Chapter 10 
You and That Person


“Home run! Game!” 

The moment the winner was announced, loud cheers were heard as the winning teams threw their caps in the air while the loser team comforted each other as they dragged their belongings home, sobbing in misery. Unfortunately, this wasn’t their first loss against the same team. The captain was just too good in handling her game.

Kwon Yuri was a ‘regular’ female student with an excellent reputation of having amazing leadership skills and exceeding academic records, as well as being one of the two most attractive girls in school. Furthermore, the girl was of a wealthy background. She was known as an ideal… ‘boyfriend’.

“Thank you, captain! Without you, we wouldn’t have won!” One fellow teammate exclaimed, admiring her leader. Other girls on the same team smiled as they nodded in agreement. Yuri was just that well respected.

“No, it’s because you all tried hard,” Yuri shook her head as she praised her group, patting her teammate’s head in a friendly matter. “Let’s do our best no matter what!”

After the team hurdled and shout out their encouraging chants, Yuri packed up her equipments in haste. She couldn’t wait to inform a certain someone about their win.

“Great job out there, Yuri-sshi,” a young man spoke specifically to the female captain.

Yuri turned around and immediately gave a polite bow upon seeing who it was, “Thank you very much, Donghae-sunbae. I guess your team won as well?”

Donghae nodded proudly as he took a glance at his satisfied team talking happily among one another. 
Both baseball captains were essential to their own team. Both leaders were the best among all.

And both were involved in a false rumor.

“Hey look, it’s Donghae-oppa with Yuri-unnie!” One girl said to another, squealing as she could not take her eyes off the pair behind the metal fence.

“They look so great together!” The other girl exclaimed.

“I think Donghae-sunbae is going steady with Jessica-sshi, though,” another one joined the conversation, dragging another individual into the rumor talk.

“YulHaeSica... such a beautiful triangle!” 

The fan girls were getting louder by the moment even if they were already moving away from their targets. Apparently, both victims had heard all, but had chosen to ignore it since it wasn’t the first time that this rumor had circulated.

Yuri placed on her cap to hide her annoyed expression. She turned to Donghae and gave another ninety degrees bow before greeting good-bye, “I’ll be off now, sunbae. If you’ll excuse m-”

“Wait!” Donghae cried out, stopping Yuri from walking away. “H-how is Jessica-sshi?”

Yuri’s eyebrow arched up in confusion. She was surprised that he had mentioned her best friend’s name out of the blue. “She’s fine,” she replied simply.

“Oh, that’s good then,” Donghae said under his breath with a sigh of relief and a content smile. 

And of course, the observant Kwon Yuri took notice of his reactions as her suspicions rise. “Why are you asking me this?”
Donghae was taken aback by Yuri’s question. He tried to come up with reasonable excuses, “Well, you’re close with Jessica-sshi, and I just wanted to know how she’s doin-”

“Get to the point.”

Yuri’s tone suddenly turned cold, like that of an ice prince. She was, however, unaware of the change.

“What do you mean?” 

“Stop beating around the bush. You like Jessica, don’t you?” 

Yuri’s straightforwardness took Donghae by surprised. Truthfully, he had never seen such a serious expression on Yuri’s face, even when they were in a game. The awkward silence continued as Donghae stood speechless and was unable to answer. He was starting to wonder how Yuri could have known.

Feeling uncomfortable at her own question, Yuri adjusted her cap to hide her face and began fast-walking away from the other team captain.

‘It’s not my business so why did I even bother asking? It’s not like he’s going to tel-’

“I like her.”

Yuri turned around, surprised that Donghae had given her a reply. 

“I like Jessica.”

However, the feeling of shock… was nothing compared to the new emerging emotion she had to deal with.

Yuri lowered her cap, unknowingly annoyed at the way her sunbae familiarly called Jessica’s name. She scurried away without a word, trying to convince herself that it did not bother her…
…or hurt her.

---

“Yah! Kwon Yuri!” 

A cold tone of voice flowed into Yuri’s ears, knocking the girl out of her daydream as she jolted from her seat on the grass. She faced the ice princess in front of her, who had her arms crossed and a frustrated expression worn.

“You didn’t come here just to mope around now did you?” Jessica asked in an emotionless tone, yet, worryingly at the same time.

Yuri stayed silent, doing nothing but staring at the grass below her.

Suddenly, she felt light taps on her shoulder, making her look away from the ground. The moment she laid her eyes on the ice princess, Yuri burst in laughter from the cuteness before her.

“Good. You’re okay,” Jessica said in an icy tone, followed by a sigh of relief. She released the air from her blowfish face and unintentionally let out a smile upon knowing that she had successfully made Yuri laugh.

“Do that again,” Yuri asked with a pleading face.

“No,” Jessica replied, crossing her arms once again.

Yuri slumped back into depression mode, hiding a mischievous grin under her little act. 

Jessica, afraid that Yuri would ended up ignoring her again, decided to just do as Yuri asked. Puffing of her cheeks, she placed her hands under her chin and flashed at Yuri with the utmost glittery eyes.

“Cheer up, please?” Jessica requested with her voice in a higher pitch than usual.

Yuri’s heart skipped a beat. Aside from the fact that Jessica was putting up such a cute face just for her, Yuri was paying attention more to the distance between them. All Yuri needed to do was lean in a few millimeters then something more than an accident would occur.

Light pink color lips, sparkling round eyes, pure white skin, and a strawberry scent. The more Yuri gazed at Jessica, the more she realized how beautiful the girl was. 

She was tempted. And Yuri knew there was something wrong in her head to have even thought about kissing her best friend.

“What?” Jessica backed up, enlarging the gap between her and Yuri.

Yuri blinked a couple of times and smacked her forehead with her palm in attempt to snap herself awake. She then looked back up at Jessica, smiling as if nothing had just gone through her mind, while feeling guilt for the thoughts that had just speeded through her head. “N-nothing.”

Jessica was not satisfied with Yuri’s answer. She knew the girl long enough to tell when the black pearl was telling the truth or not. Jessica brought up her hands and pinched Yuri’s cheeks lightly with her fingers while claiming ownership over her, “Hey, seriously, what happened to you? Where did my dorky Yuri disappear to?”

“Really, it’s nothing. I’m just… a bit worried.”

“About?” Jessica urged on, eyes demanding an honest answer.

Yuri swallowed empty air, avoiding eye contact as she spoke, “Uh… the team,” Yuri semi-lied. It wasn’t the real reason, but it was not fully a lie either. 

“Did you lose today?” 

“No, we won,” Yuri replied ironically.

“Well then, congratulations! I knew you could do it!” Jessica released a sigh of relief after knowing that it might not be something as serious as she thought it would be. 

Jessica then moved herself next to Yuri and leaned her head comfortably on the girl’s shoulder. Yuri jolted a bit and froze from her spot. It was a usual thing for Jessica to do, but for a reason unknown to Yuri, she couldn’t help but reacted different this time around. Second by second, Yuri knew her temperature was rising despite the winter weather, and that her heart was beating twice as faster even though she was in perfect health.

‘What’s happening to me?’

“Your team is perfect, Yuri. Furthermore, you’re a great captain anyone could wish to have,” Jessica complimented, “Just relax, okay? I’ll be there to cheer for you.”

Just knowing the assurance of Jessica being behind the bleachers, shouting out encouragements to her team while watching her play, cheered Yuri up. It was a simple matter, but it brought a bright smile to Yuri’s depressed face.

“Thanks. You’re a great friend, Sica.”

“So we are friends.”

Now… what Jessica had said threw Yuri off; it was far enough to hit a home run in Yuri’s confused mind. She couldn’t grasp the meaning behind Jessica’s words nor even understood it in the first place. All of these time… just what could Jessica possibly think they were? Yuri just had to ask.

“What did you think we were?” 

“S-Strangers…?”

Yuri burst out laughing at the tone of uncertainty and a sense of cuteness in Jessica’s reply.

“What kind of strangers spend hours together on the phone, have occasional sleepovers, hanging out with each other for almost half of the time of their high school life, or even tell each other secr-…ets… ” Yuri paused for a moment, as she thought more in depth about the last point. “Now that I think about it… you never told me any of your secrets.”

It was a fact. Jessica never did.

“I-I guess…we’re not friends then,” Jessica’s head lowered and her tone softened into sadness. 

It was a side of the ice princess that barely anyone knew about. There were only two people on the whole campus that knew about the real Jessica. One is Jessica’s best friend since elementary times, Hwang Tiffany. The other? It was none other than Kwon Yuri, but, as of now, the black pearl’s relationship with Jessica had been officially become… undefined.

“That’s not what I meant. Look, we’re friends, Sica, and we have always been since the first day I met you. Sure, you may not tell me any of your deep-dark secrets…” Yuri purposely stressed on the point, earning, yet, another icy stare coming her way, “… but, you have shown me the real ‘Jung Sooyeon’. Whatever we might be or whatever you might think we are, I still see you as the best friend I have ever had.” 

Every single word spoken was from the bottom of Yuri’s heart. Everything was true…
…except…along the lines, something had begun to slowly becoming a lie… without her even knowing it herself.

Jessica couldn’t portray her feelings in any other way but a tight embrace. She wrapped her arms around Yuri, and buried her head in the girl’s shoulder as if wanting to cry from being emotional from Yuri’s words. She couldn’t believe that someone could easily warm up to her like this. 

“Thank you, Yuri,” Jessica whispered as she released the hug, wiping any visible stray marks of tears. She then inhaled in some air before moving onto her whole point of raising the question in the first place. “Since we’re friends… I have something to confess to you…”

“What is it?” 

“I think I like someone.”

Yuri’s heartbeat hastened once again, and she knew it wasn’t a normal reaction. She was nervous. Even the KkabYul was in no mood to joke around. 

“W-who?”

She was afraid.

“Donghae-oppa.”

As if her worst nightmare had just become reality, Yuri’s heart sank deeper. 

“What do I do, Yuri?”

She felt an immediate stabbing pain on her chest. Yuri could tell that Jessica was serious.

‘I see it now… Kwon Yuri, this is called jealousy.’

“Do you think he’ll accept me if I confess?”

‘Stop.’

“What if he rejects me?”

Yuri then remembered what her sunbae had said to her. She knew that he wouldn’t reject Jessica. She knew that they would be together if one of them confesses to the other. From that, she knew that she, herself, would get hurt in the process. 

And she knew that she would have to watch them from afar… with eyes of a lying happiness.

Out of impulse, Yuri pulled Jessica into her arms and embraced her best friend tightly, as if she was going to lose the girl any minute. 

“Yuri…?”

“Sica…even if you get accepted or rejected, you know for sure that you’ll always have a shoulder to lean on and ears to listen to your stories. I will always be there for you,” Yuri dug her fingernails into her skin to hold back the tears on the verge of falling. She then whispered the words that were meant more than what it was said as she held on tighter to the one person she wish to be with, “I love you.”

There was something different about the tone in those three words, and Jessica sensed it. Deep in her heart, she didn’t clearly understood why, but she knew she couldn’t return those words with the same meaning. It was a type of love beyond the border of just friends.

“Yeah… I know. Thank you, Kwon Seobang.”

It was all she could say…

★★★

Puffing up the glass, Jessica traced her finger on her window as she wrote the word ‘YulSic’. Jessica’s sleepless nights had returned ever since she last saw Yuri. She felt both happiness and guilt engulfing her heart. She regretted the moment she did not say ‘I love you’. She regretted making Yuri wait. She regretted her self-denial. And most of all, she regretted letting the one she loves leave her side.

“Why are you not here when I need you most?”

★☆★

Just a few miles away, a female CEO sat lifelessly on her seat as rushing memories came back to her. She stood up from her chair, walked around her office in hopes of easing her mind, only to sit back down with the same problem occurring all over again. She couldn’t stop thinking about the one person that she missed. After yesterday’s night of reminiscing about the past, Yuri’s memories, once again, came back to remind her of her mistakes.

Yuri scribbled ‘YulSic’ all over her notepad then erased them, wishing that the thoughts in her mind would vanish just as the sketches before her did. However, pencil marks remained… so did the replaying memories.

Just then, something was able to distract her.

A fragrance of milk coffee flowed into her senses as she gazed to her side to see a cup of steaming, snowy white coffee being placed on her table. 

“Coffee with a lot of milk, right?”

A female voice then garnered her attention as she looked up to confirm the individual’s identity. A smile of gratitude crisped on Yuri’s lips as a happy expression replaced her troublesome one.

“Thanks, I was really needing this,” Yuri took the cup willingly and helped herself with a small sip. “Wow… it tastes better than usual!”

“You’re welcome,” Victoria smiled gladly when Yuri seemed to enjoy the coffee. “I’m really sorry for barging in.”

“No, it’s alright.”

“I did knock but you didn’t answer. I kind of just let myself in since Sooyoung-sshi asked me to hand you this.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking about some stuff…”

Victoria handed Yuri the light weighted file in her hands as Yuri took it and opened the cover. Yuri twitched as she read the words on the sticky note written in red ink placed in the almost completely empty folder.

“I saw what you did there. If you’re trying to get yourself a girl, do it outside if you don’t want special attention, KkabYul.” –Sooyoungie

‘That sly shikshin…’

Yuri shook her head as she threw away the note and slid the empty folder on the other side of her work desk.

“Are you going to stay here?” Victoria asked as she sat down on the visitor’s seat.

“What time is it?” 

“Break.”

Yuri smiled when she realized Victoria had dropped the formalities like Yuri had requested of her the day before. It just showed how much the girl actually pay attention to whatever Yuri said.

“I guess I could go out for a walk and maybe grab some lunch along the way. Care to join me?” Yuri offered kindly.

“Su-”

A loud commotion just outside Yuri’s office then interrupted their conversation. Yuri could hear approaching footsteps growing closer by the second. 

“What’s going on outside?” Victoria asked as she stood up from her seat.

“I’ll go check,” Yuri did the same as she approached the door.

She could hear familiar voices behind the wall.

‘It couldn’t be them…could it?’

Yuri reached for the door knob and was about to twist it only to back up in reflex before the hard wood could swing right onto her face.

“KkabYul!” A hyper-active female jumped and attacked Yuri, swinging her arms around the taller girl’s neck while choking the latter in the process.

“C-can’t breathe…Hyo-” 

“Are we interrupting anything?” Another shorter girl, with her hair tied in a side pigtail, walked in, looking around the office as she spotted Victoria, someone whom she had not seen around in the company.

“No, we were just talking,” Yuri replied after she managed to be released from the deathly grasp. “I’m surprise to see you here… but judging from the noise outside, I’m guessing it’s not just you two.”

A third girl, dressed with wayfarers and a scarf, managed to squeezed herself between the door and locked it as she catch herself some air. “Are they increasing in numbers?” 

“I’ll thank you if my company becomes overcrowded with herds of fan girls,” Yuri said sarcastically.

“Like you’re the one to talk,” the shortest girl with the side ponytail spoke up, returning the sarcasm with one on the same level as the other two girls stood and nodded simultaneously in agreement.

Yuri cleared and ignored her friend’s additional statement. As the middle woman, Yuri began to make everyone comfortable with each other. She took Victoria by the hand and made the girl stand next to her. “Anyways, I would like to introduce you to my new friend, Victoria.”

Victoria stole a quick glance at Yuri upon hearing the way she was addressed. She felt warm-hearted when her boss had called her a ‘friend’ instead of any regular employee that she would have been expected to be referred as.

Victoria bowed her head in a ninety degrees manner (despite the fact being older than all of the others) while introducing herself with a smile, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Victoria, Song Victoria.”

The girl with her hair tied up stepped forward and brightly introduced herself while waving enthusiastically, just like a living image of a sun, “My name is Sunny! Nice to meet you!”

“Yay, a new friend!” The other happy-go-lucky female quickly approached Victoria and gave the girl an unexpected hug. “I’m Hyoyeon!”
The last girl, much more composed and calm than the other two, walk toward Victoria, bowed lightly, and then offered her hand. “I’m Kim Taeyeon.”

Victoria’s eyes widened as the familiar name knocked into her memory. She held tightly onto Taeyeon’s hand as she reaffirmed the girl’s identity. “You are Kim TaeYeon? One of SoShi Records’ best and youngest composers? Really!?”
Taeyeon rubbed the back of her head as the exaggeration grew to be more unrealistic. Well, it wasn’t false. Taeyeon was just too humble. “Y-Yeah…”

“I’m a big fan of yours!” Victoria exclaimed as the other three stood shaking their head. 
The same thing was going through their mind, yet, once again.

‘Another one…’

Clapping her hands together, Yuri drew attention to herself and stopped the fandom in front of her. She turned to her three friends and asked, “Since you three are here, do you mind doing me a small favor?”

“What is it?” Sunny asked.

“I’ve been rather busy with work, so I need someone to show a certain shikshin around Seoul.”

“Who?” Both Taeyeon and Hyoyeon raised the question while Sunny stood in disbelief. 

‘Don’t tell me…’

The door banged wide open, creating a loud noise from the impact while shocking all the room’s occupants except two who stood in expectance.

“Yuri, treat me to lunc-!...” 

It was none other than the shikshin: Choi Sooyoung. 

The tallest girl observed her surroundings as various eyes stared at her in surprise. Yuri glared at her for almost breaking the door, while the other three were still shock from the noise. Even so, Sooyoung took notice at only one person, whose presence caused her to stumble back in surprise.

“W-Why are you here?” Sooyoung asked directly to Sunny with her voice lowered.

“Visiting a friend,” Sunny replied simply, pointing at Yuri.

“Oh…um…I see.” Sooyoung scratched the back of head and mentally scolded herself for bringing up what she thought was a stupid question.

Yuri was watching the awkward scene in front of her along with everyone else, who had no clue what was going on. 

‘What’s with her…?’ 

Yuri cleared once again, and she was able to gather everyone’s attention except one. Interfering with the mood, Yuri dragged Sooyoung aside and whispered in her friend’s ear to awaken the girl’s awareness of her surroundings, “Out of wonderland, please.”

Yuri lightly nudged Sooyoung, indicating the presence of others in the room. Sooyoung almost felt horrible for ignoring everyone else as she bowed in both greetings and apology.

Sensing an atmosphere of silence, Victoria approached the tall girl and offered her hand to Sooyoung, “We haven’t really properly introduced each other yet. I’m Song Victoria. It’s great to be working with you, Sooyoung-sshi.”

Sooyoung took Victoria’s hand and returned the introduction with her own. Apparently, the shikshin had garnered unexpected attention from ‘a certain shortie’, in which Victoria took notice of in the corner of her eye. 

“Well, anyways, since you are here, Sooyoung, that makes my job much easier,” Yuri said, dragging Sooyoung closer to her side. She then looked at her three close friends in front of her and restated her request, “Can you three take this shikshin around Seoul? She hasn’t been in the country since she was nine and things have changed much since back then.”

“Wait, what?” Sooyoung, who was clueless of this whole idea, looked at Yuri in confusion. She was foretold by her boss that she would have two hours off work but she was never told of why, and Yuri’s eyes and secret smirk were telling her that the girl was scheming something.

“Sure. We have time, right, girls?” Hyoyeon said happily, looking back at the other two shorter girls who nodded in reply. She was already jumping in excitement even before the tour began.

“Then that’s settled!” Yuri exclaimed, clapping her hands together with a bright smile as she sent a mischievous wink at Sooyoung. Of course… the girl did not get the message.

The three dangshins, along with the shikshin, left the office as they bid their greetings to Yuri and Victoria. 

As soon as the visitors were out of sight, Victoria turned to Yuri and asked a curious question that had kept her wondering. “Is there something between Sooyoung and Sunny-sshi?”

Yuri gave off a small laugh as she replied, “You see it, too? Maybe not yet, but I can say for sure… it’s a future thing.” 

Yuri quickly checked the time on her watch. 11:25AM, it read. She then turned to Victoria and smiled brightly.

“So… would you like to join me for lunch?”

☆★☆

The three dwarfs were leading the giant around a big city. One was excited, always being the ‘tourist’ leading the crew, skipping ahead a couple of steps. The other one stayed behind with her phone in hand and her face covered with the hood from her jacket. She would occasionally have her eyes swaying side to side, being afraid that she would be recognized as the infamous celebrity. The two that were left walked (closely) next to each other in between, struck with an awkward silence they did not know how to break from.

Of course, they had their reasons.

☆☆☆

November 11 at SoShi Café

“You haven’t ended things?” 

Sooyoung was rather annoyed at hearing the tone of Sunny’s phone sounded on and off for the twelfth time that noon. It wasn’t her business, but she was just bothered of how clingy her friend’s ‘girlfriend’ was being.

“I just couldn’t… she’s so kind to me,” Sunny replied as she shook her head. She didn’t know how to deal with the situation in order to make it fair for both sides. Even if they do split up, Sunny would be stuck with the guilt from the mistake that she could have easily avoided.

“Does she love you?” Sooyoung asked suddenly, massaging her temples as she tried to figure out ways to help her friend. Once again, it was not her business, but Sooyoung felt the need to help. 

“From what I know…yes…” Sunny couldn’t help but think that she was somewhat taking advantage of the girl’s feelings for her. It was a fact that made it hard for Sunny to break it off with Hyomin. 

“I told you, you could have said you were cheating. Or just get into another relationship. Hook up with another girl or something. That would have ended it smoothly,” Sooyoung claimed sarcastically. Her tone was reaching its peak of frustration. 

She gazed out the window to hopefully ease her mind. Sooyoung knew she was losing her calm self. ‘Why am I so bothered by this?’

“Are you kidding me? Smoothly? This is not a drama, Sooyoung. This is not where the guy accidentally sleeps with the girl then the next day they easily just break it off and voila, things go back to normal,” Sunny sent a questioning stare of disbelief at Sooyoung, who reacted with a trail of silence. “I’ll think about this by myself. It’s my business anyway. Thank you for your help so far and sorry for bothering you.” Sunny picked up her bag and stood up from her seat. She seemed a bit mad by Sooyoung’s choice of words.

Even so, Sunny waited for a few seconds, but Sooyoung did nothing as the girl continued to stare out the window. 

Sunny puffed a heavy sigh as she greeted the silent shikshin, “Goodbye.” 

She then walked past Sooyoung, about to head toward the entrance, only to be held back by the soft-spoken words from her friend.

“Sunny, if she really loves you…then she’ll let you go. It’s as simple as that.”

Logically speaking, Sooyoung was correct. Emotionally putting it, the other party (or in this case, Hyomin) would be immensely hurt in the process.

Sunny did consider Sooyoung’s words, but she did not want to lie more than she already has. Unless…

“I have an idea!” A plan had dangerously flashed through Sunny’s mind at the same moment she had vividly heard what Sooyoung had said. Sunny sat back down, this time, right next to Sooyoung. She then turned to friend and requested assistance politely, “but I need your help.”

“W-what?” 

“Will you be my girlfriend?”


★★★

It was not until the back of their hands brushed by the other did they notice how close they were walking next to one another. 

“S-sorry,” Sooyoung apologized and took a few steps away from Sunny shyly. 

“It’s okay,” Sunny replied, staring at the girl to her left rather strangely as she was wondering what the apology was for. 

“If I do not know better, I would have thought you two know each other since…forever.” Hyoyeon’s comment alerted the two girls’ attentions. 

Sooyoung backed away even further, now standing at least one feet away from her shorter friend. Unexpectedly, though, she was pulled back to her previous spot.

Sunny hooked onto Sooyoung’s arm and said in a sing-sang voice, “That’s because we’re best buddies, right, Sooyoungie?”

Sooyoung stayed silent, partially from being surprise at the nickname Sunny had given her.

“You two are weird… Don’t you think so, Taengoo?” Hyoyeon shifted her head a bit to look at Taeyeon who was trailing quite far behind. She received no response from the girl who only had her eyes on her cell phone. Hyoyeon decided to call out again, “Yah!”

Taeyeon jolted and looked up at the person shouting out to her. “W-what is it?” She quickly tugged her phone back into her pocket and walked forward. 

“You’ve been playing with your phone ever since this morning. Ooh, could it possibly…does our little Taengoo have a lover?” Hyoyeon teased, nudging her older friend with her elbow consistently.

“N-No, of course I don’t!” Taeyeon replied embarrassingly as she laughed it off and fast walked ahead of the other three.

Hyoyeon looked to her left to see a ‘couple’, or really just Sunny and Sooyoung in reality, walking side by side while being millimeters apart. She gazed to see her right and saw Taeyeon pulling her phone out again and stared at the screen for the uncountable time that noon, as if she was waiting for something. Sighing, Hyoyeon whispered to herself while placing one hand on her hip while the other scratching her head confusingly, “Why is everyone being so oddly suspicious today?”

The four girls continued to walk down the streets, showing Sooyoung various shops and places that she might be interested in. Sooyoung was fascinated on how much Seoul had changed and was glad that she was able to go on this short tour for recommendations. Kwon Yuri knew just what she needed.

They then stopped in front of the only place that Sooyoung was most familiar with ever since she arrived in Korea.

“This is Soshi Café! The best one in town!” The hyperactive tourist introduced.

“Of course Sooyoungie knows this place. She comes here practically every day, after all,” Sunny teased, tugging Sooyoung by the arm.

Hyoyeon glared at the two in front of her and voiced out her thought, “You two are seriously suspicious…”

While the other three talked among one another as Sunny continued to tease Sooyoung while Hyoyeon throw in some personal comments along the conversation, Taeyeon kept quiet and stared blankly at the device in her hand. She had been out of it ever since yesterday when she confessed to Jessica that she, indeed, was in love with Tiffany.

Taeyeon had sent a couple of messages to Tiffany, asking the girl about her well-being, but she had not received a single one since this morning. A rather strange occurrence, since she always get an instant reply.

Taeyeon sighed as she looked up from her phone, gazing into the shop blankly. 

There…she saw her angel.

Taeyeon pushed through the three girls and decided to take a closer look. It was indeed Tiffany; she was the sole Hwang Tiffany that had her heart fluttering even if they don’t see each other.

Just when Taeyeon was about to run into the café shop, she received a message that she had been desperately waiting for. Her first message of the day from Tiffany.

It read: “Hey TaeTae! Are you busy now? Sorry if I’m bothering you at the wrong time. I couldn’t reply to your message earlier. So sorry about that (>__< ) Where are you right now? I’m at SoShi Café. Do you want to meet up later?”

It brought an instant smile to Taeyeon’s face since the message had assured her that she was not hallucinating things, but most importantly, it had assured her that Tiffany was not ignoring her.

Taeyeon wanted to notify Tiffany of her whereabouts and maybe schedule a time for their meet-up later that afternoon. She then quickly typed on the screen of her phone, however, the voices speaking behind her alarmed her attention.

“Isn’t that Tiffany? You know, Jessica’s best friend back in high school?” Sunny asked curiously as she took a closer look.

“If that’s Tiffany, then is that guy her boyfriend?” Hyoyeon pondered, trying to take a careful look.

The word ‘boyfriend’ struck Taeyeon awake from her little dreamland. She looked away from her phone and glanced inside the shop. Her angel was with someone else.

“Look, he’s kissing her!” Hyoyeon exclaimed in a whisper.

Even if it was just a kiss on the cheek, Taeyeon’s heart throbbed. She knew Tiffany had a boyfriend… and she never wish to see them interact all lovey-dovey within her sight. She just couldn’t take it.

Taeyeon silently deleted her draft and tugged away her phone. She tried to fake a smile as she turned to her friends, “Let’s go somewhere else and leave those two alone.” 

Taeyeon felt uncomfortable, even though she believed she had no right to be. Taking one last glance at Tiffany with her boyfriend, she then walked away.

“Wow, she’s really lucky. He’s really good looking,” Sunny commented upon seeing Tiffany with her boyfriend, earning a glare from a certain shikshin.

Sooyoung ruffled her hair and forced her arm out of Sunny’s grasp, in which the girl had taken notice off. 

Sunny looked at Sooyoung as the tall girl followed Taeyeon, leaving the two of them behind. She couldn’t help but think there was something strange about Sooyoung’s reaction just now, but she could not pin point it.

‘What’s wrong with Sooyoung lately…?’

★☆★

Tiffany occupied the corner seat near the window, in the famous coffee shop of Seoul, at early noon. She switched the locking of her phone on and off lifelessly, as though it had eventually became a new game to entertain herself. 

Her boyfriend, Jaejoong, had left to order themselves a decent lunch, but, of course, he could have just ordered it at their table and had it delivered by a fairly great customer service. However, he had thought waiting directly at the pick-up spot would somehow pressure them to be of haste. He did not want to ruin his schedule even by a couple of seconds. That’s just how much of a ‘busy man’ he was. 

Thus, Tiffany was left sitting all alone while the gentlemen of her surroundings would not stop stealing glances at her. Even so, she did not give much care about the attention. All she worried about was the waiting for the reply of the imaginary text that she was hoping would be delivered in her mailbox anytime soon. Hopefully anytime soon. Hwang Miyoung was concern when Taeyeon did not seem to reply in what had been…merely minutes. She was starting to get anxious.

She couldn’t blame her friend for not replying. The older girl was a famous celebrity who would be frequently preoccupied with her schedule. Plus, Tiffany had failed to instantly texted back Taeyeon a few hours earlier. The reason was because she knew Jaejoong would be suspicious if she went on another texting spree. After all… she was currently on a date with him, and she was still his girlfriend. She thought she should have at least a respect for their rare occasion of free time together. 

Nevertheless, the worse that could happen was the question of ‘What if Taeyeon was mad at me?’ Even the thought brought some worry upon Tiffany’s mind. This ‘concept’ of liking someone…it’s a scary thing to deal with.

She brushed off the assumption and released a deep sigh, deciding to give up waiting for the day as she tugged her silenced phone back into her bag. Tiffany then looked up to see her boyfriend approaching with a tray of delicious food… which Tiffany currently had no appetite for.

“I hope you didn’t wait too long,” Jaejoong smiled cheerfully after having received his order quickly as planned. He placed down the tray and gave Tiffany her drink. 

“Here’s your coffee.”

Tiffany took the coffee cup without looking at its content and gulped down a few sips. It was caramel coffee. ‘At least he remembered this time,’ she thought to herself with an eye-smile. “Thanks, oppa.”

“My pleasure,” Jaejoong replied in a welcoming tone. He stared at his beautiful girlfriend while the rest of the shop envied the glamorous-looking couple. 

They were indeed a fitting pair to the public view. Of course...seemingly more appropriate than being with a certain someone in Tiffany’s mind.

“Hey, I have a surprise for you,” Jaejoong leaned forward and reached for Tiffany’s warm hands.

Tiffany found it difficult to face her boyfriend, having a belief that all her thoughts would be read if she was to make direct eye contact. Even so, she tried not to make things any more suspicious. “Oh, really? What is it?”

Jaejoong continued to wear his smile. He revealed his other hand from his back along with something held between his fingers: two tickets to the amusement park.

“Today is all yours.”

---

Hand in hand, they went on various rides and then would share an ice cream cone during their break. They told stories of their daily lives and had their moments of laughter. They were happy together… or at least they seemed to be.

Tiffany couldn’t help but fake her smiles from time to time. If she was the Tiffany from ‘before’, then she would have nothing in mind but the joy of having Jaejoong, her beloved boyfriend, by her side. However, her mind was now occupied by another someone. Every step she took, every little thing they did, every moment she spent with him, they all reminded her of one thing: something was missing in their relationship. It was something that had once drawn her to him, but was now lost and replaced.

Putting the fact that he never spent enough time with his girlfriend aside, Jaejoong was never a bad boyfriend. He treated Tiffany with gentleness and care, and he was considerate. Even though he could throw a sudden tantrum at her at times from his stress at work, he would always find a way to apologize in the most romantic manner possible. But…

‘Will I be able to endure this for long…?’

“Tiffany,” Jaejoong called out to his girlfriend softly, placing his hand over the girl’s shoulder. “Can you close your eyes for one moment?”

Tiffany did as told without much thought. One millisecond later, she felt a soft sensation on her lips. Other than that… she felt nothing.

It was a kiss like that of two years ago, which had kept her heart racing even when she had returned home or even if one week had already passed by. It was the one that would bring up her signature smile every time she thought about it. It was from the one person she believed to be the ‘right one’ for her.

That was two years ago. But now… she knew it was all different. She felt nothing.

“I love you, Tiffany. I just want to let you know that,” Jaejoong confessed to Tiffany as he placed his forehead against her. He threw his arms around her and embraced her tightly.

They haven’t had a moment like this for so long, but Tiffany no longer missed it. 

‘This is the point where I say I love him back right?’ Tiffany asked herself, feeling hesitant in her own doubts. She swung her arms back down and let it hung on her sides in her fail attempt of hugging her boyfriend back. ‘Why can’t I?’

Tiffany was in her stage of confusion. 

‘He… is my boyfriend. Jaejoong is my boyfriend. And I’m his girlfriend. We have been dating for 2 years. And of course, Taeyeon will… she will never be more than my friend.’

Tiffany's heart throbbed. She never knew of this pain. 
Tiffany never truly experienced it.

‘Hwang Miyoung, Jaejoong loves you. You should… love him, too. Forget about your feelings for Taeyeon. That…should be for the best.’

And with that, Tiffany embraced Jaejoong...with an empty heart.

☆★☆

“I’m really sorry for having you take me home again. Thank you so much,” Jessica apologized and thanked her sunbae, as she couldn’t help but felt a slight bit of guilt. 

Mostly, the paparazzi were to the blame.

“No worries. I like helping out a friend in need,” Taeyeon replied gladly.

“Have you been keeping in contact with Tiffany?” Jessica asked out of curiosity. She knew Taeyeon would be more honest and straightforward than Tiffany would.

“Yeah, we have,” and as Jessica had predicted, Taeyeon was. 

“When are you going to tell her?”

“About?”

“That you love her.”

Taeyeon went silent for one moment as the scene of seeing Tiffany with her boyfriend earlier in the day replayed in her head. She smile simply then gave her reply, “I don’t think I will. She looks happy with her boyfriend already.”

“So she told you she has a boyfriend…” 

Taeyeon nodded lightly. The fact saddened her. 

“That eye-smile of her… it’s really beautiful. I don’t want to see it disappear,” Taeyeon commented as the image of a smiling Tiffany brought a smile to her own face.

“In life… there are things that are best left unsaid and would be better if you let go,” Jessica paused as she took a look at her cell phone. 

On the screen was a wallpaper of her most memorable picture of her and Yuri taken when they were still back in high school. It was her favorite one.

She turned back to Taeyeon and continued her sentence, “but there are always confessions you need to make, otherwise, you will end up losing the person you love most.”

“Jessica…”

“Don’t give up yet, Taeyeon. You never know if she loves you back,” Jessica strongly advised.

Taeyeon could sense personal experience in Jessica’s words and somewhere along the lines… the feelings of regret. Once again, she smiled simply and said with gratitude, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Have you seen Yuri lately?” Jessica suddenly asked out of the blue.

“Yeah, I just did today. Why?” Taeyeon was a little surprise Yuri was suddenly brought up in their talk.

“How is she?” Jessica’s tone changed. It was much gentler than before and Taeyeon noticed it.

“She’s doing fine. Healthy as ever.”

“That’s good,” Jessica smiled as she breathed out a sigh of relief.

Taeyeon took a peek at Jessica’s reaction in the corner of her eyes. There was something different about Jessica when the girl talked about Yuri. It was familiar, as if she had seen it once before just recently. However, Taeyeon couldn’t put a finger on it. 

“Why don’t you go visit her? You two are friends from high school, right?” Taeyeon wondered. 

“I want to…but I can’t. Not now,” Jessica explained, shaking her head. “Taeyeon, there’s something I want you to know.”

“What is it?” 

“The one I love is-”

Unfortunately, a ringing of a nearby device then interrupted. Taeyeon picked up her phone and checked the caller’s ID. 

“It’s manager-oppa,” Taeyeon said as she signaled her apology to Jessica before putting the caller on speaker.

Jessica then stared outside from the glass window beside her as she watched the streetlights passed by. Of course, there was only one person in her mind.

‘Kwon-seobang…what are you doing right now?’

The red light halted every car in its track. Jessica then observed her surroundings in hopes of finding Yuri somewhere along the crowd miraculously. 

Just then, as if it was some sort of hallucination had been played on her, Jessica spotted a tall and dark figure with long, wavy chocolate hair. The girl hopped onto her black motorbike as she started up the engine. Beside the girl was a shorter lady. She sat behind the tanner girl as she threw her arms over the girl’s waist tightly. Jessica scrolled down the window and tried to take a closer look, but the green lights had prevented her from doing so, as the car once again speeded off. 

She couldn’t see their faces clearly, but her instincts were telling her that the person she just saw was none other than Yuri. It has to be. If so… who was the other one?

At that moment, a fearful thought seeped into her head as she leaned back onto seat. 

‘It had been one year… Yuri, could you have already fallen in love with somebody else?’

The image never escaped her mind that night.