As soon as Jessica hears the question, she lowers her gaze and fidgets with a sleeve of her sweater. She could feel Tiffany’s hopeful eyes watching her, waiting for a response.

What do I say? I wasn’t expecting her to be this persistent.

I shouldn’t agree to go with her, but I don’t want to keep rejecting her either.

Seohyun gently pulls on Jessica’s sweater. “Unnie, I think you should go,” she whispers. “For Yoona unnie’s sake.”

She’s right. I want be friends with Yoona, and it would look bad if I rejected Tiffany all the time. Jessica sighs as she makes eye contact again. “We’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

Tiffany’s smile becomes bigger when she realizes that she wasn’t being turned down this time. “Really? Ok, we’ll be waiting!”

As Jessica watches Tiffany chatter excitedly with Yuri while leaving, she couldn’t help letting a tiny smile form on her lips.

She then resumes shopping for textbooks with Yoona and Seohyun. I hope I won’t regret this.

“How well do you know Tiffany?” Jessica asks suddenly.

Yoona was a bit surprised at the question as she looks up from the book she was skimming through. I sure wasn’t expecting her to start a conversation by mentioning Fany.

Then the younger girl smiles as she thinks about her friendship with Tiffany. She loved how energetic and charismatic Tiffany is, and how she was always willing to be there for her friends. “I know Fany very well. We’ve been really good friends since middle school.”

Jessica nods as she checks her syllabus for her Calculus class. Then she scans the course ID numbers on the shelves, which indicated which class the textbooks are intended for.

Yoona watches her, expecting the older girl to explain why she had asked the question. However, after a few minutes, it seemed that Jessica wasn’t going to pursue the matter any further. That’s all she wanted to know?

Just as Yoona was about to inquire why Jessica wanted to know about Yoona’s friendship with Tiffany, the older girl continues talking.

“I’m beginning to think that she’s interested in me.”

Yoona was even more surprised this time. I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked about that. Fany wasn’t really being subtle, and Jess seems like someone who catches onto things quickly. “That’s possible, but I haven’t talked to her about it yet, so I can’t say for sure. But then again, it might just come across that way because she likes being friendly to people.”

Yoona and Jessica were now following Seohyun as the maknae searches for the textbooks that she needs.

Jessica folds her syllabus and places it into her messenger bag. “I’m not looking for relationships right now.”

Oh no, I hope Fany doesn’t actually have a crush on Jess, because she’s going to be very upset and disappointed. Yoona becomes curious. “Would you mind if I asked why?”

Jessica hesitates before answering, as if she was trying to decide what to say. “I have several reasons, but I’ll just tell you one of them. I want to focus on my classes, especially while I’m getting used to attending a university for the first time.”

But I want to know the other reasons too! I’m sure those are the more interesting ones! Yoona nods, deciding not to press further at this time. “That’s understandable. I’m glad someone has their priorities straight!”

There was a smirk on Jessica’s lips. “Are you throwing shade on some friends of yours?”

Yoona laughs. “How did you know? I was thinking of three of my friends as soon as you mentioned wanting to make education a priority!

The first thing Yuri wants to do here is to go to a sorority party, Sunny can’t stop talking about meeting the girl of her dreams, and Tiffany…”

Yoona quickly stops herself before she nearly mentions Tiffany’s experiment with online dating. “Wants to meet new friends,” she finishes lamely.

Jessica raises a brow. “So Tiffany would rather make new friends than do well in her classes?”

Yoona quickly realizes how she made Tiffany sound. “No! I mean that, she wants to meet a lot of people so that they can enrich her college experience.”

Jessica stares at her with a hint of skepticism, and then decides to let it go. She turns to the maknae. “Hyunnie, are you almost done?”

“Yes, unnie. I just found my last book,” replies Seohyun, flipping through a biology textbook. She smiles when she sees how interesting it seems. There are so many complex-looking diagrams in here. I can’t wait to learn about them.

Jessica sighs again as she checks the time on her phone. “I guess it’s time to head over to the ice cream place now.”

---

At the ice cream shop, Taeyeon and the others had joined Tiffany and Yuri, who were seated at a large booth.

“Are you sure she’s showing up?” Sooyoung directs the question towards Tiffany while taking a seat next to Yuri.

“Of course I am! I know she wouldn’t stand me up,” Tiffany responds reassuringly, though she didn’t feel as confident as she sounded. What if she suddenly changes her mind? Or maybe she just said that she’ll come so that she can get rid of me. No, she wouldn’t do something like that, right?

“I’m actually kind of surprised that she agreed with it.” Taeyeon unwraps a straw and plays with it. “She rejected you when you asked to join them at the bookstore, but she’s willing to meet you here? Very confusing.”

“Maybe she just really likes ice cream!” offers Sunny as she watches a female employee scoop ice cream into a cone for a middle-aged man.

“Let’s hope that the ice cream’s not the only reason why she’s meeting you,” Yuri says, grinning as she nudges Tiffany with her arm.

Tiffany scoffs at the suggestion. “That sounds more like Soo than Jess!”

“Speaking of Soo, look at her, she already in line,” comments Yuri, seeing that Sooyoung was standing in the line that was formed for ordering.

“She can’t even wait with her friends!” Taeyeon says disapprovingly.

“Hey, you’re getting ice cream for all of us, right?” Hyoyeon yells out to Sooyoung.