Tiffany woke up feeling worse than she had the night before. Jessica’s weary expression burned in her mind. She tossed her bed covers off, then pulled them back over her head, dreading facing Jessica, but she knew she had to. She opened the bedroom quietly and tiptoed outside.

“Good morning, Tiffany!” Jessica said, all too cheerily from the kitchen.

“Oh, uh, g-good morning Jess.” Tiffany stuttered, surprised at the sight of Jessica in an uncharacteristically gaudy floral apron. She was flipping pancakes, looking fresh and cheerful as the batter seared in the pan. Tiffany grabbed a mug and headed towards the coffeepot.

“Your coffee is already on the table, Tiff.” Jessica said, winking at her and sliding a plate neatly onto the table.

Tiffany squinted at her closely. Jessica never used nicknames, cooked, or made coffee. And she was certainly never this happy in the morning, or ever, for that matter. She smiled brightly and Tiffany cringed inwardly.

“Thanks, but um, why did you make breakfast?”

“Well, you know, that’s what friends do, of course.”

Tiffany blinked in confusion.

“Are you sure you-”

“Well, no time for chitchat, got to get dressed for work!” Jessica announced, suddenly disappearing into the hallway and leaving Tiffany by the dining table to stare at the eggs, sausages and pancakes arranged in the shape of a smiley face. After awhile, she got back up and trailed into the hall, almost bumping into Jessica, who had just turned the corner curtly. She was dressed in her full business get-up, black blazer, tucked-in button-up, pencil skirt. She turned her head away and quickly bounded down the hall. Tiffany tried to keep up, almost tripping on her thick socks.  

Jessica grabbed her coat and a shoulder bag, slipping on her heels. Before she could open the door, Tiffany grabbed her wrist. She didn’t turn around.

“Jessica, wait. I’m really sorry, about, um, what I said yesterday. I know how much Blanc and Eclare means to you and how hard you’ve worked. It was all really inconsiderate; I didn’t know what I was saying and it just came out of my mouth. I’m sorry. I’m a terrible friend” Tiffany explained tentatively, unsure of how Jessica was reacting, because she was turned the other way.

Jessica gripped the doorknob tighter as if doing so would quell the welling storm of angry tears and frustration. She wanted to scream and shake Tiffany. They had been best friends for a lifetime, and Tiffany still couldn’t tell what upset her. Abruptly, she whirled around, yanking her arm from Tiffany’s hand. She didn’t bother to hide her b eyes as she glared at Tiffany’s shocked face.

“Is that what you think I’m angry about, Tiffany? A petty comment? I thought you knew me better than that,” Jessica scoffed, leaving Tiffany speechless. “Do you even know what you said? You questioned my loyalty to you, Tiffany Hwang. You asked me if I was even your friend. We’ve known each other before we could even walk. We learned potty training together, cried while getting our ears pierced together, visited Disneyland together every week until we were high schoolers, we were freaking best friends until you moved to Korea and I to France. Does our friendship even mean anything to you?”

Tiffany stared blankly at her, gulping hard.

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Luhan checked his phone for notifications.

Not even an app update.

He frowned at the screen. He reassured himself that Yoona could be sending him a message right this second. He waited for her to press the send button. He turned his phone on again. Still no notifications.

Luhan wrinkled his nose and wondered if maybe his phone was broken and that was why he hadn’t received a text from Yoona. She always kept in touch when she was gone. But in the end, he just satisfied himself with sending her a message. Love you! Call me when you get this message.

As if on cue, his phone rang, and Luhan scrambled to pick it up. His excitement crashed when he saw that the phone number was an unfamiliar one.

“Hello?”

“Um, is this Luhan?” A timid voice asked from the other side of the line. Tiffany.

“Yeah. What’s up, Tiffany?”

Her voice missed a beat. “Nothing much, just wanted to ask about your progress with the ring…”

“Oh. None, I guess. I’ve checked my whole apartment and car.”

“Have you checked the beach?”

“Yeah. Twice. I even traced my path from the palm.” Luhan frowned, his forehead creasing as he spoke into the phone. He sipped absentmindedly at the mug of tea in his hand.  

“Maybe you should, um, check again. The tide might have swept the sand around. You never know.”

“I suppose.”

“Are you busy? I think I can come help you this afternoon.” Tiffany’s voice sounded strained.

“Sure, I’ll see you at three?” He said distractedly.

Luhan hung up the phone without waiting for an answer. The whirlwind of emotions through the past few days had totally drained him. He hadn’t gone to work since the day he drove Tiffany back to her apartment, and he was beginning to feel guilty to his boss--and Yoona. Luhan raked his hands through his hair and blinked his bloodshot eyes sluggishly. There were traces of Yoona everywhere in his apartment.  

Silver-framed snaps of them hung gleaming from the wall he was staring at. The mug in his hand was a gift from Yoona; she had an identical one in her cabinet. The coat spread over the arm of the couch was hers; she’d left it at his apartment one weekend.   Bottles of her favorite sunscreens and face washes littered his bathroom counter.

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Luhan set down the last boxes he was carrying and looked behind him to check on Yoona, who was struggling to see where she was going. He chuckled and shifted some of the things she was carrying so that he was holding them. Her pouting face peeked at him from behind the stack of boxes in her arms.

“I never knew you had so much stuff, Lu.”

“Me neither,” Luhan grinned, surveying the empty apartment, the floor scattered with cardboard boxes.

Yoona explored the small apartment, peeking into each of the rooms, her eyes scanning the blank walls and bland carpets. Luhan trailed carefully behind her. She entered all the closets, dusting off the musty cobwebs and cleared up the cabinets. When Yoona opened the empty refrigerator, Luhan felt his stomach turn. He’d skipped lunch and his breakfast had comprised of a stale biscuit with a measly smear of butter. Yoona raised her eyebrows at him knowingly.

“Hm. Lucky for you, I brought food. It’s still in the passenger’s seat of my-” Before she could finish her sentence, Luhan gave her a quick peck on the cheek and dashed out the open door. After barely a minute, he reappeared, cheeks flushed from the stairs and a doggie bag from Olive Garden in hand.

Half an hour later, the two were seated on the cold tile, Luhan sprawled across the floor, patting his stomach while Yoona munched on the remains of her semi-soggy garlic bread. Suddenly, Luhan rolled over, propping his chin upon his arms.  

“Move in with me, Yoona,” he blurted. “There’s a spare room.”

Yoona was caught off guard and could only blink as she struggled to swallow the bread in , the sharp crust scratching . She had to force closed so that the dry crumbs wouldn’t fall out. Her esophagus was screaming in pain, but her heart was shrieking with joy and all wanted to do was to shout yes over and over again. Their eyes met and Yoona tried to put everything she wanted to say into her gaze. Luhan just blinked at her, before shaking his head, like he had just woken from a bad dream.

“Wait, never mind. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Luhan dismissed the notion and dropped his elbows, missing the disappointment in Yoona’s eyes. She frowned, her appetite faltering exponentially as each second passed. She placed her unfinished bread onto a napkin and turned away towards the wall.

It took Luhan a few moments to notice Yoona’s sulking. He propped himself up to a sitting position and leaned over her shoulder to take a glimpse at her face. She tilted her face away from his. Luhan tapped her cheek, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around so she was facing him.

“What’s wrong?” Luhan asked, completely oblivious.

“Nothing.” Yoona smiled weakly, trying to reason with herself. To her surprise, she felt hands cupped on the sides of her face, lifting her chin until their stares were level.

“Tell me.” His tone was soft but demanding.

“I just…thought that you’d want me to be closer, and I just want to be able to see you every day, and cook for you and watch reality television together,” she blabbered, a few stray tears wetting her cheeks. “I really hoped I could move in with you, like all the other couples do-”

Luhan put a finger on her lips, cutting her off.

“All the other couples, hm?” Yoona nods solemnly. Luhan chuckles softly. “You might be right, but I don’t want us to be like all the other couples. All the other couples have fights, break up, and burn out too quickly. I don’t want us to be like that. We’re going to last forever anyways, so let’s take it slow, okay? We have all the time in the world.”

She immediately felt better.

“I love you,” Yoona said without thinking, and her face reddened.

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Jessica sat silently on the edge of her bed, rubbing the edge of the comforter between the tips of her fingers. She stood up and opened the curtains, letting her gaze linger on the erratic skyline of the city. In her head, she replayed the fight between Tiffany and her, suddenly wondering if it was her that was in the wrong. But then, she just couldn’t figure out how it was considered “wrong” to look out for someone that she cared about.

The other thing that Jessica couldn’t wrap her head around was Tiffany’s undeterrable attraction to Luhan. To her, his betrayal was unforgivable, and she couldn’t understand why Tiffany would put herself in the position that she did. During a single meeting, which lasted less than thirty minutes, Jessica had learned all she needed to know about him: Luhan was prideful and selfish, and Tiffany should’ve stayed away.

She her phone, staring for a while at her lock screen. It was an old picture of herself and Tiffany, probably from back in middle school. Her hair was matted to her forehead and Tiffany’s uniform collar was crooked. They were smiling brightly, cheeks pink, as if they had been running on the sidewalk. Even then, Tiffany had been beautiful, the prettiest flower among a field of weeds.

Jessica knew that people thought she was obsessed, clingy, maybe even romantically interested in her cousin. But it was just the fact that Tiffany was her only friend. And in that sense, Tiffany was right; she did have barely any life outside of her apartment.

Jessica opened her contacts to find her assistant, trying not to think too much.

“Jessica?”

“Wendy? Can you book me a first class airplane ticket for the first flight tonight?”

“Flying to?”

“Anywhere.”

“8:45 P.M. flight to Barcelona, is that alright?”

“It’s perfect. Thanks so much, Wendy. I just need a break from everything.”

“No problem, ma’am.”

“I’m expecting you to take care of the company while I’m gone, Wendy.”

“Of course, Jessica. You just go and have fun.”

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

She sat on the sand, feeling unsettled. She chugged the bottle of lemonade in her hand as if she was getting paid by the ounce, but no matter how much of the liquid she swallowed, it didn’t change the swirling feeling at the pit of her stomach. The noontime sun still hung high in the sky, rays of light fluttering like butterflies. Many people were wearing sunglasses to shield their eyes from the strong sunlight, but Tiffany preferred to keep hers tucked in her bag. Everything was so much brighter, more concentrated, more vivid, more real.

Her phone vibrated with a text message.

Luhan: I’m at the foot of the palms. Where are you?

She stood up and turned around to scan the trees for Luhan’s thin frame. He was standing idly, thumbs in his pockets, probably thinking about his girlfriend. She frowned involuntarily at the thought and jogged towards him, waving. He finally caught her eye as she neared him.

“So...do you have a plan?” Tiffany asked, voice too eager as the words ring in her head. So...do you have a plan? Did she have a plan? Luhan was digging around in the bag he brought and saying something to her, but Tiffany was lost in a maze hidden inside her head. Why was she here? A tiny part of her wished that she’d never left the comfort of the dark streets of Seoul where unseen figures lurked only at night, and she wouldn’t have to be afraid in the daytime, where every enemy was disguised.

“Tiffany? Cat got your tongue?”

“No, I just, um, I-I...” she said, tripping over her words.

He pulled out something that vaguely resembled a frisbee with a stick attached. Tiffany could only stare, not quite sure what it was.

“Never seen a metal detector before?” he asked, flipping the switch on.

“Oh...” In the blink of an eye, she had lost her confidence. She wasn’t sure where she’d left it behind, perhaps in the kitchen with the dirty dishes, or maybe in her sock drawer. Luhan started looking at her strangely, and the intensity of his gaze made Tiffany step back in apprehension.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t noticed the sandpit behind. Her ankle buckled and she stumbled backwards, landing unceremoniously on her gluteus maximus. The pain of the chunky box digging into the skin under her pocket brought a tear to her eye, but Tiffany was reminded of the reason she was there.

She pressed her palms into the sand beside her and stood up, ignoring the hand that he’d offered to her. Tiffany dusted off her shorts and tried her hardest to look cheerful.

“I, um, how about we get started,” she suggested, motioning towards a general direction in an effort to hide her reddening face and razed dignity behind a curtain of windblown hair.

Tiffany followed as Luhan trailed the coastline, occasionally using the tip of her sneaker to nudge at the wet sand. The feeling of her toes sinking into the coldness made her shiver.

Not long after, the metal detector beeped softly and Tiffany almost crashed into Luhan, who had stopped abruptly. His eyes lit up like Christmas trees, he crouched down, using his fingers to delve around in the sand, hand shaking like a leaf in the wind. His expression faltered. It was a broken watch, the glass cover shattered and the chain rusted.

He dropped the thing back into the sediment and continued walking. His mouth was set in a stoic line.  

The two had almost reached the end of the shoreline, and the remaining prospect was bleak. After checking that Luhan’s thoughts were already lost in the clouds, she stooped down and, in one smooth motion, grabbed the box from her pocket, opened it, and placed it in the sand. She pressed it down into the ground, so that it was mostly hidden from view, and with her other hand, she messily retied her shoelaces, as to not look more suspicious than she already did.

“Luhan! I-I found something!” Tiffany infused as much enthusiasm into her expression as she could muster, and it surprised her how convincing she seemed to sound. She decided that she would try her hand in Hollywood if nothing worked out.

She motioned towards the edge of the velveteen fabric peeking through the sand. Her chest ached guiltily at the obvious excitement that Luhan was exuding. He eased it out of the ground, dusting off the overflowing sand.

It was empty.

A seagull appeared out of thin air and plucked the box from Luhan’s limp hands.

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Yoona stared at the blank graph paper spread in front of her, scrutinizing the fine blue lines.

To be quite truthful, creativity had never been her strong suit. She was perfect in arithmetic, her blueprints were always flawless, but a coloring book without the lines would make her forehead bleed. In that aspect, she’d always been jealous of Yuri, whose sketches weren’t always dimensionally realistic, but always unique.

Unfortunately, Yuri had been assigned to a different group, and Yoona was stuck with a few dimwits on the design team and little room for failure. Perhaps if she’d been listening while her clientele was speaking instead of trying to get out a chocolate stain on her cuff, she’d have a slightly better idea of what to do.   

It had barely been a week and a half, and she was already homesick. She missed her elderly, genial doorman who always complimented her shoes, the popcorn texture of the walls in her apartment, going for evening walks without having to dress as if she was embarking on an expedition to the North Pole with Robert Falcon Scott, buying discounted chocolate in aisle 12 at the drugstore at midnight, maybe even her college-aged neighbors who threw parties and played hardcore punk music every other Friday.

And the absence of Luhan just exacerbated the situation even more.

She leaned back into her conference chair, disintegrating into a nebulous cloud of gloom, and just watched her colleagues bicker over the shape of the windows.

She didn't even want to know why they thought gothic inspired pillars on a highrise building were a good idea.

The rest of the day flew past, like ducks migrating during the fall: slowly. The only highlight of her day was her lunch break, where she more than willingly relocated herself and her club sandwich onto a bench outside; a dead leaf was arguably saner than the people that surrounded her.

Her eyes watched the clock like a hawk, ready to flee the room at any given chance. She jumped at the slightest mention of exhaustion to fill a few cups with freshly brewed coffee, with a precise blend of cream to sugar ratio. She also accidentally-on-purpose spilled her water bottle as often as she could get away with, which prompted her to excuse herself from the room in order to grab paper towels.

At sundown, when Junmyeon finally dismissed her team, Yoona fled the room as if her life depended on it. Which it did, sort of. She didn’t want to be the first person in history to literally die of boredom.

Instead of returning straight to her hotel, Yoona wandered the cobbled streets, pulling her scarf tighter around her neck and sampling the local street food. As she let her teeth sink into the thin skin of the crisped kebab, she had to admit, the struggle of trying to communicate with the vendor was definitely worth it.

The aromatic flavor waltzed around on her tongue as she checked into her hotel. Yoona flopped onto the couch, lying on her stomach and staring out the window. A spontaneous gust of air from the air conditioner fluttered around her ankles.

The night was a dark, dark blue and the full moon glowed a brilliant silver, illuminating her suite, close enough that she could touch it if she just stretched far enough. She somehow found comfort in knowing that it was the same sky that lingered over her apartment in Los Angeles, surrounding her balcony with stardust and melancholy on sleepless nights.  

⋘⋘❆⋙⋙

Whoo! New update!! I know it's been a long time, and sorry for maybe tricking some of y'all into thinking there was a double update, sorry!! Anyways, we did decide to introduce a new character, Wendy, and then a mystery love interest ;) We hope you guys have been enjoying this story so far.