“Yuri-yah.” Tiffany croons sickly sweet, her hands finding their way to my upper arm and she gives a firm squeeze. I pretend not to notice as she continues her prodding like inspection of my biceps and continue to go through my progress reports. The girl has always been the touchy type, sometimes I wonder whether she even knows this thing called personal space.

 

I have absolutely no idea why Tiffany is even here in the gym. I’ve never seen her step foot here since I first announced my acceptance a few years back, and even now I don’t see a stylish pink gym bag anywhere. Or even a regular non-pink bag, aside from her channel purse she loves taking with her, anywhere in the vicinity. Her attire doesn’t even look comfortable enough to do minor stretching without the risk of tearing. Not that I think Tiffany would even dare sweat in those clothes.

 

I peek down to her feet. Expensive looking high heels. Definitely not here for a workout.

 

“Ppany-ah, not to be rude or anything… but what exactly are you doing here?”

 

Another prod. This time her thumb pushes a little too close to my armpits and I jerk back slightly from the tingling feeling. Her lips curl a little and she gives my arm one last squeeze before slipping her arm through my own.

 

“I just wanted to pay you a visit Yuri-yah. I thought it wasn’t fair that I’ve never spend time with you alone. And after all these times I never got to visit you in your natural element.” I roll my eyes.

 

“Natural element?” I glance at her, just in time to see her eyes dart to the glass separating the front desk to the gym. A buff gym rat had just stripped off his tank top, his well-built torso up for everyone’s eyes to sample. And by everyone I meant Tiffany. I nudge her side, turning my body so that I would block her view while making shooing motions to the guy as we lock eyes.

 

“Yuri!” Tiffany protests, slapping my shoulder as she pulls away, trying to get one last look at the guy’s disappearing back.

 

“Ppany-ah, really? Drooling after guys like a high school student? I thought you were better than that.” I shake my head.

 

And receive a second slap. “I do not drool. I am simply admiring the effort the man put into sculpting his body to that resembling a Roman soldier.”

 

“I’m pretty sure Roman soldiers had symmetrical muscle mass on both top and bottom, not tapered like what most believe to be the “perfect” body. Take him for example” I jab a thumb over to the guy passing by the window. “One leg sweep and he’s out of a fight. That’s why we should never skip leg day.”

 

“Oh my God, Yuri. We’re not in the ancient times. There’s not a huge war waiting to happen with swords and spears.” Tiffany rolls her eye.

 

“Really, Ppany-ah. I’m pretty sure the last thing you would want to do is sweat and possibly gain muscle mass. What are you doing here?”

 

“Can I ask you for a favour?”

 

“Depends on wha-”

 

“It’s about Jessie.”

 

That got my attention. I haven’t seen Jung Jessica since that night we had that group dinner. It was fine, until the end when I had to leave earlier due to early schedule- and pestering from Yoona about chicken. She had waved off my apology stating that Taeyeon can take her home. I didn’t see her for the rest of the week.

 

So that’s what I tell Tiffany. “She hasn’t been here.”

 

“I know, thus my favour.”

 

“.. and this favour has got something to do with Jung how?”

 

“Simple.” She smiles (deviously), eyes turning into their signature crescents. “You go to her.”

 

“What?”

 

“She needs the exercise, but knowing that woman she can’t be bothered to go regularly to gym. So, my solution is for you to go to her.”

 

I sigh. “Ppany-ah, that’s a personal trainer’s job.”

 

“And you’re a trainer.” Tiffany interrupts. She claps her hand, wide grin in place. “Great. So that’s settled-“

 

“Whoa! Ppany-ah. I haven’t agreed to anything.” I stop her, holding her steady by her shoulder before she can go elsewhere. For a girl with high heels Tiffany could make a pretty speedy get away.

 

I shake my head. “I’m sorry Ppany-ah, but with this shift starting from 10 am and the waitressing at 6 pm I can’t afford the time to go elsewhere aside from work, home and back to work.”

 

Tiffany’s smile doesn’t falter. Hell it seems to grow a tad bit wider. She reaches up for my hands and gives them a pat. “And that’s the beauty of this job, you won’t need to get out of your way. Just an hour, and you get paid too!” she chirps, way too happily.

 

“Bu- Ppany-ah. Unless we both live in the same block.. you know the traffic here.”

 

“That won’t be a problem.” She pulls away, snatching the pen I had used and a piece of paper from the counter she starts scribbling in her small, cursive writing. “She lives near your place. I was actually surprised that you’ve never bumped into each other even once. I mean she’s been there a little longer than you and her schedule is…” she stops writing, chucking the pen to the side and neatly folding the paper in fourths. “By the way, you know yoga too, right?”

 

She turns around, and God I shouldn’t have looked at her face. Brows scrunch in the middle with her wide puppy-dog eyes and lips slightly puckered out as she held the small piece of paper in both her hands completing the overall pitiful look. “Please Yuwee-yah. Do this for me… for Jessie.”

 

My shoulders slouch as I breathed noisily out my nose. The things I do for friends. I extend my hand wordlessly and could practically feel Tiffany’s beaming smile.

 

She slips the paper into my hand, reaching with the other to tap the side of my face. “You’re a doll, Yuri.” She says, leaning up to place a quick peck on my cheek. I couldn’t get away with her other hand keeping my head in place and instead grimaced when her lips made contact.

 

“You owe me.” I mutter right before she pulled away.

 

She giggles, tapping my face twice before making her way towards the entrance, shaking her hips as she moved. She looked back sending me a flying kiss and a wink before pulling the glass door and walking out of the club.

 

Why did that act look a little bit sultry?

 

The muffled pounding and catcalls behind me answered that question. Placing a practiced scowl I whirled around. Unlike what I expected the boys stare at me for a while longer before the smirks starts spreading through the group. I slap the glass partition before they started to disperse, still sniggering.

 

What just happened there?

 

“Yuri, your 1:30 should be here soon.” Hara called out, coming out from the break room and rubbing her wet hair with the towel over her shoulder. I redirected my gaze as soon as I noticed the top she had on, or lack there off.

 

“Yeah I got it.” I reached for my clipboard, securing the folded paper before checking if I have my 1:30 appointment file on hand. “And can you put on a shirt? I thought you didn’t want to be ogled at like some eye candy.”

 

“Aw, but Yuri-yah, you’re gonna protect me from the hormone driven rats right?” I don’t answer.

 

“Yuri-yah?” I glance up from my clipboard and nearly had my soul jump out of my body. Hara grinned cheekily, not even bothering to move away from the uncomfortably close proximity between us, in fact she looks to be leaning even closer. I lean my neck back, cursing in my mind when I feel my back hitting the counter. Cornered like a frightened mouse.

 

“H-hara?” I stuttered. Her smirk grew wider. I clear my throat, subtly lifting the clipboard higher between us. “What are-“

 

“That color suits you well, Yuri-yah.” She says, finally backing up.

 

I blink dumbly at her. “Color?”

 

She nods her head, thumbing the side of her face as she walks back around the counter and back to her neglected books.

 

I reach up to my cheeks, cool fingers a huge contrast to the warmth emanating from my skin. When I pull it away smudged on the tips was the bright red color of Tiffany’s lipstick. That sly woman.

 

“I think it suits you more, Hara.” I said, brushing my palm over the mark.

 

 

 

 

 

I stare, dumbly might I add, at the crumpled piece of paper that I had nearly forgot I had stuffed into my jeans pocket on my way home. I’m pretty sure I would’ve completely forgotten about it and thrown my jeans in the wash were it not for the messages Tiffany sent (spammed) in my mail box.

 

Only the first two messages mentioned our proposal, the rest were littered with non-sense and random emoji (mostly kissy faces) designed to remind me of our agreement. When I finally did dig out the paper from my back pocket, crumpled from the constant stuffing and pulling out of my pitifully light wallet, the string of numbers and cursive letters had me drop everything, literally and figuratively speaking.

 

Now I stand in front of Jung Jessica’s front door, clutching the piece of paper so loosely that the slightest breeze would’ve sent it flying out of my hand. I glanced distractedly over to the closed lift when muffled echo of its ding bounced off the empty hall, half expecting a spectre of sort to phase out of the double doors and chase after me like a horrible nightmare.

 

Of course, no such thing happened. The steel doors just barely reflected the color of the clothes I’m wearing and nothing else. The next thing I notice is the plastic analogue clock on the wall right in between the two lifts, the hour and minute hand reads 8:03. I have an hour and fifty-seven minutes before work starts.

 

I can probably get twenty minutes to devote Jessica in warm ups… no, no… probably half an hour just for four sets of that.. maybe… and then the next hour would be for aerobic training. Which reminds me, I forgot to ask Tiffany if Jessica had any equipment, even a dumbbell we could use. I guess we can use a bottle of water as substitute. Maybe I can pop back to my unit and grab a few stuffs. Would that be too assuming of me? Would she take it the wrong way? Well I guess I could check first and excuse myself…

 

“Oh God, this is giving me a headache..” I massage my right temple.

 

“Take your damn finger off the call button Kwon, before I cut it off for you.” My eyes snapped to the irritated glare of none other than the Jung Jessica. With her strawberry blond hair tousled like she had just came out of bed, and I don’t doubt that she just did, and her bare face looking just a little puffy. She huffs, reaching to yank my hand from its position hovering over the call button. When did that get there?

 

“What are you doing here?” she snaps, leaning against the doorframe, hands automatically crossing over her chest, which I’m pretty sure is not secured with a brassiere. I can only see two straps on either side of her shoulder, both from the dark-blue sleeveless top she was wearing.

 

Focus Yuri!

 

“I-uh.. Ppany.. I uh… d-do-don’t know if.. you agreed to the- the proposition she uh..”

 

She holds up a hand. I flinch and clamp my mouth shut.

 

“Tiff has something to do with this.” She states more than ask. I nod my head anyway. She doesn’t look like she was in the mood to do anything but bash a bottle to someone’s head, and if I wasn’t careful unfortunately that unlucky er would be me. I stay quiet, trying to calm my heart beat down while I waited for Jessica to do something other than silently fume on the doorstep of her unit.

 

She huffs, letting her arms fall to her side and walks back into her unit. “Close the door.” She says over her shoulder. I take that as my invitation in her unit and quickly step inside, closing the door behind me as gently and silently as I could.

 

“Um… so…” I stated, self-consciously shifting from one foot to the other as I stood in front of the door. Jessica was already at the sink in the kitchenette right beside the entrance, filling her glass water heater halfway.

 

My eyes fall on the milky skin of her back, showcased by the wide armhole. At an angle if she raises her arms I can almost see her unhindered..

 

I force my eyes to the ceiling.

 

“Water? Coffee? Or tea?” Jessica asks and instinctively I call out my favourite drink before the thought had fully processed in my mind. Yes, I have a problem. I’m addicted to coffee. It didn’t even matter what kind of coffee it is, be it the top of the notch beans from some faraway place pooped out by an elephant or a civet or even regular old instant coffee. Coffee is coffee and damn it if I could have the rights to all the coffee in the world in exchange for my soul, I’d give it up in a heartbeat.

 

“Do you take it with milk?”

 

“I’m sorry?” Jessica had her back to me, scouring her nearly empty- yet surprisingly cluttered- fridge for a small carton of milk. She brought the milk up to her eye, reading what I assume to be the best before print, a small frown on her face. A moment later she shrugs and straightens up, turning to face me. She shakes the carton, an eyebrow raised.

 

“Milk?” she repeats.

 

“Uh..” That shrug… should I risk it? “I’ll take it black, thank you.”

 

She nods her head lazily, eyes on the milk.

 

“Do you need help?”

 

Shake of the head. She flicks the electric kettle on and grabs two mugs from the dish dryer beside the sink. Without looking at me she points towards the entrance to the dining/living room.

 

I know when I’m not needed.

 

The dining/living room isn’t big. The dining table was pushed flush against the wall, four wooden chairs pushed into the table to minimize the space it consumed. There wasn’t a tv in sight, a single couch was pushed at opposite corner of the room along with a tall lamp, right beside the glass window that led out to the small veranda, which left the modestly sized room fairly bare.

 

A lot of leg room.

 

Still it is surprising to see the minimal furniture in the unit. Even I have at least a tv and sofa set- Yoona and Sooyoung had dragged it into the living room one day, wouldn’t say where they got it from. It was, and still is, comfortable and didn’t stink so I didn’t bother to question them anymore.

 

Walking right at the center of the room I spread my arms out to the side, as far as I could reach, twisting one way then the other. I move to the side, arms still sticking out, and stop as soon as the tip of my middle finger brushed lightly against the wall. There’s enough free space to hold a private class.

 

Has the units in this building always been this wide?

 

I remember the first day I moved into my unit. Yoona and Sooyoung brought in the couch a few days later filling in the emptiness, so I never really got to roll around the carpet and just enjoy the freeness of the open space. After setting everything up it didn’t leave a lot of free space but it wasn’t cramped either.

 

Standing in what is an almost exact copy of my own unit, but with more room to move in, gave me a little bit of a chill.

 

I nearly jump out of my skin when I felt a soft breeze passing behind me.

 

And I definitely yelped when a hot mug was passed onto my open hand, my mind unprepared for the spike of temperature onto bare skin. Thankfully the mug was pulled away, but in return I receive a snort and a whispered “wimp” from the source of my discomfort.

 

“Jeshika-ssi.. I was unprepared.” I mutter, taking the mug from her. I readjust it in my hands so that I was clutching the handle and all parts of my skin were on the cooler surface.

 

“So… about Ppany’s proposition..”

 

She sighed. Turning on her heels she didn’t give me a chance to finish nor did she give me an answer as she made her way to the hallway leading to her bedroom. I fumbled with the mug in my hand wondering how I was supposed to come about the topic again once Jessica comes back, if she comes back out of her room. I haven’t fully sorted out my mind when she came right back out, this time with her brassier on. I avert my eyes to the black, murky water, silently cursing Taeyeon and her erseness rubbing off on me. It probably didn’t help that recently Sooyoung and Yoona would constantly argue about their bust size, once pulling me in as a referee, not that it mattered. They were both fairly flat. But Jessica was another story. There was a lot of something there and-

 

“So how do we begin?” Her voice snaps me back to reality. I could already feel the heat from the coffee’s steam on one side of my face and hoped I didn’t confuse that with a blush from once again being caught red-handed in losing myself in my… thoughts.

 

“uh.. Ye-Yeah. We’ll get started with warm ups, the same ones from last time and we’ll work our way from there. So you’ll be doing.. you don’t happen to have weights lying around, do you?”  Raised brow. “Right. Well, we can do without those.. unless you want them- I can go get them… for… you..”

 

My sentence trails at the end as I watch Jessica bend right down her middle, her arm stretching down, palms flat against the floor. Didn’t think someone as lazy as Jessica was so flexible. Even I had a bit of a hard time, only until the ends of my fingers could reach and no more- that is until I started yoga.

 

“Impressed Kwon?” she straightens up, smirking.

 

“Uh..do.. you do ballet?” Nice save. Not even a stutter.

 

She raises a brow but keeps sealed. She bends back down, continuing her stretching. I avert my gaze (from her marvellous twins), bringing the mug up to my lips and take careful sips.

 

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, what has hanging out with those crazies done to me..

 

 

 

 

 

We fall into a routine.

 

I wake up sometime around 6 in the morning, somehow having to go through a daily struggle of looking for my blaring alarm that always ends up on the floor.

 

Do my business.

 

Get dressed.

 

Prepare my breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day. A balanced diet makes a healthy woman and a happy day.

 

I watch a few minutes of the morning news. I’m never too busy to spare a few moments acquiring general information of what’s going on around me.

 

After everything I gather my things, always making sure I have my cellphone, wallet and keys and it was off to Jessica’s floor. Speaking off, Jessica’s reaction to that certain information was a huge disappointment. There was no widening of the eyes, no sputtered words.

 

“Is that so?” Was her only response, her face retaining its passive expression. Of course, that meant I had no choice but to bring my weights down to her unit. Thankfully we both agreed that it was for the best that I leave them in her unit instead of hauling everything back to my place every single day.

 

A month and a half has gone by since then, and though Jessica still has that general feeling about her like she’s unimpressed by what’s going on around her, I think I am confident enough to say that she’s not what she seems to be. Unlike the impression most people back in uni have of her I now kind of understand why exactly she’s friends with loud, happy-go-lucky girls like Tiffany and Sooyoung. Sure she has this aloof exterior- to an extent she is- but she’s far more sensitive than she lets on. She’s a feeler- her whole mood relies heavily on her emotions. When she’s sad, stressed or frustrated she withdraws to recuperate. When she’s happy, elated or generally feeling like it’s a good day it shows in the way she interacts with the people she’s closest to. It was mostly subtle, if you didn’t know her and weren’t watching out for it you would miss it entirely. Not saying that we’re super close or that I’m a creepy stalker, I’m not. I just notice stuff is all.

 

By no means is she a morning person. If our first early morning home session wasn’t a clear enough indication of her hatred to this particular time of the day it was made crystal clear by the following sessions. Messy bed hair, squinted eyes, low grumbling- or cursing- in between our ritual morning greetings and coffee- by the third session I had completely taken over this work as she flops sleepily on her single couch and try to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Never the less she kept to the whole routine, only arguing once about lowering the amount of sets to do in the morning of which I explained to her that it was better for her to go through the whole thing rather than half-assing it. She’s never bought it up again.

 

I have been kicked out of her unit one time. I was preparing coffee, talking loudly about whatever I could think of to fight off the silence. Next thing I know I felt my collar tightening against my windpipe as I was dragged out of the unit, the door slamming shut right after my things.

 

The same evening I found a large to go cup of cooling coffee on my kitchen counter. At first I thought Sooyoung, who was lounging and snacking on my couch, bought it for me. Then I found the shaky single worded apology scribbled across the paper cup.

 

That was three days ago.

 

Now here I am, hiding away from the hot, humid weather in a kind of posh restaurant feeling like an underdressed idiot. It wasn’t full on posh since it was just the Italian restaurant downtown, but still, I’m in my hideous windbreaker and a thin, blue, cotton sweater over my sleeveless shirt. In my defence sitting in a restaurant in the middle of the day was not part of my morning schedule for the day.

 

She had suddenly turned up at the gym right before noon. I don’t have a clear idea as to how she managed to persuade Hara to give up my schedule and convince her to keep the next hour and a half of my afternoon free. Then again, Hara isn’t the type to say no to a little bribing, if you know her likes she would bend at the order. Not that I’m complaining, but a heads up would’ve been nice. A shirt and a decent pair of denims would’ve been way better than my current get up.

 

I tilt the can of fizzy lemonade to my mouth, taking small measured sips. The refreshing lemony burst in my mouth helped calm me some. At least I had something to do other than stare at the woman at the other side of the table. I think this is her way of apologizing for the other day and as cute as the thought is… it’s still awkward with the dead air between us.

 

I continue fiddling with the can, counting every single white spatter to keep my mind preoccupied. The artist behind the design must’ve been bored enough to make a hundred dots on this thing.

 

“Maybe they were.” Jessica said, a small amused smile pulling at her lips.

 

Wait. Did I say that out loud?

 

“You did say that out loud.”

 

God damn it mouth! I bit my traitorous tongue, keeping my eyes glued on the can as I take a deep calming breath.

 

“I uh…”

 

“Carbonara.” The waiter’s booming voice intervened. I glance up, grateful for the interruption, and had poised to raise my hand. I caught the raised brow and a smirk coming from Jessica’s side before realizing how childish I must look like, raising my hand as if I was in grade school. I bring my hand to my mouth, pretending to cough. “Th-that’s mine. Thank you.” The man nodded, smiling a little too wide to be normal as he slid the beautifully designed plate of carbonara in front of me. It even had one of those small green stalk on top. I wonder if that’s edible too.

 

Jessica’s T-bone steak follows, placed on a hot plate. Small bit of juice jumps out of the plate as the meat continued to sizzle, pushing forth an aroma that just made my mouth water. It was a big slab of meat, bigger than the length of my face I bet. I wasn’t about to prove my theory with the constant splattering of hot juice and the scary sizzle procured by the plate. With one last flourished bow the waiter left. I would’ve said the atmosphere quickly turned awkward, had it not been for Jessica’s expression. She didn’t seem all that thrilled to receive -watering behemoth of a stake. Her stoic face twitched like she was holding back the agony of being burned as her hands remained clasped over her lap.

 

Grabbing my fork I fiddled with the edge of the pasta, continuing to watch Jessica for her next move. She sat still for the next minute, chewing her bottom lip, her eyes glancing from her meal to the glass of red wine she had ordered earlier sitting a few inches  away from the hot plate. She made no move.

 

Odd, wouldn’t it be best to eat the steak while it was still hot and sizzling? The thin layer of gravy was quickly getting over cooked around the side of the steak.

 

Was she afraid of getting scalded?

 

The only time I’ve seen her in the kitchen was the few times she prepared coffee. The first time I went around her kitchen, looking for the coffee grinds and not being a stalker, I never really saw much in terms of cooking materials. There was a knife set, looked almost unused had it not been for the displacement of one or two knives. There was a pan, a toaster and a microwave. I’ve never really seen the inside of her fridge, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t cook.

 

“Do you…” I trail off. How am I supposed to help her without sounding offensive? I mean I’m implying she can’t take care of herself. Should I take the direct approach and just offer to cut her meat? Doesn’t it seem too thick of me? Oh God, how would Tiffany handle this? Wait, the girl has Taeyeon doing all her dirty work. . She’s staring at me. Kwon, say something!

 

“Uh… I uh.. Do you- do you like carbonara?” Nice.. Yeah, that totally didn’t sound awkard. Well, no going back now.

 

Jessica a brow. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

 

“Really?! I mean, I uh.. I’m lactose intolerant, see. And I didn’t realize how.. creamy this was. This looks like all cream. I don’t think I can have it without suffering the.. consequences… would you be alright if we switched plates? I mean, only if you’re alright with it. I’ll share the steak too!”

 

I hold my breath. I didn’t just sound like a total idiot, right?

 

“Sounds fair.” She motions with her head. I don’t waste time and carefully switch our dishes around. I feel a slight prick of pins on my arm from the flying juice, but the small (grateful) smile on Jessica’s face had made it worth it.

 

In the end Jessica managed finish the plate of carbonara plus half the steak and still had room for a little jelly cathedral for desert. I understand now how she and Sooyoung became friends. Which brings me back to the most famous unanswered question, where did they put all of that food?