Chapter 3

7th February 2011

6:30am

As soon as she stepped into her house, she heard the annoying sound came from the alarm. Despite the loud sound in the room, her best friend was still sleeping soundly on the couch. She went to switched off the alarm then saw a note stick to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Im Yoona,
Wake me up the moment you see this note.
Your beloved friend, Taeyeon

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoona chuckled, Beloved my a**. Why does she have to set the alarm when she knows that she won’t wake up to the sound of it. She turned to her friend

“Yah, Kim Taeyeon, if you don’t wake up right now, you’re going to miss the ship which you’ve been craving for.” Yoona shouted while kicking Taeyeon’s legs

Silence… Not a single movement was made

I knew this, if someone stay with Sica long enough they will soon have the same habits as her., Yoona thought. She was just going to let her sleepy head friend wander in her dream land, suddenly she thought of something. She came closer to Taeyeon then whispered into her ear

“Hey, Teayeon-ah, just want to tell you that Eva just called you about five minutes ago”

Taeyeon shot her eyes open, jumped off the couch and looked at Yoona straight in the eyes. “Really? She did call me, didn’t she? Why didn’t you just wake me up then?”

“I did, but you sleep like a rock. By the way, I did tell her that you would call her back” Yoona said while preparing her breakfast.

“Oh…Thanks” Taeyeon said while trying to see Eva’s number which was written on the crumpled paper in her pocket . “Aish, why does she have to write her numbers in pencil? I can’t see them clearly. Yoona, where is your cell phone?” 

“Ah, it’s on the coffee table? Why?” 

Taeyeon looked up Eva’s name in Yoona’s contact. “Yah, which Eva is it? You have Eva 1, 2 and 3”

“Come on Taeyeon-ah, how many times do I have to tell you? Serious relationships will do you no good. Besides you only met her once, as far as I can see she’s not that good of a person” Yoona said while eating her cereals. “Ah, can you help me delete all those names with numbers. My phone will soon run out of memory because of those.”

“Jeez, just do it yourself, I’m going to take a shower” Taeyeon thrown Yoona’s cell phone at her then ran to the bathroom

“You’ve got to be hurry, we’re leaving in 20 minutes, I hate being late, you know that right? Yoona shouted after Taeyeon

Right then, Jessica burst the front door opened “Yoona, did you buy everything I told you to?”

“Yeah, I have left those in your backpack already. Have you had breakfast yet?”

“Yes, I ate sandwiches. Oh, shoot, I forget telling you to buy my new lipstick.”

“Well, I did. Strawberry flavor, your favorite.”

“Thank you so much, you just know me too well Yoona” Sica said while taking off her shoes

“Where did you just go?” Yoona asked 

“Going to Coffee Prince to get some coffee, after partying like a bunch of maniac yesterday, I figure coffee might help.” Sica said, she put 3 cups of coffee on the counter then ran to the bathroom.

Sica opened the door to the bathroom, ran to the mirrors to put on her make-up. Taeyeon was startled when heard the door opened but then she realized it was Jessica, she wrapped a towel around her body and stepped out of the shower.

“Yah, you really need to learn how to knock, I was in a shower you know?” Taeyeon said annoying, took her clothes on the towel rack then returned to the shower.

“If you want me to knock the door then you need to learn how to lock it.” 

“You know what, I start to believe that you’re a straight girl. How come you didn’t feel anything when you saw us in this situation for all these years” Taeyeon said while putting on her clothes.

“It’s just that your body isn’t attractive enough, Taeyeon-ah” Yoona said while stepping in the bathroom to put on some make-up. “Come to think of it, are you straight Sica?”

“I believe that gender isn’t a matter to our Sica, right?” Taeyeon joked as she stepped out of the shower and Yoona laughed along with her

While the duo was laughing, Sica put on her serious face and waited for them to stop. Since there was no response come from Sica, they stopped laughing and turned to her.

“For all these years, I thought that I could keep this to myself forever but I just can’t bring myself to lie to you guys anymore. The reason I don’t feel anything because… ” Sica sighed then turned to Yoona, “Yoona, I love you, I love you so much but I just don’t have enough courage to confess my feelings toward you”

“Yo-yo-you love me? Really?” Yoona stuttered, still couldn’t believe what she just heard

“You love her, this player for all these years and we don’t know anything?” Taeyeon said while pointing at Yoona, there was only one expression on her face: ‘shocked’

“Yes, I love you, do you accept my feelings Yoona?” Sica said once again, drop dead serious. She took one step closer to Yoona and looked straight into her eyes. 

“I…I…I…I…” For the first time in her life, Yoona didn’t know what to say, she just stood there stuttering like someone who has speech disorders while Taeyeon held her breath, unsure of what to do.

“I guess not” Jessica sighed then turned her back and stepped out of the bathroom. Once she was out of her friend’s sight, she burst into laughter immediately. “That’s what you get when you made fun of ‘the Jessica’” Sica shouted over her shoulder while laughing her head off then ran for her life.

The moment they heard the laughter outside, Taeyeon and Yoona who were left dumbfounded in the bathroom looked at each other and finally understood that they have been tricked by the little devil named Jessica.

“JESSICA JUNG!!!!!!!! You’re dead.” They shouted at the same time then ran after the culprit

&&&&&&

Goddess Cruise Ship

6:50am 

“Aish, we just go on a 6-day trip and it seems like you just packed the entire closet” Yuri whined while struggling with three suitcase she was carrying. 

“Come on, it’s my first time to go on a cruise trip. I do get nervous, you know?” Fany said while looking around excitedly

“Then tell me why I have to carry these two suitcases which are not mine?” Yuri asked, finally managed to carry all three suitcase

“Because you are my best friend who I love so much. Besides those suitcases are not pink so they doesn’t match with my pink outfit” Fany reasoned, “Oh, oh, Yuri, Yuri look at that!” Fany clapped her hands excitedly while running toward whatever she was exciting about, dropping two pink suitcases she was carrying.

“Yah, yah Fany, what about the suit…” Yuri stopped herself, too late for that, Fany was already out of sight. She looked at the suitcases which were lying on the floor, wondering how she could carry those suitcases to the front desk.

“Yuri, is that you?”

Yuri turned around to face the voice.

“Oh, Mr Han. It’s really nice to see you here” Yuri greeted the man politely

“Thanks to your suggestion I decided to go on a cruise for vacation. Your presentation is really amazing” he smiled at her

“Really? Thanks, it’s really nice of you to say that” Yuri said

“Uhm…do you need help with your belongings?” Siwon offered

“Thanks but I think I can handle these” Yuri refused the offer

“Come on, I only have one suitcase, let me help you”, Siwon insisted and took two pink suitcases to the front desk.

Yuri knew that it’s no use refusing so she let out a sigh. It’s not that she didn’t like Siwon, she just wasn’t comfortable around strangers. Tiffany Hwang, you’re so dead when you come back, Yuri thought to herself.

“Fine… thank you… I… guess…” Yuri said awkwardly

Siwon chuckled at Yuri’s awkward answer. They headed to the front desk, checked their reservation and took their room’s keys. He turned to Yuri

“So, I guess I’ll see you around then” Siwon smiled at her and picked up his suitcase. As he walked away, he turned around one last time to wave at her before completely out of sight.

Yuri let out yet another sigh. It’s just the beginning of the trip and she already felt like wanted to go home. Fany was nowhere to be seen. The suitcases were not a matter anymore since the cruise staff had taken care of them. She was about to call Fany then she heard a familiar voice called her name.

“Yuri, where did you go? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Fany said

“That’s supposed to be my question” Yuri said, annoyed.

Fany gave Yuri her famous eye-smile as an apology then hooked her arm into Yuri’s “Come on, let’s go to our room” Fany dragged Yuri toward their room, totally ignored the death glare from Yuri

&&&&&&

7:00am 

“Great, thanks to Sica, now we’re late” Taeyeon said while running toward the cruise with her two best friends

“What…You guys is the one who started it first.” Sica defended herself

“Come on, let’s get going already, the cruise is going to leave in any minute”, Yoona said “Aish, the captain is going to be furious if he know I am late”

The trio reached the pier, lucky for them the cruise didn’t leave yet. As soon as they arrived, Yoona and Jessica changed into their uniform, ready for yet another cruise trip. On the Goddess Cruise, Yoona worked as Cruise Director while Jessica was her personal assistant. There was a time that Jessica received an offer to work as Cruise Director at another cruise ship but she secretly denied the offer and chose to stay with Yoona instead. Yoona showed Taeyeon her room then Jessica and her went the front desk to get their daily activities chart.

“Yoona, did you hear that a CEO is going to come here to keep an eye on our performance?” Jessica asked

“Well, if we try our best then he or she can’t do anything to us right?” Yoona said

Jessica was about to say something then a crowd of cruise staff caught their attention. Yoona sensed something is wrong as they approached the crowd.

“What’s wrong guys?” Yoona asked one of the cruise staff

“This Siwon guy told us he got the wrong suitcase and now we have to return this to the right place” Jason said while holding up a suitcase

“That’s it? Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know how to handle these kind of situation. Just bring the suitcase to the rightful owner.” Yoona stated

“Uhm… what if… the one who took the wrong suitcase… is the CEO… you know…” Jason said slowly

Yoona let out a sigh, these guys were thinking too much. It wasn’t even their fault that their customers took the wrong suitcases.

“Okay, I get it. Let me handle this” Yoona said while taking the suitcase from Jason’s hand “Now, return to your work guys”. Suddenly, Yoona froze as she looked at the name tag on the suitcase. Kwon Yuri – A206 

“Are you okay, Yoona?” Jessica asked as she noticed the unmoving Yoona

Yoona snapped out of her thought and faced Jessica “I’m fine, let’s go to room A206”, Yoona said as she held Jessica’s hand and dragged her toward their destination. There’s a million of thoughts ran through her head. Maybe it’s just someone who happens to have the same name as her. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Aish, why do I get so nervous?. As she reached the room, Yoona raised her hand slowly in attempt to knock on the door. Jessica was frustrated just by looking at the extremely slow Yoona today.

“Aish, what are you doing, just knock on the door already” Jessica said while pushing Yoona away, she raised her hand and knocked on the door instead.

Seconds later, the door flung opened. At that moment, Yoona thought that her heart was about to jump out of her chest until she heard the voice came from the person who opened the door.

“What’s wrong?” Fany asked

“I’m sorry for disturbing your rest but I believed that you have mistaken someone’s suitcase”, Jessica said while holding up the suitcase

“Oh, I know, I’ve already brought the suitcase back to the rightful owner already.” Fany said

“Then thank you very much, I’m really sorry for this mistake. I hope you can enjoy your rest here at the Goddess Cruise” Jessica apologized once again as she gave Fany her suitcase “Call me if you need anything”

“Thanks, I will” Fany said politely before closing the door.

Yoona let out a relieved breath when she heard the sound of the closing door. So, she’s not the ‘Kwon Yuri’ I know, she felt herself grinning at the thought. Jessica once again noticed the stupid grin on Yoona’s face.

“You know that you’re really weird sometimes right?” Jessica asked

“That’s why I’m your best friend” Yoona said, grinning to herself.

&&&&&&

Room A108

“I thought that we’ve taken the wrong suitcase so I bring this here” Yuri said as soon as she saw Siwon opened the door.

“Why don’t you ask someone to bring this here instead of doing on your own?” Siwon asked, surprised

“Ah…I thought that I could do it myself so why bother someone to do it for me, right?”

“Hmmm, is that so?” Siwon raised his eyebrow as if he was thinking something really important “Ah, I’ve already had someone to bring your suitcase to your room”

“Really? Then I guess I will get going now” Yuri said as she was about to walked away, Siwon stopped her.

“Are you free tonight?” Siwon asked

“Uhm… Yes… why?” Yuri said slowly

“Would you like to join me for dinner as a thank-you for your suggestion?” Siwon asked

“Uhm… I... I’m not…”

“Please say yes. I just want to thank you properly.” Siwon pleaded.

“Then what time is the dinner?” Yuri said, finally gave in to the offer.

“Let’s meet at 7 at the buffet restaurant, is that okay for you?”

“That’s good, let’s meet then”

“Okay, see you later, Yuri. I’m really looking forward to it”, Siwon smiled

“Me…too” Another awkward statement came from Yuri then she walked away from his room.

&&&&&&

12:08pm 

“This magician won’t be able to make it tonight so I think we’ll replace his performance with…” Yoona stopped as a nearby conversation caught her attention.

“Sir, can you please put out your cigar since this is a non-smoking area” the cruise staff said with a smile on his face while holding up a ‘non-smoking’ sign.

“How many times do I have to tell you that my name is Han Siwon? Why do you keep calling me sir, sir, sir and it’s giving me a headache” Siwon said while holding his head “Besides this cigar is not for me, it’s for my grandpa” he said while motioning to the urn placed on the coffee table.

“But sir, this is a ‘non-smoking’ are…”

“Aish, you just didn’t get what I mean, didn’t you?” Siwon said, annoyed “I said that…”

“It’s really nice to meet you Mr.Han.” Yoona stepped in front of the cruise staff while shaking hands with Siwon.

“Who are you?” Siwon asked as he raised his eyebrow at Yoona

“My name is Im Yoona. I work as a Cruise Director here. I know this is really rude of me but can I borrow your cigar for a second please?” Yoona said while pointing at the cigar. As Siwon handed her the cigar, Yoona looked at for a while then she spoke “Just by the look of this cigar I know that Mr.Han here is a really good grandson. This cigar is imported directly from Cuba which was a limited quantity; I believe it’s really difficult for you to get one like this”

“Hmm…you really do know something eh? Not many young people know about cigars let alone a girl like you. You know what, it’s really hard to find someone to share the same interest, here, let’s have a cigar together” Siwon offered while pulling out another cigar.

“I’d love to but you know, this is a non-smoking area besides how can your grandpa enjoy this cigar in such a noisy, crowded place like this, right?” Yoona said as she stopped Siwon’s hand from pulling out another one.

“Hmm…you do have a point but my grandpa wants to enjoy the sea wind here.” Siwon said while pointing at the urn placed on the table

“Of course you had to take your grandpa with you; there are a lot of people walking around here, it’s really unfortunate if someone accidentally fall and hit your grandpa, you know?”

“Alright, you got me, Im Yoona, I guess I have to go the smoking room now, don’t I?” Siwon said, satisfied with Yoona’s behavior

“Thanks for understanding, Mr.Han” Yoona said as she smiled at him then she turned to Jason “Jason can you please help me to take Mr.Han to the smoking room?”

“This way, si…Mr.Han” Jason said as he lead Siwon away from the lounge.

Yoona looked at Jessica with a proud expression on her face “You don’t have to say anything, I know I’m good”

&&&&&&

“Yuri-yah… I’m bored” Fany whined as she pulled Yuri’s sleeve like a kid who wanted some ice-cream.

“So?” Yuri asked, not looking up from her laptop. She was working on a report which is not necessary until the meeting next month.

“Yuri-yah, I’m really sad right now.” Fany said

“Why?” 

“Because you just keep giving me one-word response. Because you told me to come here to have fun with you while you don’t even look at me and just doing some work I don’t even know. Because you considered your work is more important than me now.” Fany pouted while turning her back to face Yuri.

Yuri chuckled when she heard her friend’s whining. Fany is such a kid sometimes. She folded her laptop then she held on to Fany’s shoulder to turn her around to face her.

“Okay… you have my full attention now. What can I do for you, my best friend?” Yuri joked

“This is much better. Then… I want you to be my tour guide on this cruise” Fany said

“Yes, ma’am” Yuri saluted her new boss

&&&&&&

“So, do you really want to go on this date with this Siwon guy?” Fany asked Yuri as they were walking together on the deck. As Yuri didn’t say anything, Fany hit her on the arm to get her attention. “Yah, are you planning to ignore me again?”

“Huh? What did you just say” Yuri asked

As Fany repeated her question she only received one simple ‘Yeah’ as an answer from Yuri. As expected, Yuri was thinking about those memories again.

Yuri walked slowly on the deck, the reason why she stayed in her room doing her work is that she didn’t want to walk around on the cruise ship like this. She felt like every part of the cruise ship brought back memories which she desperately wanted to forget. She started to doubt her decision to start all over by going on this trip was right or not.

“Yuri, look! It’s Taeyeon” Fany pointed at the small figure excitedly

Yuri chuckled at her friend’s excitement, And you tell me that you don’t like her. Yuri held Fany’s hand and dragged her toward Taeyeon’s direction, “Then let’s go greet her, shall we?” 

“Hey Taeyeon!” Yuri greeted Taeyeon happily while Fany stayed silent

“Oh, Yuri, it’s really nice to see someone I know here, my friends just ditch me and do their work and now I’m left alone on this cruise” Taeyeon said sadly

“Then you’re more than welcomed to hang out with us. Right, Fany?” Fany blushed at Yuri’s never-ending teasing “Speaking of your friends, you said one of them is Cruise Director right, I never officially meet them.”

“Yeah…they’re a bunch of crazy kids, I’m sure you guys will get along with each other well” Taeyeon smiled at the thought of her friends

“Then I hope I…”

Yuri’s sentence was cut short by Taeyeon’s voice

“There they are” Taeyeon pointed at the two figures behind their back who had their back faced them.

Yuri and Fany turned around to look in the direction of Taeyeon’s pointed finger. Yuri froze as she saw the familiar figure that she thought she would never be able to see once again. Yuri felt her heart raced in panic, her hand began to shake and her mind went blank. She didn’t have to wait for the girl to turn around because Taeyeon’s call had confirmed her suspicion.

“Yoona, Jessica.” Taeyeon said as she waved her hand for her friends to notice her.

As Yoona turned around, the one who caught her attention wasn’t her friend who was waving at her but the tall girl with a blank expression on her face. So, there’s no other Kwon Yuri in this world except the one whose heart has been broken by her. Taeyeon and her friend dragged the unmoving Yuri toward them, Yoona spoke the first thing came to her mind after being silent while staring at Yuri in the longest 30 seconds of her life.

“Yuri…”

As if the most natural thing in the world, Yuri turned her back and ran away from Yoona just like the last time they saw each other. It seemed like history repeated itself.


TBC