Summer vacation passed by like a breeze. Here I am again, at the airport, sitting at my regular spot while holding the sign. I heavily sighed as today was yet another long day. I’ve been here since 7 a.m. and it’s currently 4 p.m. Just two more groups to go, then I can go home. I looked at my list of incoming students and unconsciously looked for OO University. The university that Jessica was from. I found three students from the same university and I couldn’t help but feel sad nostalgia. Ugh, there goes that feeling again.

I shrugged off the feeling and proceeded to read thru each of the names. As I was going down the list, the name Hwang came up. Oh yeah. Almost forgot about her. Her name is Hwang Tiffany, if I remember correctly…huh? The first name next to ‘Hwang’ was Miyoung. Maybe it’s a typo? No, that can’t be right. Ah! So it’s similar to Jessica’s situation! What are the odds…?

I walked up to the display board to see if there were any flight changes. As I was scanning the board, I felt someone tap my shoulder. Totally caught off guard, I immediately turned around and hit the person in front of me with my sign. . I think I literally punched them in the stomach.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! You surprised me and…and…and I didn’t notice how close you were…! Are you okay?!” Obviously no, but I was freaking out; flailing my arms and looking around if anyone saw. Wait, priorities!

I knelt down to check their condition only to hear them start groaning in pain. Holy . Did I already injure one of our students? I’m going to get a scolding from my boss later…

“I’m so sorry for hitting you so suddenly… are you bleeding?! Do you need me to call the ambulance?! Are you—?!” I was asking a stream of questions until she put her hand up motioning for me to shut up.

She slowly breathed out and started, “What an interesting way to finally meet you…Kim Taeyeon.” She chuckled a bit and looked up at me directly into my eyes.

What. The. Hell.

I was awestruck. I was possessed. No. I almost deceased. How can someone look so stunning from a 14-hour flight? She wasn’t even wearing any makeup, yet her skin was flawless. Her hair was unkempt, yet at the same time beautiful as the waves of her hair looked like a calm ocean. Her dark brown eyes looked like pools of melted chocolate. And the way her eyes resembled the shape of a crescent moon while smiling, that’s what killed me. I could ramble on and on about this angel in front of me. One word encompasses all the positive adjectives in the world, perfection.

“Umm…hello?” Her husky voice rung through my ears that broke me out of my trance. , , . Just what got into me? This is no time to ogle over this goddess in front of me.

“S-sorry! I-I mean…are you o-okay?” What a train wreck.

She just let out a small laugh and cutely nodded her head, “Yeah, I’m okay!” What a relief…she’s fine. I offered her my hand in which she gladly accepted and stood in front of me.

“You really packed a punch, huh?” She jokingly said while rubbing her stomach.

“I-I guess?” I let out a small chuckle while rubbing the back of my neck. Man, how embarrassing. “Let’s start over.” I quickly added to make the tension disappear. She responded with a wide smile that almost blinded me. Literally.

“I’m guessing you already know, I’m Kim Taeyeon. And you are…?” Wait, is this Jessica’s friend, Tiffany? If I recall…we haven’t exchanged messages in over 2 weeks since I’ve already answered all of her questions back in July. But I’ve never seen her face. Wait, she didn’t have a profile picture of her actual face. So this could be just another student studying abroad. But before, she greeted me with my full name and seemed like she was familiarized with me. But then again, the university sends my contact information to all the incoming students, so they should know who I am anyway…

“Tiffany! We talked quite a bit thru Kakaotalk, remember?” She brightly said. Shot. Dead. This is Jessica’s friend?! Isn’t she way too perfect to be a regular student?! Shouldn’t she be a celebrity or a model?!

“YOU’RE Tiffany?!” I unconsciously yelled out; I couldn’t contain the anxiety.

“Yeah! Why? What’s wrong?” She said with a puzzling look while cutely tilting her head to the side.

“Oh, I-I mean…Hey! It’s finally great to meet you in person! Was your flight alright?” I couldn’t help but sweat. It was our first initial meeting and I must have looked like a huge idiot. What a horrible and painful first impression.

“Haha, yeah! Finally! It was good, super long but I was able to sleep through the majority of it.” She replied with a huge smile plastered on her face. I think I’m near blind in my left eye now.

“That’s great! Well, there are a few more people we have to wait for unfortunately. Why don’t you take a seat? Is that okay?”

“Of course! Thank you!” She beamed and dragged her luggage to the nearby seats. I watched her as she settled down her luggage and made herself comfortable. As expected, she took her phone out and started playing with it. I observed her facial expressions while she was using her phone and I got to admit, she was too adorable. I couldn’t help but smile to myself like an idiot.

The other students finally arrived after being in customs for about 30 minutes. I’m glad there were no delays otherwise Tiffany would have waited hours and wasted her time doing nothing here. “Alright, seems like everyone is here. If you need to use the bathroom before we leave, please do so now. The ride back is about an hour and half to two hours depending on traffic.”

The group of students nodded their heads and a few of them headed for the bathroom. As I was waiting with the other students, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hey Taeyeon.” It was Tiffany.

“Hey Tiffany, what’s up?” Trying to remain calm.

“I’m just curious…do you still keep in contact with Jess?” Damn. Hearing that name come up after a while really stung my heart.

“Hm…not so much…” I hope she didn’t notice my expression change; I would rather not have anyone know about that past.

“Oh…I see. Did something happen?” She looked deeply concerned. She must have really sharp instincts to notice my change in attitude.

“Ah, don’t worry about it so much! It was just the lack of communication…you know, the time zones and things like. We just got to the point where we were so busy, we didn’t realize how much time has passed since we last kept in contact. Does that make sense?”

“I see…that’s really sad, don’t you think? Because she was talking highly of you, like praising and admiring how much you’ve done for her. I can tell she really cares about you a lot! It’s very enviable!” She said lost in thought, recollecting what Jessica has said while smiling brightly at the same time.

“Oh, like wha—”

“Taeyeon-sshi, we’re all here and ready to go!” One of the energetic students interrupted while grabbing onto my arm, forcefully pulling me away from the goddess.

Dammit, I wanted to know what Jessica told Tiffany about me. Praising? Admiring? It’s hard to believe what that girl thinks of me. Oh well, it seems that will have to be a conversation saved for next time.

“Alright everyone, follow me!”

As soon as we arrived to the vans and put the students’ luggage away, Tiffany caught up to me and smiled. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing this.

“Hey Tiffany, sorry about cutting our conversation short back there.”

She chuckled. “It’s not your fault. It’s understandable you’re a busybody; I’ve heard you’re like the leader of international students, right?”

“Haha, somewhat? Did Jessica tell you that or something?” I felt my stomach flip when I said her name. Why is it like a taboo to hear, say, or see her name…

“Yeah, exactly! I’m looking forward to spend more time with you during my study abroad! I’m setting my expectations high, so you better not disappoint me!” She jokingly said with a playful smile.

“Hah! You should probably lower your expectations, just a warning.” I joked back with her.

We both laughed and continued to talk about random topics on the way back to the university. I was surprised at how talkative and easy-going she was, she doesn’t seem to be one bit shy at all.

I randomly checked my phone to see any updates about upcoming traffic…wait, what? Jessica messaged me!? I unconsciously opened the message and read, “Hey Tae! :) I heard that the new students arrived! Did you meet with Tiffany? Send me a picture!”

Hah? A picture? Maybe I can take this chance to make Jessica jealous?

Smirking, I turned to Tiffany and motioned her to come closer. “Hey, is it okay if we take a picture? Jessica wants to see…”

“Of course! It will be our first picture together!” She smiled widely. Ahhh…she is too cute.

“Thanks…alright, 3, 2, 1, smile!”

I looked at the picture and was satisfied with the outcome. Tiffany was very photogenic, still like a goddess.

I suddenly felt warm breathing on my neck and looked at the source, surprised to see how close Tiffany was. “Ah!”

“Oh! Sorry, I just wanted to see how the picture turned out.” She said with a wry smile.

“O-oh, of course! Here.”

“Hmmm…I really envy your smile, Taeyeon. You are very charming overall, you know? When I first saw your picture from Jess, I was awestruck by your looks honestly! You have that natural, cool aura around you.”

“H-huh? Really? I don’t think so…” I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by her constant praise. But it did make me feel happy on the inside.

“Just accept the compliment!” She laughed while playfully slapping my back.

“Heh…thanks, Tiffany.”

I proceeded with sending the picture to Jessica, feeling a mix of emotions, but mainly anxiety. I wonder what her response will be…

Katalk!

That was fast. I opened the message and read, “Aw so nice! :) You’re still cute as ever!”

Woah, just reading that made me overflow with happiness. I couldn’t contain the happiness and was smiling to myself like an idiot. She still has that effect on me…dammit. Ugh, what am I doing? This is no time to be thinking of her…

What should I reply?

As soon as I was about to reply, I felt another tap on my shoulder.

“You seem to be in a good mood, Taeyeon. Was that a message from your boyfriend?” She smirked.

“W-what? O-of course not…I don’t even have a boyfriend…” I was flustered, she really gets straight to the point.

“Hmm…I’m surprised.” As she was lost in thought.

“Really? Why do you think so?” I couldn’t help but feel curious as to why she was showing so much interest in me already. Must be an American thing…then again, Jessica was the total opposite when I first met her. She was kind of cold in the beginning, but once I got to know her more and more, she became one of the most caring people I know…Tiffany, on the other hand, was open and straightforward. A change of pace, a total 180 degrees, but I actually like it.

“Hmm…I don’t know, I’ll tell you more about it later.” She giggled mischievously.

“Haaaah?”

She remained silent.

“Well, what about you?” The words kind of slipped out of my mouth.

“Well…it’s complicated.” She said with a distant look in her eyes.

“Oh…sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad…” Stupid Taeyeon.

“No, no. It’s not anything seriously sad…hmm, I have liked this guy for almost 10 years now. And let’s just say that it is impossible.”

“What do you mean?”

“Unrequited love…he knows that I have liked him for so long, yet he didn’t do anything about it. He would date other girls and tell me his adventures with them.” She scowled and continued. “Well, he did try to reciprocate my feelings, but I knew he was just using me for his own pleasure. And yet, I let him do so. I was blindly in love with him…even now.”

“10 years is a long time…must have been painful for you.” I know her feeling very well, except I can’t compare…I’ve been in an unrequited love for only 2 years. She must be facing a lot of emotional pain. I didn’t want to reveal anything to her just yet…I mean we just initially met for the first time, and I’m not sure how she feels with me dating another girl, let alone, that girl be Jessica. I’ll wait until the right time to tell her…

“Yeah…I even tried dating other guys to forget about him…” She sighed. “I only ever had 2 boyfriends, but they were not so serious…I just felt empty on the inside.” I couldn’t contain the feeling of hugging her suddenly, but that would have been too much.

“Do you keep in contact with him? The guy you liked for 10 years.”

“These days, not so much. I was too busy preparing for this study abroad!” She said with a happier tone and lighter expression.

“Ah, I’m glad. Don’t worry, I’ll help you have an unforgettable experience here.” I sincerely said to her. I felt sorry for her. I felt the urge to help keep that smile on her face.

“I’m so happy you said that, Taeyeon. Sorry to put all of this out on you, especially since I just arrived here.” She giggled.

“Of course, Tiffany!” I gave her the best smile I could.

“You really are a nice person…no wonder you’re quite famous in my university.”

“Famous? How?”

“Well, before coming here, I got in contact with many of the students who studied abroad here, did some research here and there about the program at your university…and your name was brought up about eighty percent of the time.”

“For real?”

“Yeah! You’re like admired by all the students, huh?” She laughed.

“I don’t think so…” I was embarrassed, I didn’t know about any this!

“I heard you’re like a big sis or mother of all the international students, too!” She laughed even louder.

“T-that’s…actually true…I have been called big sis, or mama Tae quite often.” I cringed.

“Oh my god, really!” She laughed even harder. “That’s so cute! Well, I’m in your care now…big sis.” She smirked while saying the last part.

I let out a huge sigh, but couldn’t help but feel giddy when she said that. “Yeah, yeah…I got you.”

Halfway through the ride, the van grew silent as everyone dozed off. Even I was getting sleepy. I looked behind me to check on Tiffany’s condition…hm?

Our eyes met for a split second until the girl next to her, I think Sunny was her name, leaned against Tiffany’s shoulder. She was knocked out. Tiffany was also quite surprised, but she couldn’t really shrug off the sleeping girl. She looked at me again and just smiled, letting out a small chuckle. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight and let out a small laugh along with her.

Another hour or so passed and we finally made it to the university. Stupid traffic.

“Alright, everyone, wake up! We are here at XX University! Welcome!” I announced.

Everyone started groaning, but as soon as they realized we were at our destination, they all got overly excited.

“Alright, calm down everyone! Before we leave the bus, make sure not to forget anything! Also, line up in an orderly fashion so we can direct you accordingly to your room.”

Despite a long and tiring shift, today was surprisingly a good day.