Beep!

Yuri walked out from the bathroom, clad in a black tank top and sweat pants. She approached her phone while drying her hair with a towel. A smile immediately formed on her lips when she saw who texted her.

Jessica: Can’t sleep 😞

Yuri: Something on your mind?

Yuri sat on her bed, leaning her back on the headboard waiting for Jessica’s response. She didn’t have to wait long though, because Jessica immediately responded like she doesn’t have anything better to do than talk to Yuri.

Jessica: You’ll think I’m crazy 😞

Yuri contemplate for a second. She knows Jessica is troubled again, she can feel it in her heart. And so she didn’t respond back, but she did click the call icon. Yuri pressed the phone against her ear, 1st ring… 2nd ring… “She’s not answering” she pulled the phone away from her ear to see if it was really Jessica she’s calling. 3rd ring… Yuri was about to cancel the call when someone pick up.

“Hello?”

Yuri’s breathe hitched. She knows Jessica’s voice is beautiful, she talks to her in person but she didn’t expect her voice to be this beautiful thru a speaker on her phone. Maybe it was the device doing its magic. Yea! That’s it! Smartphones are designed to make people beautiful! Yuri saw the app advertisement on TV, an app where you can apply filters to make yourself more flawless or paler. Maybe it did the same thing to Jessica’s voice.

“Yuri?”

“O-oh! I’m here” Yuri scratched her head. Did she just space out? She never space out! Snap out of it Kwon! You look like a high school fool! You’re an immortal for god’s sake! Be mature!

“Why did you call?” Jessica shyly asks, biting her lower lip after asking the question.

“To lend an ear” Yuri said honestly. “I know I can’t be with you physically to listen to you, so I called”

That words made Jessica smile. It’s reassuring, it’s comforting —having someone to listen to you even though everything you have to say is pure craziness. “Thank you. Seriously Yuri thank you”

Yuri chuckles. “I haven’t done anything yet, Sica”

Jessica furrows her brows. “Sica? Are we giving nicknames now?”

Yuri was taken aback, did that came out of ? She blink a couple of times when realization hit her and it most certainly came out from . “I hope you don’t mind. Your name is kind of long”

“I like it” Jessica shyly smiles, tucking a hair behind her ear.

“I’m glad you do” Yuri may sound calm but her heart is already doing backflips and summersaults. And they weren’t even face to face! “So tell me Sica, why would I think you’re crazy… again?”

Jessica inhaled deeply before starting. “Remember earlier at lunch… when I held your hand out of the blue?”

“Yes. Everyone were worried. I was the most, your hands were ice cold”

“I saw a man” it made Yuri sit straight, her mind flashed back to the day when she saw a man walking away from the music room, was Jessica referring to the same man? “That wasn’t the first time I saw him. I saw him couple of weeks back… in the school… at the music room. I thought he was a student but his outfit doesn’t seem like boys’ uniforms or teacher’s uniform. And the worst part is, he knows me and he said he knows everyone. I don’t know what that means”

Yuri swallowed the lump on . Her hand unconsciously rubbing her poisoned wound. No, her wound doesn’t sting. Maybe it became a habit of hers whenever she was thinking. Was it the same man? “Maybe he’s your admirer. Or a stalker?”

Jessica sighs. “Maybe? But he’s giving me the chills. I don’t feel safe when he’s around”

“Then you should be more careful. Don’t worry your friends will always keep you company”

“My friends?”

“Yes… me, Tae and Tiffany. Aren’t we your friends?”

Jessica chuckles. “Then you’re not the mysterious girl now. You have many friends”