Chapter 3 : PUSH AND PULL

Rating: NC-17

Words have become lodged in ; she has spent years studying what to say and how to say it, but now that she is here, a mere meter away, all the words she has spent years crafting in her thoughts vanish. When she was envisioning the day, everything seemed simple, but now she faces a new problem. She was deep in concentration when the sound of the teaspoon striking the cup startled her.

"You look gorgeous as always." She hasn't changed; she still has a great voice. Considering that she is Yoona, words come out of naturally. The impact of those words and the person who has been telling her about them, however, surprised me. Her face is flooded with blood that she can feel. She made an effort to ignore the reality that, at forty years old, Yoona was still skilled at transforming women into something. Now, she would be shocked if I could still get her wet. The idea made her shake her head. It is not appropriate to consider the woman getting wet at this moment.

"Cat caught your tongue?" She hears the teasing in her voice. How can Yoona be casual with everything? As if two decades hadn’t passed, as if nothing happened. As if now strings were left hanging between them. She was looking for words, too afraid to stutter. "J-just thinking of something." She was cursing on her head.Jessica Jung is not someone who just stutters in front of someone, but basically the person in front of her is not just someone, but Im Yoona. She hears the chuckles that left the taller woman’s lips.

"How are you, Jess?" ‘Jess’, she never knew that hearing her call her name would have soothing feelings in her heart. She sips her coffee before collecting all the guts she has to answer a certain deer. "I’m good. Still working with some stuff. You know exactly why I am here. Can we at least set aside the personal issue and work on our real intentions?" She tried her best to collect all those words and blurt those out in one go, so she can change the topic and ease the tension she was feeling, at least on her part, since Yoona seems not helping and even loving the tension in the air.

"Who cares about the intention of the company and business world on this meeting? I got a chance after two decades to finally meet the love of my life, and you expect me to let it slip. Dear Miss Jung, I did, but you know exactly how Im Yoona thinks." Jessica tries to clear hearing the short speech from the Im. She hears her chuckles and even rests her arms on the table, looking at her lovingly, if that is what people would call it, for their age. She suddenly feels uncomfortable and insecure. She suddenly wonders if her foundation is still fresh, if her brows are properly flicked, and if her perfume still makes her smell good.

"How can you still look like she's in her 20s? You even look younger, Sica-ah." , the way her name rolled out of Im's tongue weakened her knees. She feels that tingling feeling again inside her, even between her legs. Im Yoona effect is what they call it. Suddenly, she feels like she is in her 20s again, on the day when they are so in love with each other. She feels her hair all over her body rise—goosebumps, as they call it.

"Don't call me that." That’s all she got after looking for words to say. She’s biting her lips. She cannot believe that Yoona can act as if she’s at her peak again. They are both teenagers again, all excited about and playful flirting. She’s been single for decades and has never been excited, even when a number of men came into her life. She did try having with random guys, but no one has ever made her feel or made her knees weak like Im Yoona. How can this woman make her feel wet just by the way she calls her? "Let me get this straight. Are you single?" She sits properly and looks straight in her eyes. Jessica did the same. She wants to say no for whatever reason, but her heart betrays her because the words ‘Yes’ come out fast before her mind even processes them. She sees the smirks on Im's lips.

"Let me court you again, Miss Jung." The smile on the woman’s lips was something genuine. Something that she misses seeing. That was the exact smile she saw years ago when Yoona asked her out in their college days. Everything flashes back in her head. That evening, at the back of their gym, she was crying over this jock when Yoona showed herself. She talked to her, which made everything feel light, and before that night ended, she dropped the questions like they were kind of bombs: "Will you go out with me?"—and as if destiny were playing with them because just a few years ago she was again left speechless. She doesn’t know what to say. The words are all in , and she feels like they have dried up.

"I don’t take no as an answer."

*****

The library was jam-packed, end-to-end exams are all coming this week. Everyone is busy reading notes and books. But a certain Kim was all busy on her PC, organizing some stuff. The guy beside her was reading an accounting book. "You really prioritizing that event for next month over the exam next week? Hmm, very inspirational." The sarcasm in the guy’s voice was all ringing in her ear. She rolled her eyes before glaring at the guy.

"Well, not all students are as good as Kim Jisoo. All flat one on subjects, effortlessly on the part." Words left the guy's mouth with his hand gesturing a small clap, but soundless. The certain Kim ignored her and continued on with what she was doing. She was all focused on what she was doing before the notification appeared on the center of the PC, a tab showing her PC was low on battery. She muttered ‘’ before grabbing her charger, leaving her shared table, and going to the nearest table with an outlet available; lucky for her to find one among all the people using the library. She immediately ran on the seat and effortlessly plugged in her charger. Before hearing someone muttering ‘what the ’ just before her ears.

"I saw it first, excuse you." Jisoo laughed, enough to catch the at