CHAPTER 17     “Whooo~” I exhaled and saw cold plumes of white smoke materialize from my mouth. It was already half past six when I reentered the Soshi Café and the slowly darkening surroundings made seeing the effect of winter in one’s lungs easier. True, I immediately came to the establishment after leaving Yoong’s house, but after having lunch there for an hour, and doing nothing, I got bored so I decided to stroll around the plaza looking and sampling through cosmetics, clothings and shoes. HEY! Girl needs to stay pretty! I didn’t purchase anything but it was a great way to burn time down. I repeatedly returned to the café however, peering through the branded glass windows to check whether Yoong has decided to come but she never did.   Now I’m on a mission to burn yet more time before heading home… I really don’t know how to face Taengoo, moreso if that Tiffany girl is there, so I decided it’d be better to come home really late and hope to God she’d be inside her room asleep…   That way I can sleathly go inside, back hug her for a while, tuck her to bed, give her a good night kiss on the forehead and slip out without her knowing. Seohyun-ssi only said NOT to say the words “Like” or “Love” right? And stay away from Taengoo… hypothetically speaking, when she’s awake. So… I guess doing that every night would count as following those stupid steps… Right?   Sigh…   I wonder what she’s doing right now?   My eyes landed at the store phone hanged aside the main counter and I wondered if it’ll be playing within Seouhyun-ssi’s rules if I gave Taengoo a call?   Shouldn’t that be alright too?! After all, I just wanted to check whether she’s already at home or still out, had she had dinner…     RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG X3   RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG X3   She’s not answering! Where the hell is she…?! Unconciously I bit my lips, clacked my heels, twirled and untwirled the phone’s cord around my fingers, feeling impatient, nervous and at the same time disappointed with the possibility that she wasn’t at home…   RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGG X3   Should I drop the call-   Beep.   “Hello. You’ve reached the Kim residence, Ugh… Right now, I’m out. So… Please leave a message! And… I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Thank you!”   Hihi Cute, Idiot Taengoo! What kind of answering machine message is that?! Haha   Beep.   Oops. In the end, I couldn’t drop the call after hearing her cutie patootie voice like that… ugh… STUPID FOOLISH ME!!!   “He he cough, Umn Taengoo, this is Sica. I just… Umn I’m wondering if you want to have dinner? If you haven’t that is (Oh no! Wrong move Sica! I accidentally invited her for dinner!!! Seohyun-ssi’s gonna kill me!!!)Oh! He…he… so I’ll be in the Soshi Café? Well… see you if ever!”   Click.   Was that message casual enough?   I ended up spewing gibberish in aniety… Didn’t I?   UGH… What did I just do?! That didn’t even sound like me!!! GRRRR heung! L   It’s so hard following Seohyun-ssi’s steps… it’s starting to drive me nuts!! UGH! In frustration I ended up messing my hair, then when people started glancing and staring at me, I halted, grinned ha… ha… ha…, embarrassed with my show of lunacy and finally layed my cheeks sideways down the table and pouted.   Sigh… I wonder if she’s still out with Tiffany now…       XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX       “Kachack”   The sound of keys locking resonated through ajumma’s porch as I walked Fany out, insisting I take her back to Myeongdong station, which is a good ten stations and one transfer away from here. Since there was no direct transportation from Ajumma’s house to the nearest subway station, and it was already dark out on a neighborhood she wasn’t familiar with, I decided it’d be too risky letting a pretty high schooler like her (But Taeyeon you’re pretty too!) travel back alone.    Besides… I didn’t really want to be left in the house, thoughts running circles on whether something bad has possibly happened to Sica already, or on Fany’s weird actions just now…   No further words escaped her after saying “Maybe… I…” and it bothers me to no end what she meant by it, or what she wanted really to say…   Maybe if I spend more time with her she’ll decide to spill it out? And prevent my brain from possibly having a catatonic seizure from all this thinking! Ugh…       By the time we reached the Myeongdong Shopping Plaza again, it was already around seven in the evening, and for the whole of the travel we still haven’t exchanged any words…   Sigh… I guess it’s another sleepless night for me… but this time no Sica to warm me up and back hug me… Sigh… I guess Mother Dookong (An extra large sized Dookong Taeyeon keeps for dire cases such as this. Lately though because of the stress, she’s had it placed 24/7 on the side of her bed) would have to do for now…   We passed by the Soshi Café, the one and only pink roofed establishment in Myeongdong so no one can miss it, and I wondered if I can grab some cupcakes (Their red velvet ice cream cupcakes are ama-aaaa-zing!) for food comfort later… Glancing, I slightly peered at the window expecting to see that modelesque café staff when I saw the person I’ve been worrying over all day surprisingly flashed by my view!   HUH?! SICA?!!!   Is that?!   YEAH! No doubt about it, it’s her camel coat, blue knitted sweater and beige skinnies, the ensemble she wore this morning! Gosh really Sica has more stuffs in her closet after months of staying than I could ever have after a lifetime.    BUT…   I’m with…   Fany…   I looked upfront and saw Fany’s back slowly moving farther and farther away from where I stood.   OH NO!!!! WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!   WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?!   I kept looking back and forth between Sica and Fany when the latter abruptly stop and turned to face me with her head remaining low.   “Umn… Tae Tae… I-I I’m sorry for what I said earlier… he… he… It must’ve been weird huh?” Finally lifting her head, I don’t know if it was because of the area’s dim lightling but I vaguely saw her eyes mistied and lips… trembling. “I’m sorry Tae… but… You go on home, I-can-, no I t-think… umn the station’s very near, I think I’ll be okay now.”   Fany…   I must’ve been a genius on my previous life because all my common sense seems to have been drained from my body as I came to Fany and hugged her saying things like “No… don’t be sorry” “It’s okay, It’s okay” “You don’t have to say anything, it’s okay” while her back and calming her as tears finally flowed down her face. I knew in my heart that what I did was sorta wrong and that I shouldn’t swing back and forth between Sica and Fany but… at that moment I really felt that Fany needed me. So what can I do when the girl I used to love comes back and ask for some of my warmth?   At the back of my head, I also thought that tomorrow I’m gonna confront that -face Yuri and give her a piece of my mind! HMP!   Sica… Please wait for me… I’m just going to drop off Fany to the station and I’ll be back for you.   … … …   A few minutes after at Myeongdong Station     “Fany are you really