyun teased. 

I love this innocent kid. She doesn’t talk much but when she does, it made sense.

Yoona pouted. “That was a mistake that I’ll never repeat ever again.”

I laughed at how childish Yoona could be sometimes but I know she meant what she just said. I’ve talked to her several times and every time she talks about Seohyun, it’s like she’s talking about the most wonderful thing God has ever created. It the same way Sunny talks about Hyomin and Taeng talks about Sica. The same way Soo talks about Fany.


---


Time flew at the girls’ house. They were busy juggling their time with their school works, friends and girlfriends. They’ve celebrated three birthdays in two months, Sunny’s, Yoona’s and Seohyun’s. 

Taeyeon and Jessica have been together for two months and yet nobody, except Yuri, knows that they’re already a couple. During the first two weeks both of them were bothered that the others didn’t even suspect that they’re together but they sort of just gotten used to it. The two of them are taking it slow and just stick to hugging, kisses on the cheeks and holding hands. They never kissed each other in front of other people since Jessica was never in favour of PDA. That might be one of the reasons why the others didn’t think that they’re going out.

As for Yuri, it’s been two months since she tried to get over Tiffany and forget her love for her roommate. She’s successful in ignoring her but the feeling’s still there. She still dies a little more inside every time she sees them together. 

Tonight was just like any other nights. She’s sprawled on her bed, listened to whatever music her computer plays and played a computer game. 

The only thing that’s different that night was Tiffany staring at her, blatantly. The shorter girl huffed and stood up.

“Yuri-ah.”

Yuri pretended not to hear her. She focused on the computer screen.

Tiffany went near her and removed the earphones from her ears. “Yuri, we need to talk.”
“I can’t. I’m busy with school works. Finals week is coming up,” she lied.

“School work? Really? I didn’t know Culinary classes involve playing ‘Need for Speed’ or ‘Counter Strike’…or ‘Red Alert’. Should’ve taken up Culinary Arts then. I would’ve passed with flying colors,” she said sarcastically.

During those two months that Yuri has been ignoring her, she just tried to shrug it off but it’s too much and Yuri ignoring her is getting on her nerves.

Yuri sighed, “What is it?”

“Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong?”