CHAPTER 12

[Yoona]

[[ Skip the meeting! We just got a cab, you & Yul still have time!! ]]

[Yoona]

[[ I really wish that you could come…(~_~) ]]

[Yoona]

[[ I miss you already~ (T_T) ]]

A bunch of text messages came in one after another that Seohyun didn’t have the chance to reply even a single of them. The cheesy notes however brought soft chuckles to the young writer.

 

“What’s so funny?” Yuri whispered to the girl next to her.

Seohyun gave a glance, not wanting to be rude to the speaker at the front. “What are you talking about?”

“You were smiling like an idiot.”

“No, I was not!” Seohyun kept her tiny beam as she checked on her phone.

Yuri raised her brows. It was unlike Seohyun to even bring phones to meetings. “Who’s that?”

“Hm?”

“Who are you texting with?”

Seohyun just let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “A devil~”

*****

 

[Hyunnie]

[[ Stop texting me every 2 seconds! ]]

Yoona pouted at the respond.

 

[Yoona]

[[ Why not?! ]]

[Hyunnie]

[[ I can’t concentrate on the meeting! ]]

[Yoona]

[[ But I miss you!! Don’t you miss me? (>_<) ]]

The deer waited a whole minute for an answer.

 

[Hyunnie]

[[ No~ ;p ]]

Yoona let out a frustration sigh. She knew Seohyun was teasing her. It had been months since their undisclosed rendezvous started, but sometimes she couldn’t help but to feel discouraged by Seohyun’s refusal to open up to the idea of them dating.

As Yoona was about to reply, her phone was being yanked away by a certain blonde at her side.

 

“Yah! Give it back!” She barged closer.

Jessica giggled at her own act. “No way!”

“Oh come on, Sica!” Yoona was not giving up that easily, pushing the poor girl in the process; to the point that the blonde was underneath her.

Jessica almost blushed at their proximity. She placed the phone at the back of her jeans’ pocket and boldly wrapped her arms around the deer’s neck. “You better get off me, Yoong. We don’t want to give the driver a wrong idea now, do we?”

Yoona could feel her body stiffened at the whispery voice. Not wanting to raise her white flag just yet, she decided to play along. “Give my phone back; otherwise something really wrong will definitely happen.”

“Like what?” Jessica held her gaze on the doe eyes.

“Like,” Yoona realized how flirty her last words were. She nervously gulped and quickly backed up, pulling the latter with her. The blonde slowly unwrap her grip earlier. “Like I’m so going to kill you!” She chuckled and later held her hand forward. “Can I have it now, please?”

Jessica stared at the deer for a moment. She reached the back of her pocket, pulled out the device and turned it off instead. “Nope!” She flashed a mischievous smirk.

Yoona’s eyes amplified as she gasped at the sudden move. “Jung Jessica!”

The blonde laughed at the shocked face in front of her. “Today is going to be our official ‘Phone Free Day’. No texts, no calls. And this,” She lifted the phone before placing it inside her shoulder bag. “I’ll give it back when we’re at the hotel.”

“But,” Yoona sulked like a kid. “Then what about you?!”

Jessica took out her iPhone and leisurely handed it over. “Here. Do whatever you want with it.”

“What if Yuri calls?”

Jessica scoffed. “Seriously Yoona. They are going to be in the meeting for the whole day. Do you really think she’ll have time to even think about me?”

“Why not? I would.” Her answer caused Jessica to be taken aback. Yoona noticed it and quickly explained herself. “Uh, I mean…um…if I have a girlfriend, I would probably think about her all the time.” She awkwardly smiled.

Jessica’s heart fluttered at the possibility of Yoona was indeed referring to her. “So…um…” She shyly averted her gaze. “Who were you texting with anyway?”

Yoona sheepishly beamed as Seohyun’s images entered her mind. “A little angel~”

*****


Seohyun scribbled some information on her notepad as she was listening to the representatives from VOGUE Magazine. However, it was hard; more so when she spent almost every two minutes glancing at her phone, checking for a text reply from a certain deer.

Anxious. That was what she felt at that moment. It was neither because of the meeting nor the fact that she got to meet some of the household names in the fashion world.

 

Aish. Is she mad or something?!

_____*_____


[Jung Residence – New York]

 

“Woah!” Yoona gawked at the ‘manor’ before her. “I totally forgot on how rich you are.”

“Keep the change.” Jessica thanked the cab driver and stood beside the astounded girl. “How many times do I have to tell you? This is all my–”

“Your parents’. Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Yoona playfully rolled her eyes. “That eventually will be yours anyway.”

Jessica giggled at the kid. She dragged the latter to the front door and searched for the key in her bag. *Click.* “Mom?” The blonde went inside. “Anybody here?”

While the girls were waiting at the living room, a middle-aged woman was walking down the stairs. “Sweetie!!” She fastened her paces and rushed to give her daughter a warm hug. As she leaned away, her stares were fixed on the taller girl and immediately beamed. “You must be Yoona.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jung.” The deer presented her sweetest smile.

“The pleasure is all mine.” She shook the younger girl’s hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Yoona was taken aback. She awkwardly giggled. “Is that a good thing?”

The remark brought laughter to the others. “Don’t worry. My Sooyeon thinks highly of you. Nothing came out of but praises and compliments.”

Yoona gave a teasing glance to a certain blonde. “Really?”

“Mom!” A tint of red down poured on Jessica’s fair face. “By the way, didn’t you say that you’re going to be busy all day?” She gestured something with her eyes.

Mrs. Jung loved the moment. “Okay, okay. I can take the hint. I’ll be in my office if you need anything. Can I count on you to entertain our guest, Sooyeon?”

“Sure thing.”

“Good.” She turned to Yoona. “Make yourself at home, okay?” The latter bowed her head in respect. As Mrs. Jung was heading towards her specially-built workplace, she stopped at the stairs and yelled. “Soojung, get down! Jessie’s here!”

Yoona heard some steps and fixated her eyes on a much younger girl; who was too engrossed with her phone as she walked down from the second floor. She nudged Jessica at the side. “Uh, is that?”

“Yep.” Jessica waited for her sister to come closer. “Hey, Krystal.” She gave a simple peck on the cheek.

“Yeah.” Krystal looked up for a second and threw a quick glance on the doe eyes.

“This is,”

“Hi!” Yoona butted in. “I’m Yoona.”

Krystal stared up and down Yoona’s standing figure and just shrugged. “Sure.” With her poker face, the younger girl went to the nearest couch and continued playing with her phone.

The dumbfounded deer gave a disbelief look to Jessica. “Is she for real?” She whispered.

Jessica chuckled. “Don’t take it personally. She’s not that friendly to people; sometimes not even with me. And she’s–”

“You.” Yoona smirked. “There are actually two of you.”

“Yah!” Jessica smacked the slender arm.

“Hee, I’m kidding.”

“You better!” Jessica faked a pout. “I’m going to get you a drink, okay?”

“Sure, thanks.” Yoona watched until Jessica was in the kitchen before slowly made her way to the couch. “Can I sit here?” She motioned the empty space.

“No, my imaginary friend is sitting there as we speak.” Krystal nonchalantly stated without even making an eye-contact to the latter.

Yoona faked a chuckled. “I’m sure he won’t mind.” With that, she sat next to the cold girl.

Krystal noticed that Yoona was staring at her from the corner of her eyes. She instantly huffed and faced the deer. “What?!”

Yoona shrugged her shoulder. “Nothing.” She pursed her lips as she held her soft laughter inside. The deer was determined to melt the younger frost. “Hey, do you want to hear a secret?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Whatever.”

Yoona gave a small nod as she played along. “Okay.”

It took only a matter of seconds before Krystal put her phone down on her lap and flashed an annoying stare. She hated herself for giving up too fast. “What?!”

“What ‘what’?” It was Yoona’s turn to wear the poker face.

“The secret.”

“What secret?”

“The one that you were going to tell me.”

“Oh, THAT secret.”

“Yeah, THAT secret!”

“But I thought you didn’t want to hear it.”

“Well,” Krystal was caught. “I d-do now!”

“Aah~” Yoona was enjoying it.

“So?!”

“So…” The deer raised her brows.

“Aish!” Her stares got a little more intense. “Are you going to tell me or not?!”

Yoona smiled in satisfaction. “Fine.” She turned her body to face the younger girl. “I think Jessica is a big fat liar.” Her voice were soft.

Krystal widened her eyes. It was true that she seldom shows her affection towards her family, but that didn’t mean that anyone could mess around with her big sister. “Excuse me?!”

“It’s true.”

“You barely know her!”

“I know enough~”

“No, you don’t!” Krystal was enraged. Ugh, this stupid twig! “What makes you say that, anyway?!”

Yoona paused for a while. “Because she told me that you were hideous. But now that I have the chance to meet you,” She studied Krystal’s face. “I know that she lied because you’re really, really pretty.”

Krystal’s glares faded instantly and she blushed instead. She did not see that coming. It took a while before she could look at the doe eyes. When she did, a small grin plastered on her lips. “That was good.”

Yoona smiled widely and bowed her head. “And it’s not even my best.”

The younger girl giggled. She then squint her eyes as she thought of something. “Are you Jessie’s girlfriend?”

Yoona was shocked at the question and instinctively let out an awkward laugh. “Uh, that was random.”

“Are you?” She raised her brows, waiting for an answer.

Paused. “I’m just her friend.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. In fact, she already has one. Her name is Yuri and I’m sure you’d love her once you have the chance to meet her.”

Krystal bit her lip in suspicion. “Hah.” Her attention shifted to a blonde who was carrying two glasses on her hands. She stood up and grabbed her phone. “I’ll be in my room.”

Jessica was in daze. “O–kaayy~” She was placing the drinks on the table when she heard her little sister shocking statement.

“I like you.” Krystal was mentioning it to Yoona. “You’re okay.” She continued to the stairs after her tedious words.

The jaw was making its way to the floor. Jessica’s had a surprised look on her face as she went to Yoona. “How the heck did you do that?!” The stunned eyes were still there. “I’m her sister and she never says that she likes me!”

Yoona giggled. “No one can resist my charm.” She casually said as she sipped on her drink.

_____*_____


[Meeting Room]

 

“That would be all. Students may leave the room.”

Yuri turned to Taeyeon after hearing the speaker’s proclamation. “That’s it?!”

Seohyun was curious too. “I thought we’re going to be here all day.”

“I am.” Taeyeon explained. “Only the teachers are.”

Aish! “So, what should the both of us do now?” The tanned girl was annoyed for not knowing the information earlier.

Taeyeon shrugged. “Be a New Yorker~”

*****

 

“What do you have in mind?” Seohyun asked as they stepped out of the hotel.

Yuri tried pressing the dial button one more time. “I thought maybe we could go to Sica’s house, but she’s not answering my calls. There’s no line whatsoever.”

Seohyun frowned. “That’s weird. Yoona didn’t pick up her phone either.”

“Why are you calling Yoona all of a sudden?” The leader was getting curious.

The girl was caught off guard. “W-Well,” Stop stuttering! “I wanted to…uh…make sure that…um…she’s not being a pain to Sica.” She suddenly beamed. “Yup, that’s it!”

“I see.” Yuri forced herself to buy it. “Well, since I don’t even know her address, I guess that’s not going to happen.” She had a wide grin second later. “You know what? We're in the New York. I’m sure this city has a lot to offer.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s have fun!”

“Just the two of us?!”

“Why not? We spent way too much time with other people. Let’s keep this day to ourselves. Like the old times.”

Seohyun was a bit contemplated. “To think of it, I’ve always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.” She eventually smiled and gave in.

“The Statue of Liberty it is.” Yuri held Seohyun’s hand and pulled her. “Come on!”

Seohyun beamed as she looked at their intertwining hands. She couldn’t help but to be thrilled at the familiar touch. Like the old times~

_____*_____

 

“Pink?!”

“Yah, don’t judge me! I was a lot younger when I left. What do you expect?!”

Yoona chuckled. “It’s a nice room, anyway.” She made her way around and spotted some picture frames on the dressing table. “Is this you?” She held one up.

“Um…y-yeah.” Letting her crush to see her in