Yuri remembered how she and Jessica became friends. Their story began a bit awkwardly, on her end, at least.

 

Yuri had wanted to befriend with Jessica on the first day of class, but the expressionless face Jessica wore was too intimidating for her. She decided not to talk to her. It was just her first semester of college. She would really like to graduate.

 

 

 

 

 

Jessica had been telling her about her new girlfriend--correction: her first girlfriend. She had been talking non-stop about how her friend smiled. Yuri had never met her, but she surely sounded adorable, with a name called Panini, or something like that.

 

 

Yuri was single, but recently, someone caught her attention. She had been working at a coffee shop near campus. There was a girl who came in almost every day, wearing Pink shirts in pink and carrying pink bags. Her name was Tiffany, Yuri learned, when she made her order.

 

"Thanks!"

 

Tiffany was pretty hyper for a university student in the morning. She seemed happy to wake up in the morning. Yuri could not fathom why, even if herself did not dislike mornings.

 

But she was cute, and that was all Yuri needed for a reason to like her. Plus, she looked pretty friendly. It could not hurt to try flirt with her. She was a contrast to Jessica, whom usually spaced out when not being spoken to, which created her icy aura.

 

"How was work?"

 

"The usual."

 

Work was uneventful. The highlight of Yuri's day was making a cup of coffee with an insane amount of sugar and caramel for a guy. Judging from how much time he spent sitting at the coffee shop, he did not exercise often. He would have diabetes or some kind of disease by the age of thirty. Mark her word.

 

"What is he like?"

 

"He? Who?"

 

Yuri could not be more confused. She was not talking about the diabetic guy, right? How would she know, anyway?

 

"Oh, come on. I'm not that clueless. You met someone. Didn't you?"

 

So that was what Jessica was referring to. She was half right.

 

"Not a guy, but a girl."

 

"My my. Is she hot? Not that I'm interested."

 

"Right... You're totally not."

 

Jessica looked offended by her words.

 

"I am very loyal to my girlfriend."

 

Yuri made whipping noises, mocking her friend.

 

"Shut up. "

 

She made and OK sign and motioned to zip her lips with her fingers.

 

"But really, how are things with her?"

 

Yuri looked at Jessica and mouthed the words, "you told me to shut up."

 

Jessica rolled her eyes at her friend's antics.

 

"Fine. Speak."

 

 

"She comes to our cafe occasionally. I talk to her, and she responds with smiles and all that."

 

"That's nice. Anything else?"

 

"She knows my name and I know hers."

 

"And?"

 

"That's it."

 

As soon as Yuri said that, Jessica took her eyes off her phone. She had certainly snapped if she was willing to put down her phone, especially when she was talking to her girlfriend.

 

"You're a freaking barista and you don't even take advantage of your job. Write your phone number on her cup! Latte art! Drawing! Writing! Everything!"

 

As Yuri's inability to woo a girl approached infinity, Jessica's frustration, too, approached infinity. Although the things Jessica had said generally did not happen in real life, Yuri would not disagree with her. She needed to calm Jessica down before all hell broke loose.

 

"Yes, ma'am. I will follow your advice!"

 

Yuri saluted, which Jessica nodded approvingly in return.

 

"I will observe you at work tomorrow."

 

Yuri planned to lie to her, but it seemed like she would have to actually do something to impress Tiffany now. Or Jessica would have her head.

 

 

*=

 

Yuri saw Jessica sitting at the corner. She could sense an icy glare from her. She just wished Tiffany would not show up, so Jessica could not complain if she did not take action.

 

As soon as she thought that, Tiffany walked in through the door.

 

Well, such was Yuri's luck, or lack thereof.

 

It was her show time.

 

"Hey, Yuri!"

 

"Hey Tiff, the usual?"

 

"Yes, and I would also like a Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot With Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended, One Sweet'N Low and One Nutrasweet, and Ice."

 

Yuri was stunned for a second.

 

Was Tiffany joking with her?

 

"Yuri? Do you need me to repeat the order?"

 

Apparently not.

 

"Nope, I got it. The DRVHSNDOCBIVDSGFEHWFWCUDDBOSNLONI, right? I got it."

 

"Thanks!"

 

Yuri had heard of it, because Jessica had jokingly ordered it once. Yuri thought she was being serious, and remembered the list of ingredients.

 

She made the drink, and as Jessica strongly suggested, she wrote her phone number on both cups, because she did not know if Tiffany was taking the normal cup of coffee of the longest order possible.

 

 

"Here you go, Tiffany."

 

Tiffany grabbed the two cups and headed towards one of the corner seats, where Jessica was seated. Yuri did not pay much mind to it, because Tiffany usually preferred a quieter spot.

 

Step one of the operation was done. Yuri started working on step two. She would do make a cup of coffee and make latte art with words and drawings. Going overboard and being extra was better than being dull and boring.

 

Yuri felt like drawing a little pig today. Then, she would write a "T" to represent Tiffany, indicating that the cup of coffee was dedicated for her.

 

 

Everything was going to be just fine.

 

*=

 

"Here, Jessi, your weird drink." Tiffany grimaced as she handed the cup to Jessica.

 

Aside from tricking Yuri, Jessica also tricked Tiffany into believing that the drink with a long name was her favorite and memorized it. She actually liked something simple; something with caramel would be enough. But she deserved to drink this poison for being an awful person at that time.

 

Jessica took a sip of the coffee.

 

Coffee.

 

Yup.

 

Totally coffee.

 

She gagged at the taste.

 

"Freaking. Yuri."

 

"Don't blame her. You're the one who asked for it."

 

Tiffany was not wrong. Jessica should have considered the consequences thoroughly before she messed with the barista.

 

"Anyway, what are we doing here?" Tiffany asked, because they never met here.

 

"Yuri, the barista, has a crush on some girl. I'm here to make sure she doesn't do something stupid."

 

Yuri was definitely about to do something stupid. However, it was not totally her fault. It was a series of unfortunate events that lead to this.

 

*=

 

Yuri placed a cup of coffee with beautiful latte art on Tiffany's table. She noticed Jessica was there, too, but she knew her friend would not ruin her plan, at least not intentionally.

 

"Yuri?" Tiffany called her confusedly. She did not recall ordering another drink.

 

"I made it for you."

 

Jessica face palmed.

 

 

This was unbelievable.

 

"Yul, really?" She was exasperated by her friend's choice in girls.

 

Yuri did not understand her reaction. Jessica was the one who told her to take action. Was she not direct enough?

 

"I kinda like you." She added.

 

"Oh." She got a simple response from Tiffany, whom did not sound thrilled.

 

"My phone number is on the cup sleeve, if you're interested."

 

"No, she's not." Jessica rejected her offer before Tiffany could continue.

 

Yuri could not believe her friend would do something like this. Tiffany could possibly be her true love.

 

Then Jessica continued speaking, which made everything clear to her.

 

"Yuri, meet Tiffany, my girlfriend. Tiff, this is Yuri, my idiot friend who is apparently into you."

 

Tiffany waved awkwardly.

 

"Oh."

 

Oh, indeed.

 

*=

 

"This is kinda awkward." Yuri commented.

 

It was like the tension in the air was strangling her and suffocating her.

 

Why, of all people, would she had chosen Jessica's girlfriend to like? She had extreme bad luck.

 

"Oh, I haven't noticed. Thank you for the reminder, Yuri." Jessica replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

 

"Jessi, stop."

 

Tiffany stopped her from making the situation worse. Yuri would comment on how whipped Jessica was, but that was a tad inappropriate for the current situation.

 

"Fine. A few things, no, I'm not mad. I know why you like her. I'm with her, am I not? I understand why you would develop a crush on her. It was also my fault that I didn't tell you her full name, nor did I asked the girl's name."

 

Jessica was not crazy. In fact, she was pretty reasonable. She was not the jealous type anyway; she would not waste her energy to be jealous.

 

Yuri thanked all the deities she knew when Jessica finished with her speech.

 

However, there were still a question about Tiffany in her mind.

 

"Why did you call her Panini?"

 

If Jessica had told her Panini was Tiffany, this whole disaster of a tiny crush could have been prevented.

 

"Well, what do you think? Both are edible." Jessica wiggled her eyebrows.

 

This time Yuri gagged.

 

"It was a joke."

 

"I'm not so sure about that."

 

Yuri could see how they looked at each other. She felt like she was disturbing the two's alone time that they could have spent doing something else. She really should just leave.

 

"It was nice meeting you officially, Tiffany."

 

"Nice meeting you, too, Yuri."

 

"OK, stop with the heart eyes already."

 

"You know my heart eyes are reserved for you, Jessi."

 

Tiffany pecked on her girlfriend's cheeks. Even though Jessica looked annoyed, she certainly did not feel that way, since she returned the gesture.

 

Jessica was like a cat, who demanded all of the attention from Tiffany. At the same time, she was also like a puppy, who was glad to accept and give all the love she had.

 

Watching them interact, Yuri sighed.

 

"This is my life meow. Right, guys?"

 

No response.

 

Why would they reply when they were already all over each other?

 

Silly Yuri.

 

"I need some new friends."

 

Looking around the shop, Yuri saw a poster on the wall. She was reminded of a karaoke event at the campus. Two college students came by the coffee shop last week and handed out fliers.

 

"What's the worst that can happen?"

 

This was the birth of the legendary S.H.Y.

 

****
I ran out of brain power in the end. I would apologize for being a boring writer, but you know I won't.

I decided to make this is a flashback series. How often will I update? I do not know. This could well be the last chapter I am writing, but I am calling it a series.

I should write about aunt Krystal and Seo/Wen, right?