Chapter 8

After returning back to her room, Tiffany went to take a shower right away to get rid of the smell from her body. She took her rose pouch with her & let it sit on the counter within the bathroom where she could keep an eye on it. She let the steaming warm water cleanse through her body & welcomed the smell of the rose scented soap that she washed herself with. The scent reminded her of the rose petal & she looked through the glass of the shower to see it resting safely on top of the counter. Tears came to her eyes & mingled with the spraying water. She kept on thinking Jejung over & over again. What had happened between them was too much for her to bear. She took a long time in the shower until Sunny came knocking on the door to make sure that she was alright.

“Tiffany, are you okay? Answer me right this instant.” Sunny kept on knocking until the water finally stopped. Tiffany wrapped herself in a towel & dried her hair with another towel before opening the door. When Tiffany finally opened the door, Sunny’s fists connected with her head, “Ouch.” Tiffany winced in pain. Sunny smiled sheepishly, “Oops.” Then she sent a frown her way, “Serves you right for what you put me & everyone else through.” Tiffany gave her friend a hug, “I’m sorry.” Sunny hit her lightly on the head, “Stupid, you should be sorry but you can make it up to me by not crying over him anymore. He’s not worth it.” Tiffany pulled away & shook her head. She smiled for the first time since she had been in the hospital.

She had done a lot of thinking within the shower & finally got herself back together. She wasn’t going to give up. Her Jaejoong Oppa of the past had always told her to stay strong & never give up so she wasn’t going to give up on him without a fight, “I’m sorry but even if you hold a knife to my throat right now to tell me to forget him, I wouldn’t be able to. It is just not within me.” She took in a deep breath & sighed, “He is part of my memories. Unless, either one of us loses our memories, I will not give him up & even if it came to that, I will still not give up.” Sunny shook her head exasperatedly, “I just don’t think that he’s worth it. How could he do that to you? Misunderstand you like that. He’s a jerk!” Tiffany just smiled. She knew how much her friend cared for her & she loved her very much for that but still, she couldn’t give in to her advice this time. She just couldn’t.

A knock on the door broke the two friends’ conversation. Sooyoung stuck her head through the door, “Hey, can I come in?” Tiffany & Sunny, both nodded their heads. Sooyoung smiled & shut the door behind her, shutting it on a hand that was about to make its way in the door. An anguished cry of pain sounded behind the door. Sooyoung opened the door a centimeter to see if he was hurt badly, “Sorry, hon, but this is girls only time.” She took Keunsuk’s hurt hand & kissed it, “Go get someone to help you with that since you are after all in a hospital.” Keunsuk grinned mischievously at his girlfriend through the crack in the door, “Okay, sweetie, whatever you say. Look, there’s a cute nurse heading my way now.” He held his hand in greeting to the nurse coming his way. Sooyoung, who still had his hand in her hand, slapped him where it hurts. Keunsuk grimaced at the slap. He took his hand away & rubbed at the sore spot that was already bruising up, “Just kidding, gosh. You didn’t have to be that mean.” Sooyoung just smiled sweetly & gave him a kiss on the lips before closing the door behind her.

Tiffany & Sunny, both stared at Sooyoung in shock. They clapped their hands & Sooyoung bowed in acknowledgement, “Wow, I can’t believe that he & Siwon Oppa will let you do that to him. You sure are lucky.” Sunny said wistfully, admiring this girl that had so much control over two tall strong grown men. Sooyoung stuck out her free hand & Sunny clasped it to give it a good shake, “Hi, I’m sorry that I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier. My name is Choi Sooyoung.” She laughed at Sunny & Tiffany’s shocked expression, “I know that you went to my restaurant before with my idiot brother, Siwon. I just wish that I could have met you two sooner.” She pointed to the door, “The guy outside is Jang Keunsuk, he’s my boyfriend of five years.” Sunny smiled at Sooyoung’s words when addressing her brother. She had a feeling that they were going to be good friends, “It’s so great to meet you finally. My name is Sunny Lee & this is my friend, Tiffany Hwang.” Tiffany gave a little wave at the mention of her name, smiling at Sooyoung.

Sooyoung reached into the bag she was holding. She dug inside until she came out with two nightgowns.

“I have something to give you two.” She handed the green embraceable cool night embroidered nightgown to Sunny while she gave the pink embroidered mesh sleep chemise nightgown to Tiffany, “While you were in the shower, Tiffany, me & Keunsuk Oppa went shopping somewhere close by. We saw this lingerie shop & I thought, why not? So I purchased these two gowns for you two y beautiful ladies to wear.” Sunny & Tiffany stared at the gown they were holding in shock. Tiffany looked up, “I don’t know what to say. This is too much. I can’t accept this.” Sooyoung shook her head, “You have to because it is a gift from me & you have to accept them. They are much better than those ugly hospital gowns.”

Tiffany & Sunny thanked their kind new friend. Tiffany went back into the bathroom to slip on the nightgown while Sunny changed within their room behind the curtain of her bed. When they both emerged again, Sooyoung clapped her hands happily, “I just knew that they would fit you two perfectly.” & they did. The two gown hugged there curves & flowed to the right length to produce a comfy but gorgeous effect. Tiffany walked over to Sooyoung & hugged her, “Thank you so much. This is the most beautiful gown that I have ever owned.” Sooyoung returned the embrace & said, “Think nothing of it.” She then reached into the bag again, & came out with two new outfits & she also dug out two pairs of shoes.

She handed a black/ivory tiana b. sleeveless belted pleated stripe fit & flare dress to Tiffany while she gave a black cap-sleeve lace blouson dress to Sunny. She then handed a pair of black chaella flat to Tiffany & a pair of black sicily flat to Sunny, “& these two outfits were just too cute so I just had to buy them when I laid eyes on them. I know that you two will be going back to school tomorrow since Siwon told me that you two are really good students so you don’t want to go to school wearing the same clothes.”

Tiffany was just shocked & speechless at all the things that Sooyoung had given her, “Sooyoung-Sshi...um, why are you giving us all this stuff? It makes us feel bad since we have nothing to give back to you.” Sooyoung laughed at Tiffany’s remark. She went over to give Tiffany & Sunny a hug, “You two have touched me to the bottom of my heart & you have also touched Keunsuk Oppa & Siwon at the deepness & sincerity of your friendship. I just count myself lucky that you two will allow me to be your friend, too.” Sunny & Tiffany looked at each other. They obviously hadn’t known that their friendship had touched so many people. They then turned back to look at Sooyoung & threw their arms around her, “Thank you so much, Sooyoung-Sshi. We feel blessed to have been given a friend like you.” Tiffany said.

“There is one more thing that I want to ask of you though Tiffany, but you don’t have to accept if you don’t want to.” She looked into Tiffany’s eyes, getting all serious, “I heard from Siwon that you serve an interests in cooking & I also heard about your sad financial situation & about that witch Seoyeon.” Sooyoung’s hazel brown, almond-shaped eyes darkened at the thought of that terrible woman, “I don’t think that you should work all those jobs & under that woman, even though she has been fired by my father.” Tiffany gasped at those words. She hadn’t known that her boss had been fired by the main boss. She tilted her head to the side, not knowing what Sooyoung was getting at, “I want to ask you to come to my restaurant to work part-time. Your working there will allow us to put you on our new scholarship program & we will pay for you & your college career. We will also provide an eighty dollar per hour work wage for you.”

Sooyoung looked at Tiffany’s dazed expression, “What? Is that too little? Hmmm, how about we raise it to one hundred then. I’m in desperate need of a new chef to train & what better than to have a friend work by my side.” Tiffany just opened wide in shock.

A/N: another reminder, Sooyoung is older then Siwon in this story :D