It’s been two days since she last sent a message to Yuri and now they were on their way to the airport to go to CamSur.

She ignored Yuri’s messages, which was a grand total of… Drum roll please… TWO text messages. Not only that but it was the same message.

She thought that her roommate didn’t even care that she didn’t send another reply to her last message.

She thought wrong. Yuri was online day and night, updating herself with what’s happening in the Philippines, trying to see if the storm was that bad, trying to figure out why Tiffany didn’t send her a reply. The interval of her first message and the second was about an hour. When Tiffany didn’t answer, she assumed that she was just busy doing stuff with Sooyoung. But when she never received any message from her roommate the next day, she started to get worried.

She didn’t want to text her first though, because she was thinking that Tiffany might be fine and she was just spending time with Sooyoung. So she waited for the older girl to text her.

Tiffany was doing the same thing for the past two days but she couldn’t take it anymore. It’s killing her. She hates waiting.

As soon as they got there, she sent a message to Yuri saying that they’re already in CamSur. It only took a minute before she received a reply from Yuri saying: That’s good. I’ll text you later. The make-up dude’s glaring at me.

She smiled and quickly typed in her reply. She’s excited to see how Yuri would look like wearing a dress.

Sooyoung entered their room with a smile on her face and took Tiffany’s hands. “Let’s go eat. I want to try eating Bi—“

“It’s our first hour here and you already want to eat? Don’t you want to go see the man-made lake first? Or, I dunno, check out the game room or the pool?”

Sooyoung pouted. “Do you want to see those first?” she asked reluctantly.

She smiled and said, “Let’s just go eat. I’m afraid that you’ll die if you don’t get to eat every hour. Come on.”


---


Kwon Yuri all glammed up? Send me a photo, okay?

She read the message and it made her smile which made the make-up artist miss her lips and put the lipstick on her cheeks instead. They both scowled. She wiped it off with her hands while the make-up guy went to the other side of the room to get a tissue.

Yuri made a face behind his back and when she turned her gaze somewhere else, she saw Krystal looking at her. She smiled gleefully and even waved at the girl.

Krystal smiled back and turned around to hide her flushed face.

Victoria, who was in the same room, saw her and said, “You like Yuri, don’t you? You’ve been staring at her the whole day.”

“I, we-well…” Krystal stammered.

Victoria shook her head and sighed. “Don’t fall in love with her, kid.” She saw the younger girl creasing her eyebrows. “Yuri’s a very stubborn girl. Even if she’s hurting, she wouldn’t really care. She will not change her mind.”

“I’m not getting what you’re trying to say, Victoria-shi?”

“Yuri’s in love with someone and I don’t think she’ll be able to reciprocate your feelings. So forget about her why you still can,” Victoria said and turned around.

Krystal was left dumbfounded. She has never seen Yuri showed any interest on any girls in their class. What was Victoria-shi saying about Yuri hurting?

She looked at Yuri once again and saw her having an intense glaring contest with the hired make-up artist for the bridesmaids. She went out of the room and contemplated on Victoria’s words.


---


Yuri was done with the make-up and as impolite as it might seem, she needed to shoo away the annoying make-up dude. She stood up and went in front of a full-length mirror. She was wearing a blue strapless chiffon dress that falls just above her knee. She twirled around and had a dorky grin plastered on her face.

She was supposed to take a photo of herself using her mobile phone but Victoria snatched it away from her. “Yah! Give it back!”

Victoria smirked. “I’ve noticed that this,” she waved the phone in Yuri’s face, “has been glued to your hand ever since you arrived here in Jeju. Been texting her?”

Yuri sighed. Victoria can be such a bully sometimes. “I am. Now g—“

“You’re sending each other photos, too, huh? Wow,” she said in a teasing tone.

“YAH!” she forcefully took it away from the soon to be Mrs. Horvejkul. “Those are private stuff!”

“Right, sending her photos of yourself while you look like a zombie is indeed a private thing. I did not need to see Tiffany’s green toenail, by the way.” She shuddered when she thought of the photo she saw.

“Yah!! Her heavy make-up kit fell and it hit her toe!”

“Sure and she couldn’t resist the urge to take a picture of it and send to you. If I were her girlfriend, I’d be jealous of you.”

“Why would she be jealous? There are times when I talk to them both.”

Victoria arched an eyebrow then smirked. “You guys planning to have a ?”

Yuri stared at her in disbelief. She tried to calm herself down for she refuse to be the one responsible for the wedding to be cancelled. She’ll get her revenge some other time. “Why are you even here? Aren’t you supposed to be getting your make-up done? Or, I dunno, worrying about wedding stuff and be a bridezilla.”

“Why would I worry? I have a wedding planner to do that for me. Although, I heard Khun is being a groomzilla because of his suit. It hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Shouldn’t you be worried?”

“Why should I be worried because of that? If the suit doesn’t arrive, he could just wear a pair of pants and be topless. Seeing other girls drool over his chiselled body would be entertaining.”

“Go away, Vic. I hate you for making us wear heels. I swear after the priest says, ‘You may kiss the bride’, I’ll make sure to throw it at you first before your lawfully wedded husband kisses you.”

When Victoria left, she took a picture of herself and sent it to her roommate. She went to the lobby and saw her brother cradling Minhyuk.

She sat beside them. “Vic, I mean, Khun-oppa would go ballistic if Minhyuk is still asleep five minutes before the wedding. Why did they even make him the ring bearer? He could barely walk.”

Hyuk-joon shrugged. “I dunno. It’s a girl thing I suppose. Nichkhun talked to Eunjung and asked her if they could make Minhyuk the ring bearer and she agreed. She was so ecstatic that she forgot our son couldn’t even walk without any help.”

Yuri chuckled at her brother’s reference to Nichkhun as a girl. “I bet Khun-op— Khun-unnie would cry during the ceremony.”

It made her brother snigger. “Me, too.”

“Well, we can’t really bet if you’re going to agree with me. Let’s just talk to the photographer and tell him to take a good photo of Nichkhun crying and to send us a copy.”

“Good idea.”

It was one of those rare times when the two siblings agreed on something. They like having fun at other people’s expense.


---


The wedding ceremony started as soon as the sun started to set and ended at exactly eight in the evening. It all went well save for the groom acting like a total diva when something miniscule didn’t go the way it was planned.

Hyuk-joon also made a scene when he saw Nichkhun walking towards the place where the wedding will be held only wearing a pair of pants. He insisted that as his best man, he should be topless as well. The wedding singers that weren’t able to make it because they had German measles. Victoria didn’t really mind but Nichkhun almost lost it. Minhyuk won’t wake up and when he did, he started crying so Eunjung just let him sleep. It made Nichkhun act like a diva once again and almost got b**** slapped by Hyuk-joon’s wife.

Everything got solved before the wedding officially started. Nichkhun’s suit arrived in the nick of time which made Hyuk-joon shut up. Yuri called Taeyeon and Jessica for help, bribing the latter with food. Cucumber-free food. Eunjung ended up carrying the sleeping ring bearer and holding the ring bearer pillow.

Nichkhun cried along with their parents and other guests. Seeing Nichkhun crying brought smiles to the guest’s faces and brought stifled laugh to the siblings.

Everyone was now in the reception hall, enjoying the scrumptious meal. Yuri was seated with Taeyeon and Jessica who were enjoying each other’s company and totally ignoring Yuri’s presence.

Yuri leaned back and said, “I should’ve sat with my family.”

“Hate to break it to you, Yul but you’re kind of a third wheel,” said Taeyeon. “Why don’t you invite Krystal to sit with us? She’s been staring at you for a while.”

“I don’t want to lead her on.”

“Right~ You’re doing just that, buddy.”

Yuri ignored Taeyeon and fiddled with her phone. It beeped and she opened the message from Tiffany only to see a photo of her locking lips with Sooyoung.

Victoria, who was going around seeing if the guests are doing fine, saw Yuri’s gloomy face. She went to their table and said “hi” to the other two girls before squatting down and putting an arm around Yuri’s shoulder. “What’s with the face?”

Yuri showed the photo to Victoria and she couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow. I never thought she’d do something extreme when she’s jealous.”

“What do you mean?”

Victoria explained that she sent a photo of her kissing Yuri’s cheeks to Tiffany earlier.

“How the heck did you do that? Why the hell did you do such thing?” Yuri questioned. She was fuming in anger and the urge to punch Victoria in the face was getting stronger.

“I was holding your phone with my right hand and I was holding my phone with my left. Bluetooth, baby,” she said and wore a dorky grin that Yuri hated with passion. “I wanted to see if she’s going to get jealous and that photo, dear Yuri-ah, is a solid proof that Tiffany is indeed jealous.”

“Tiffany?” Jessica butted in. She knows it’s rude but if it involved her sister, she has to know what it is.

“Yeah, Yuri’s—“

“I know she’s in love with my step sister but why did you say she’s jealous?”

Victoria explained it to Jessica and Taeyeon.

“I think she’s jealous, too,” said Jessica.

“She’s not.”

“Why are you so damn pessimistic, Yul? What if she’s already in love with you and she’s jealous to see another girl kissing you even if it’s just on the cheeks?” Taeyeon said.

“That’s—“

“Short stuff’s right.” Both Taeyeon and Jessica scowled hearing this. “I mean, why would she send you that photo if she’s not jealous? Maybe the photo I sent her got her really ticked off and why would she be so ticked off? Because she’s jealous.”

“Stop jumping to conclusions.”

“Why can’t you let yourself indulge at that thought? The thought of Tiffany possibly liking you back,” she paused when she Yuri’s frown slowly turning into a smile, “See? You like the thought, too, right? I mean—“

“I can’t like it because I know it’s not true and she’s Sooyoung’s girlfriend. Why can’t you guys remember that important fact? She’s already taken. She.is.Soo’s.girlfriend.”

Everyone just sighed and let her be.

Later that night, Yuri got her revenge on Victoria when she removed the “Please Do Not Disturb” sign on the newlywed’s door knob. Hearing Victoria’s ear splitting scream when someone walked in on them, was something that will be forever engraved in Yuri’s mind.


---


Jessica and Taeyeon decided to stroll on the beach before going back to their room.

“Let’s go sit there,” Jessica suggested. When they were already seated, Jessica stared at Taeyeon before looking at her hands.

“What? Are you going to say a moving speech again?”

“You really won’t forget about that, huh?”

“Never. There’s a possibility that you’ll never do something like that again so no, I won’t forget that moment.”

Jessica took out something in her pocket and said, “Hold out your hand. Do it now.”

Taeyeon did and she was surprised to see what Jessica was holding.

She had the shark teeth in her palm and she picked one up and put it on Taeyeon’s palm.

“I,” she said and smiled at Taeyeon. She continued giving the rest of it to her girlfriend. “L. O. V. E. Y. O. U. I love you. So much for the ‘Eight shark teeth for your name, Jessica and the other one’s a spare’ excuse. I told you I’m not slow.”

“You are slow since you only got what it meant now. It’s been three months since I gave you those.”

“Hush! Stop ruining the moment.” She leaned her head on Taeyeon’s shoulder and linked arms with the shorter girl. “Taengoo, if I fall asleep don’t wake me up. Just carry me to our room.”

“WHAT? Sica, it’s too far. Do you want me to die?”

“It’s a few metres away and it’s not like I’m asking you to use the stairs to go to our room. You could use the elevator.” She yawned and quickly dozed off.

“Aigoo.”


---


After a week of staying in Jeju, Taeyeon, Yuri and Jessica were now back at their house. They still have plenty of time ‘til the second term starts.

It was a day before Tiffany’s birthday. She and Sooyoung were scheduled to arrive tonight. The others were still with their families.

Yuri was sitting at the doorstep, waiting for their two housemates to arrive. A cab stopped in front of their house and she was all giddy when she saw Tiffany.

Sooyoung and Tiffany hauled their luggage towards the house and Yuri stood up to make way for them. Sooyoung was the first to enter the house and went upstairs to rest.

“Had fun in CamSur? CamSur that’s spelled with a capital ‘C’ and a capital ‘S’,” she grinned. She was in a very good mood since she gets to see Tiffany again.

Tiffany smiled, “Yes. It was fun and the food was great. I think I’m a shikshin now. We took loads of pictures.” Then she remembered something. “How about you? Did you have fun with Krystal?”

“Krystal left a day after the wedding. I had fun with Taeng and Sica though. It’s fun making Taeyeon jealous.” She giggled when she remembered the things she did when she was with the couple. “Let me help you with that,” she said and took the bag that Tiffany was holding.

“Wow. You should go to Jeju more often. I think the air there did something to you. You’re very nice today.”

They went to their room and Tiffany showed the photos she took on their trip. Yuri browsed the photos in her roommate’s laptop while listening to her rambles about how her trip went. Half the time, Yuri wasn’t really listening and just staring at the photos, wishing she were in Sooyoung’s place.

“Hey, I met a Korean there. They’ve been living there for several years now and she taught me some Tagalog words.”

“Really?”

Tiffany nodded. “I’ve been saying this to Soo ever since I learned it. Mahal…po kita…po.” She tilted her head to the side, unsure if what she said was correct. “Well, she said you only use po when you’re speaking to someone older, you know, as a sign of respect. So I could just say Mahal kita.”

“Ma…hal keeta,” Yuri repeated slowly.

“No, no, no. See, the ‘ki’ part isn’t pronounced as ‘key’. Say the ‘ki’ like how you say the ‘ki’ in the word ‘kiss’…I think. Try it again.”

“Mahal kita. What does that even mean?”

“I love you.”

If texting Tiffany ‘I love you’ using Sooyoung’s phone made her spaz, this just killed her. Sure, she didn’t know what it meant when she said it but still.


---


“Where’s Fany?” Yuri asked groggily. When she woke up, she didn’t see her sleeping on her bed and she wasn’t in the bathroom either so she went downstairs hoping to find the birthday girl.

“She and Soo went out on a date to celebrate her birthday,” answered Taeyeon.

“But they’ll be back before dinner,” added Jessica.

“Oh,” she sighed. She sat on the couch and squeezed herself in between the couple.

“Yah!” Taeyeon shouted and tried to push her off the couch.

“Sica, Taeng’s bullying me,” she whined.

Jessica stared at the two. Taeyeon was trying to choke Yuri and the latter was swatting her hands away, hitting the shorter girl’s head in the process. From her point of view, Taeyeon’s “bullying” isn’t really affecting the tanned girl.

“Both of you stop it. Taengoo, you’re not going to win against Yuri. Stop trying to choke her. Yuri, did you get Tiffany a gift for her birthday?”

“No, I don’t really know what to get her. I was thinking of buying some random pink stuff but she already has too much pink stuff.”

“Chocolate cake smothered with fresh strawberries. That’s her favourite.”

Yuri grinned and immediately went to the kitchen to see if the ingredients to make a cake are all there. “I need to buy fresh strawberries,” she said before storming off to her room to take a bath.


---


“I will definitely be a better pastry chef than you, Taeng,” she said when she brought the cake out of the fridge.

“Happy Birthday, Fany-ah,” said Taeyeon, reading the greeting that Yuri wrote on top of the cake.

“It looks yummy,” said Jessica, eyeing the cake.

“Is that for me? That’s so sweet.”

The three of them focused their attention at the couple standing at the kitchen’s doorway.

Oh sh*t! Why didn’t it occur to me that Sooyoung would obviously give Tiff a cake? Stupid.

Wow! They bought a lot of food. Great! I don’t have to cook.

Please tell me I’m imagining things and that’s not really a ring I see on Fany’s finger.

“No, it’s not for you. Yuri made Taengoo and I a cake to celebrate our 85th day of being a couple,” she said while discreetly nudging Taeyeon telling her to do something about the cake.

She took a spoon and quickly smudged whatever is written on top of the cake. She then put the spoon in and ate all the frosting.

“Yes, it’s for our 8—you counted the days?”

“That’s what my sister’s good at. Remembering numbers.”

Taeyeon nodded and saw Sooyoung’s disgusted face. “What?”

“You’re a pig.”

“Look who’s talking! I’m not going to share this, by the way. This is our cake.”

Sooyoung shrugged and placed the food on the counter. “Fine, hog it. It’s not like you’re gonna grow taller if you do that. Plus, we have our own cake, midget!”

“YAH!” Taeyeon chased Sooyoung around the house while the other three were left in the kitchen.

“Soo bought us couple rings!” Tiffany squealed. Yuri was stoic while Jessica was in disbelief.

“You’re not the type who wears couple rings,” said Jessica.

Tiffany shrugged. “Well, that’s because of Kahi. She bought couple rings and we weren’t even a couple and she made me wear it. I was traumatized but I’m fine now.”

“Traumatized? By a couple ring? An inanimate object?”

“Happy birthday. Let’s eat. It looks like you two bought meals that are intended to be eaten by a whole village,” said Yuri to dismiss the topic about the rings.

The two girls nodded and stopped their girlfriends from their childish fight.

They all went to the living room and ate there. Yuri had to endure every second of seeing Tiffany feeding Sooyoung. If that wasn’t enough, she had to see the ring on Tiffany’s left ring finger. Since when was she a lefty?

After eating her meal, she went out for a walk. She wanted to stay away from those lovey-dovey couples. She never thought she’d wish for Hyoyeon to be there with her.

Her phone vibrated and she lazily answered it. “Yeah?”

“Where are you? You suddenly went poof!”

“Poof? Anyways, I’m just out for a walk.”

“Hey, you sound suicidal? You’re not trying to kill yourself, are you?”

“Well, I’m almost suicidal. It hurts too much, you know. In fact, it hurts so bad that I think I’m numb already. If that even makes sense.”

“Yah! Where are you?I swear if you try to kill yo—“

“Sica, keyword there is ‘Almost’. I’m almost suicidal. I’m walking in the middle of the road inside our campus. If I am suicidal, I’d walk in the middle of the road of a busy place in Seoul. I’ll hang up now. Bye, Sica.” She put her phone in her pocket and continued walking.

“Yuri.”

She turned around and saw Krystal walking towards her. “Hi.”

“I thought you were still in Jeju.”

“I went home with Taeng and Sica. We came home earlier since we wanted to celebrate Fany’s birthday with her. Today’s her birthday, by the way.”

Krystal stared intently at Yuri. She noticed the tanned girl’s sad eyes and it somehow made her upset. “Yuri, I—“

“Yul!”

She turned to the voice and saw Tiffany slightly panting.

“Fany? What are you doing here? Did Jessica tell you to follow me?”

“No. You suddenly went poof,” she said as she added a cute hand gesture. “I tried to look for you upstairs but you weren’t there so I went out to look for you. I’m supposed the blow the candles out on my birthday cake and I can’t do that if you’re not there so let’s go.”

She grabbed Yuri by the wrist and pulled her away from Krystal. The other girl just watched as Yuri didn’t even try to get away from the shorter girl’s hold. She also saw the small smile slowly forming on Yuri’s lips while Tiffany was talking.

Victoria-shi said she’s in love with someone but she’s hurting. Tiffany is dating someone. Put two and two together. Yuri’s in love with Tiffany.

She couldn’t do anything but stare at the retreating backs of Tiffany and Yuri.

“Why her?”