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Chapter I.

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This was a stupid idea. Why was she doing this?

Oh right, 'cause she was stupid.

This was shallow, judgmental, inconsiderate, and stupid; it's still not too late to turn back around and end this.

"What is it?"

Too late.

Suddenly she's awkward, shifting from one foot to another, fidgeting with her wristwatch between her fingers as she tries to come up with something to say. The woman in front of her isn't looking too happy, irritation evident on the crease of her brow. Her lips are a tight line and her eyes a shimmering brown behind oval-rimmed glasses.

Tiffany suddenly wonders what she'd look like without them.

"Oh, I just..." Breathe in, "..think you're extremely beautiful."

Perfect.

Now she just needs to somehow get her to come along with her. Maybe urge her with a cup of coffee or something sweet?

The woman remains quiet, silently observing with piercing brown eyes and Tiffany tries hard not to flinch under her scrutinizing gaze. She seems to be waiting for an explanation of some sort, her look ushering to go on.

Tiffany shifts her weight again and finally stops fiddling with her watch, returning the ice princess' gaze with her own.

"I was just wondering if—"

"No."

What?

Tiffany didn't even get to finish her sentence; how would she know what she was going to say?

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused,"

Tiffany's eyes become as wide as saucers as the woman strides past, her arm bumping slightly against her shoulder.

She doesn't know what to say, how to react, except stand still as the woman's steps begin to slowly fade. It's only when Tiffany can't hear her anymore that she turns to the direction she disappeared to.

Tiffany purses her lips, bites the inside of her cheek, as the scene just a moment before continues to play over and over in her head. She merely sighs, kneads her thumb and index finger between her brows.

No wonder no one tries to speak to her.

Jessica 1, Tiffany 0.

But this makes Tiffany all the more motivated.

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"Hey," Tiffany tries, but apparently the woman doesn't hear her from the way she flips through another page of her rather thick book. "...um, Jessica?"

The woman — Jessica — finally focuses her attention up at Tiffany, adjusting the position of her glasses before sliding her book shut.

Tiffany knows of Jessica's infamous stare — more like glare — and doesn't dare to back down from it. Jessica doesn't speak much, but when she does, her words seem to pierce through like a sword to the chest.

She straightens the collar of her sweater, her other hand fiddling with the material of her jeans pocket. Tiffany can't forget her very first conversation with the ice princess and how Jessica had easily brushed her off like a speck of dirt on her round, geeky glasses.

Words seem to be Jessica's weapon.

"A friend of mine wants your autograph," she says calmly, after having cleared plenty of times before entering the library.

Tiffany can see the faint tint of bewilderment plastering across the ice princess' face before it is replaced back to her impassive expression.

The autograph excuse was plausible, since Jessica was a renowned author for her artistic and meaningful books. She achieved great success despite still attending university. She's extremely popular among literature students.

So this should have come off as natural.

But apparently not.

"Just get straight to the point," Tiffany merely stands in confusion until Jessica elaborates, "it isn't an autograph you're really looking for, so what is it?"

Tiffany sighs then, defeated, ruffling her dark onyx hair with one hand in frustration before slumping into a chair beside the ice princess, the action startling Jessica. She honestly thought she was a little more convincing than that. She didn't even get that far.

"What gave me away? The facial expression? The way I talk or something?"

To Tiffany's amusement, Jessica's eyes widen in surprise, clearly not used to such casual ease in a conversation with a complete stranger.

Tiffany only knew her as the creative author, with the school proudly advertising and plastering her face across several literature works all over.

Jessica was famous for her unique style of writing, how she managed to drive her story with believable characters and descriptive vocabulary. But a common theme that Jessica always wrote in each of her books was how people just couldn't seem to think past raised barriers. That people don't try hard enough to see beneath the surface.

Tiffany admits that she had read every single one of them, even if she wasn't into literary arts.

She preferred music and track and field (that she was forced into by unanimous decision). Apparently, her upbeat, ecstatic personality and never ending supply of stamina, were factors that fully convinced her friends that she'd be perfect as a runner. They were right.

Tiffany loves running, even though her friends say it's merely a perfect way of getting rid of her excess energy.

"There's no point in trying to keep up with you," Seohyun, her underclassman and roommate had told her one evening.

"No..." Tiffany quirks a curious brow, casually leans back to watch the ice princess fiddle with the corners of her book. "...forget it." The corners of her lips curl downwards before Jessica continues on. "Either way, that isn't the point. What are you bothering me for?"

Tiffany speculates that the only reason she has been labelled the 'ice princess' was because of her blunt and frank nature.

"My friend wants to ask you out,"

Oops.

"Is she that little midget over there?" And Tiffany isn't sure which fact shocks her more. The fact that her 'midget' friend had followed her to the library and is currently failing at hiding behind a stack of dictionaries, or the fact that Jessica assumes it is a female instead of a male friend. "The only reason I thought this friend was female was because there's a girl creeping at a corner just watching us."

Oh Tae-tae, despite being incredibly short, you can't hide behind a pile of books to save your life. Tiffany laughs to herself inwardly.

"Well, yeah. You got her, so what will it be?"

Tiffany doesn't know how she became the bridge of forming a possible relationship, but she honestly finds it slightly amusing how Taeyeon continues to peek over every once in a while. She doesn't seem to realize how painfully obvious she's being.

She hears Jessica giggle beside her, a light gentle sound that emitted from lush lips and suddenly, Tiffany doesn't mind listening to it more often.

"Tell her no thanks, not interested." And true to her nickname, she rejects her admirer as cool as ice. "Is that all?" Jessica asks as she motions to open her book to read once again.

Tiffany only chuckles before rising from her seat.

Truthfully, Tiffany is surprised at how suddenly comfortable it is to talk to the ice princess. She doesn't feel as awkward as yesterday, and they actually carried a rather normal, simple conversation without getting at each other's throats - considering they were at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Tiffany was an athlete; Jessica was a bookworm.

Tiffany couldn't stop moving around, Jessica could stay still for hours on end.

Wait a minute...

Suddenly remembering the day before, a sly smile plays on Tiffany's lips before she motions to leave. She circles around the table so she'll stand just in front of Jessica and leans over to meet her face to face.

She sees Jessica pause from reading, her eyes widening a second time as Tiffany tentatively reaches out.

Jessica's weapon may be words, but Tiffany's was action.

Slowly, she pulls the oval-rimmed glasses off Jessica's face and muses with a mischievous voice:

"I meant it when I said you're beautiful,"

Tiffany tries hard not to laugh when she sees Jessica's mouth agape.

But oops.

Tiffany forgot that Taeyeon is there at the library too.

"Fany-ah! What was that all about?!"

Tiffany doesn't know how to respond to that as she strides out of the library, Taeyeon trailing closely beside her. But she's rather glad that she got even with Jessica's cold brush off the day before, seeing as how she managed to leave a flustered and blushing Jessica to seethe in her seat.

They were even now.

The score; Jessica 1, Tiffany 1.