Chapter 12 
Wavering Determination

Yoona held the piece of paper over her head, rotating it rounds of after rounds, upside down and downside up, just to confirm that it was just not her hallucination. Ignoring the fractious groans of her contemporaries, she gazed at her paper silently, bearing a proud smile on her lips. It was a trophy to her. 

On Yoona’s way out the classroom in haste right after the break bell had sounded, her teacher halted her back and gave his praise, “Good job on your exam. Are you just neglecting your studies, Yoona? From the looks of it, you could have been one of my top aces.”

Yoona shook her head, clarifying, “Thank you, but with my efforts alone, I would never be able to get such a score. Joo Hyun helped me prepare.”

Yoona never would have thought there would be a day when she would see a 95 marked score on her test. Not a perfect score, but it was too perfect for Yoona to have ever imagined. 

“Oh, you’re in good hands then. This is a big jump,” her teacher nodded his head lightly as he recalled Yoona’s previous hell-of-a-test-score. And of course, every professor on campus knows of the prodigy Seo Joo Hyun so it made sense to him something similar to a miracle could occur. “You should treat her out to a nice reward as thanks.”

“Of course, and I will do just as that.” 

---

The bell gave off its alarm in the indication of the first break. Seohyun rose up from her seat and walked out the door, stretching her arms up above her head and arching her ached back after a tired morning. She glanced from side to side, searching the hallway with her eyes as she waited for Yoona, whom, if according to her expectation, would be running to her from either direction by any minute now. 

Today was the day of Yoona’s retake and the girl was supposed to present the immediate results to her supposedly ‘private tutor’ right after she received the grade. Seohyun hoped that her skills could be of use to Yoona even if it’s just by a nudge of a percentage. Though, she had to admit, in this one week Seo Joo Hyun learned more than she could have ever taught Yoona.

Seohyun continued to fiddle with her hands as she waited impatiently, pacing around the hall while muttering prayers of wishful thoughts under her breath. She was anxious, but in a way or so, Seohyun had faith in Yoona. The girl was intellectual, and she could easily point out a lot of things that Seohyun had never taken notice off. It was just laziness and distractions (obvious to the eyes but unfathomable to Seohyun) that had prevented Yoona from reaching her full potential. It was now their last year of high school before they enter the ‘reality’ outside and Seohyun had been working her ways to prepare Yoona’s for the hardships of college life, since the girl had been begging Seohyun to let her accompany her to the same school. It was quite late now for Yoona to get into a school of Seohyun’s standards, but it was still not impossible. Even so, Yoona had occasionally joked about how she would rather sit at her window pane, doing nothing but count raindrops falling from the sky for seven hours straight, rather than completing the pointless calculations of nonsense scribbles that were practically useless to her for daily life necessities.

Seohyun giggled to herself at the various complaints and excuses Yoona had given her, only to end up complying in doing what Seohyun had asked of her. Surprisingly, for this one whole week, Yoona had been oddly cooperative in working her way to get an exceeding grade, not only for her make-up test, but for other subjects as well. Sometimes Seohyun couldn’t help but think that she had somehow influenced Yoona with all those treats she promised after each finished assignment. Of course, very little did she know, even without the offers, Yoona would do her best just to please her Joo Hyun.

Just as Seohyun anticipated, loud commotions soon filled the quiet hall with the presence of a certain celebrity; her best friend to be exact. 

“Hyunnie!” Yoona called out in the distance, her gleaming smile radiated among the crowd as she waved a piece of white paper in the air. It was hard to tell to the imaginative eyes which were shinier: the flapping, white sheet or Yoona’s aura, itself.

As soon as she approached her best friend, Yoona intentionally lifted the girl up and spun her around; it was oddly similar to a wedding scene after the father had announced the groom and bride as ‘husband and wife’ where spectators watched in jealousy and envy.

“Y-Yoona-unnie!” Seohyun cried out, slapping Yoona’s shoulder several times so that the girl would release her. It was not that she didn’t like it, but they were garnering unwanted attention, yet, again for the umpteenth time.

“IpassedIreallydiditIpassedohmygodIcan’tbelievethis, Hyunnie!” Yoona exclaimed joyfully, her words jumbled all over one another into a trail of nonsense after she had obediently laid her best friend back on the ground (with her arms still wrapped around Seohyun’s waist). The young girl was quite strong for her age for she did not even drop a sign of sweat from carrying and twirling someone in the air her size.

“Unnie, calm down, I can barely hear what you’re sayin-”

Yoona released Seohyun and handed her ‘tutor’ the paper in her hand. Seohyun carefully observed the results and instantly covered to refrain from a cry-out upon seeing the red numbers of percentage written on the top of the page.

“Y-You did it…” Seohyun murmured under her breath, hands slightly shaking from bewilderment.

Seohyun unconsciously leaped onto Yoona as an automatic response, feeling the series of excitement that Yoona had been through. All thoughts about avoiding physical contact from her best friend were pushed far back into the tiny corner of her brain.

“I knew you could do it,” she whispered into Yoona’s ears, her chin placed near the crook of Yoona’s neck.

Yoona flinched from the air brushing against her sensitive skin as she could feel the heat rising upon realizing that there was absolutely no space between them. 

On Seohyun’s case, it was only until hearing the whispers among them did she realize how long she had been holding onto Yoona. Seohyun loosened her grasp but was suddenly jerked back into an embrace. Of course, Yoona had taken advantage of their current stance and refused to let the girl she loves go free, especially with the fact they haven’t been this close to each other ever since the awkward tension a few days ago.

Their heartbeats were dancing in a similar rhythm that they both knew well, but was too oblivious to notice. Both were sending vigorous flying paper airplanes with written messages of their confessions to one another, only to have all the pieces unfortunately caught in a barbwire they had yet to overcome. Fear: that was what it was. 

It only take one person to walk up and stepped over whatever was in front of them, even it means cutting through what was getting in their way regardless of the consequences, because only then would they know the truth. Only then would things be easier.

And Yoona knew she had to be the one eventually.

“Hyunnie, can I tell you something?” Yoona finally spoke up after a trail of silence.

“What is it?” Seohyun asked, trying her best not to stumble on her words out of nervousness.
Yoona opened to speak but paused in her confession as she attentively listened to the rumors floating around the hall. They weren’t pleasant and Yoona knew best that if the truth was to be revealed here, it could reach to practically anyone and everyone. She worried about how her schoolmates and Taecyeon’s college friends had been putting their noses in about her issue, trying meddle in her love life as they were curious who Yoona is in love with. 

“Unnie?”

“Meet me after school and I’ll tell you.”

Before Seohyun could ask why, the class bell rang, sending students back into their next subject. Yoona hesitantly released Seohyun and began to her class, but soon halted after she stepped no more than a yard. The blame was to be put on Yoona’s personalities for her next act. She was not satisfied with just leaving blandly, as she pulled a risky move the second she turned around and looked into Seohyun’s eyes. Yoona swiftly tugged Seohyun by the arm and gave her crush a sneaky kiss on the cheek (to her fortunate that no one else witness the scene).

“Thanks for helping me out, Hyunnie!” 

After saying her last gratitude of thanks for a while, Yoona ran off, skipping in her steps as she blushed wildly and almost felt embarrass for what she did.

Seohyun, on the other hand, was left dumbfounded in the middle of the hall as students scattered around. She immediately assumed it was just a friendly act (thanks to Yoona’s last words) but the kiss was so warm and nostalgic. She could almost hear the thumping sound of her blood rising as she recalled the scene.

At moments like this, Seohyun wondered if she should be extremely happy or just terribly frustrated.

‘Unnie… How am I supposed to give up on you if you keep doing things like this to me…?’

★☆★

Yuri felt a tight grip around her waist every time she accelerated on her bike’s engine. She occasionally took glances over her shoulder, looking behind the shaded screen of her helmet whenever they came to a stop at a red switch of a street light. Yuri was not so used to riding others with her motorbike and was starting to worry if her hobby of speeding was affecting her passenger.

“Are you alright?” Yuri asked her friend, her concerned voice muffled behind the protective headwear.

“Yeah. Why you’d asked?” Yuri’s companion answered calmly. 

“Am I going too fast?”

“No, I like the speed.”

There really was no sign of fear in Victoria’s reply and Yuri took it as an honest answer. Yuri was tempted to ask why the older girl was holding onto her so tightly if that was the case, but reconsidered it as an unnecessary question. Keeping the question to herself, Yuri continued the ride to Victoria’s home.

It had had been part of her daily routine after seeing to the trouble of Victoria’s ride inconveniences from the sudden breakdown of her chauffer’s car not long ago. The older girl lived quite distant from the company to walk home and the bus routes would be quite a waste of time. She had recently moved here to Korea, thus, not owning a ride of her own. It never had been a problem to her father for him to buy a transportation device for her, but Victoria made a promise to herself not to rely too much on her family’s money if she can afford to live life independently by herself. Yuri appreciated the older girl’s personality for such and decided that she should help Victoria with a small act of kindness since it’s really not much.

“Yuri?” Victoria called out, lightly tapping Yuri on the girl’s back just in case the eerie noise around them had prevented her to be heard.

“Hmm?”

“Are you busy tonight?”

“I have no particular plans. Why?”

“Can you take me somewhere really quick? It’s on the way. But you don’t have to if you’re bus-”

“Sure, I can do that. Just show me where.”

---
After a few turns around the corners, they arrived at the desire destination. Yuri observed curiously at her surroundings. It was deserted with no other human around except for Yuri and Victoria, but the atmosphere, itself, was far from ‘dead’ as it was enhanced by beautiful plants and flowers somewhat shining among the scattered lamps. Voices of the main streets nearby were still audible but the place was very quiet, although in a relaxing sense. The trees around them rustled with trespassing wind stopping by to say hello, as the winter weather did not prevent the flowers from radiating through the dim lights of the garden lamp posts casted on the petals. Just a few steps forward the grass field was a small bridge spreading over an unwavering calm lake. 

Reminiscence of the past suddenly arose in Yuri’s mind as the trees and flowers recalled each scene with her beloved one. The movie of her high school days was starting to replay on its own accord. It was as if a spell had been casted upon Yuri from just gazing upon the scene in front of her. Yuri giggled as she was reminded of the happy moments but would soon smile sadly as reality hit her. 
Those times were gone… and somewhere in Yuri’s heart, she had refused to believe it would all come back one day. To Yuri, their bond had been broken…and ‘YulSic’ was now just Kwon Yuri and Jung Jessica living their separate lives.

“What’s wrong?” Victoria approached Yuri, taking a closer look at the girl’s drooping head and sorrowful expression.

“Nothing much.”

“You’re lying. I haven’t known you for long, Yuri, but you rarely let your emotions go loose.”

Yuri tried to sarcastically laugh it off, despite knowing Victoria would not be easily tricked. “Oh really? And what do you mean by that?” 

“Look,” Victoria sighed and raised her hand, casually wiping the dripping teardrop off of Yuri’s face gently with her thumb. As their eyes met for one second, Victoria smiled at Yuri with a worried look as she said, “See? You’re crying.”

“Must have been dust,” Yuri tried to cover it up once again, quickly wiping away any signs of her tears that had formed against her conscience while denying the truth with a common lie.

“We’re friends, right?” Victoria suddenly raised the question again out of her own insecurity.

Yuri nodded simply.

“Then tell me what’s on your mind. I’ll respect you if you don’t wish to tell me but, Yuri, I don’t want to see you lying to yourself at whatever it may be.”

Yuri smiled warmly at Victoria’s friendliness, but chose the latter option. Victoria’s word was enough to comfort her. 

“I’ll tell you if anything is bothering me. Thanks, Victoria.”

Victoria felt a sense of relief as Yuri’s expression seemed to brighten a bit, even if not much. 

She then walked to the bridge leaning her arms against the railway as she breathed in the refreshing air. Yuri soon followed and did the same, closing her eyes as she let her thoughts of Jessica flow away with the breezing wind. 

“It’s really relaxing,” Yuri commented, inhaling the cool air as her muscles loosened. “Do you always come by here?” 

“Every free chance I get.”

“Aren’t you scared that someone might suddenly just abduct you out of nowhere?”

“…Not really,” Victoria shook her head. She then muttered her last sentence in an almost inaudible whisper, “A prince always somehow miraculously appeared and rescued me.”

“What was that?”

“Never mind,” Victoria avoided the question. It was never meant to be heard by Yuri anyway, but she felt the need to say it out. In fact, she was hoping somehow the girl could be able to catch even if only by a glimpse of what she had said. 

“Yuri?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you hire me because I’m my father’s daughter?”

Yuri stared at Victoria with questioning eyes. She could not yet catch what the older girl had meant. “What do you mean?”

“Did I receive the job because I’m the daughter of a CEO? Is that why?” 

A trail of silence followed. Victoria feared her assumption was correct. She began to play with her fingers and wished she could take back what she had asked.

To her surprise, though, she heard a soft giggle from Yuri.

“Do you not trust me, Victoria? I picked you because you qualified perfectly for the job. You exceed my expectations one time after another. I could never ask for a better employee, seriously. I had never even considered about how your Mr. Song’s daughter. Listen, I don’t care what your ‘title’ is or how others might judge you. You passed because of your talents, because you have potential, and because you’re you. So don’t go on worry about these things okay?”

Victoria beamed in relief and nodded. Yuri’s words somehow always manage to comfort her, or anyone for that matter. And that trait made Yuri even more admirable.

“By the way, Yuri, I have a question for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” 

Yuri glanced over at Victoria through hearing the slightly out-of-the-blue curiosity. However, the older girl had not kept her eyes off the traveling leaf floating on the surface of the lake, thus, Yuri was unable to tell what might had crossed her mind.

“Used to. A couple back in junior high and freshman year of high school.”

“How about a girlfriend?”

Yuri stared strangely at Victoria again, her head tilted slightly from shock and confusion. Victoria returned the eye contact this time, grinning in a mischievous way.

“Well…your charms are undeniably irresistible to anyone,” Victoria explained in her attempt to make Yuri feel less awkward by her bluntness.

Yuri giggled in response as she joked around, “Am I supposed to be offended and appreciative by that comment?” 

Victoria shrugged playfully, leaving it to Yuri to decide. Her sight returned to the lake in front of her.

Yuri, on the other hand, had voided the last question. Not that she did not have any girlfriend, but it was just the word itself triggered unwanted thoughts in her mind.

“So…why did you ask me this?” Yuri wondered. She got those questions quite often, but Yuri believed that Victoria’s words might have been more meaningful in comparison to all of those random, mindless curiosities from the people that she ran across.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“Yes.”

Yuri answered instantly, as if almost in reflex. Even if it was just a one-worded reply, it aroused many questions within Victoria’s mind. It was her chance to know more about Yuri, and possibly something about herself.

“Say…Yuri?”

“Hmm?”

“What does love mean to you? How do you know when you’re in love?”

“Love?”

The unexpected question brought bewilderment to Yuri. Out of all the questions Victoria had asked of her ever since the day they met, this was the most difficult to reply to. She lifted her head to gaze at the stars, searching for an invisible answer somewhere among fixed luminous points, but found it useless as her mind was just as blank as the black sky. But a thought of something…or someone, crossed her mind in that split second. Yuri lowered her head and pensively smiled as she recalled her own experience, and for once, she allowed her memories of her to freely slide by. After all, it was the only way she could find the fitting answer to Victoria’s question. 

“Honestly, I don’t think there will ever be an exact definition in words that could describe love. Or really…love, itself, is indescribable. It is definitely far from meaningless, though,” Yuri paused in her explanation, sighing under her breath as she watched the wind swift by the idle water surface. Yuri scratched the back of head as she contemplated on how to put the words that were true to her altogether, while matching up the puzzle pieces of her thoughts. Her eyes remained unmoving from the scenery in front of her as she describe the term of complexion, revealing bits and pieces of her own personal life behind each phrase. 

“Being in love is like playing a game in a vast labyrinth – a maze. Any insecurity is a question, each step is a choice and every turn is a decision. You don’t know when you’re going to hit a wall or whether left or right would be the better option. You won’t know if an obstacle would suddenly block you when you’re finally on the right track, or when you thought you found the exit only to find out you’re back to the starting point. 

“It’s endless and it’s complicated… but that’s only if you’re in love. It would be different if you were observing from above, being outside from the game, isn’t it? Only then, would love become ‘simple’ in one’s eyes. You’ll know left from right and exactly which way to go. In other words, you gain perspective. It saves you from the pain, struggles, hurt, and all of those regrets that would built up…but I guess there would be no fun in that, now would it? You also lose happiness, joy, smiles, and something to really live for. Still, you can only know and understand of real love when you are in love yourself. Love comes naturally, and truthfully, it’s inevitably bittersweet.” 

Victoria listened carefully to every single sound and caught signs of any pauses or possibly an emphasized tone. Despite it being only an opinion, Victoria felt as though all of her questions were answered. She felt as if, all along, she had never really grasp the true meaning of this innate feeling so-called ‘love’ until now. Moments like this, Victoria felt like Yuri was more mature than Victoria, herself.

“You sound like a person who is in love…Are you, Yuri?”

Yuri hid her emotions with a laugh, hoping that Victoria would not see through her. “I’m climbing the walls.”

However, Victoria could easily read Yuri and how the girl was feeling, but decided against speaking about it. 

”Why? Are you in love with someone?” Yuri flashed back the question at Victoria.

Victoria opened to answer but closed it in the next second, shaking her head slightly as she smiled to herself. “I’m tripping there and then…but I don’t know if I’ll fall yet.”

“If you do fall, I hope the right person would catch you.”

“I do, too.”

After a series of idiom-plays, Yuri let the silence went lose as they both observed the scenery before them. Victoria admired the clear, blue water as Yuri watched in amazement at the glowing stars in the darkened sky. The sun had already set and the dim lights were fully switched on all around the city. The streets just behind the walls were now filled with noises of night party crews roaming in Seoul on the Friday evening.

“It’s getting late. I’ll go get the engine ready.”

Yuri stepped off the compact bridge and made her way around it to her motor bike. She then inserted the key and riled up the machinery. 
As she gazed back to the lake, she saw Victoria standing still from the location Yuri had last seen her at. For a moment, Yuri felt she was observing a painting with Victoria as part of the artwork. Yuri had always noticed Victoria’s beauty but never before did she feel this captivated. Being at this garden, standing from this point of view, and looking at Victoria from this distance…seemed like déjà vu to Yuri. It was like a scene that had been replayed on a scratched film strip, in which she had troubles recalling.

“Sometimes, I really think you can outshine the stars.”

Startled by Yuri’s sudden voice, Victoria slightly jolted before looking back at a heartwarming expression. Victoria returned the gratitude with a ‘thank you’ and a shy smile.

“Shall we go home?” Victoria suggested.

Glancing back at the lake for one last time that evening, Victoria hopped onto motorcycle and wrapped her arms around Yuri’s waist as soon as the girl started to drift off. 

As much as she wished she didn’t think about it, a secret thought traveled in Victoria’s mind…

‘If I fall…would you catch me?’

☆★☆

“So what did you want to tell me, unnie?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Seohyun pouted at the respond for the nth time that noon because of Yoona’s teasing test of her patience. 

Even though it was already after school, Yoona had dragged onto her little confession and decided to speak of it later. She wanted to make it as perfectly done as possible.

Swinging their arms in harmony as their hand interlocked with each other’s, Yoona and Seohyun walked down the hall in synchronized steps, both nervous to look at one another.

“Hey, do you want to go celebrate with me? It’s all because of you that I got a great score on my test,” Yoona proposed the offer, considering her professor’s suggestion.

It was a petty excuse to spend time with her crush. More importantly, it was a chance in Yoona’s plans to finally confess all of those feelings she had been hiding to Seohyun.

“I’d love to!” Seohyun smiled widely, unable to hide her excitement. “When?”

“Right now.”

Yoona’s reply depressed Seohyun’s expression as the girl smile slowly dropped. The younger girl then lowered her head and heaved a heavy sigh of disappointment.

“Sorry, unnie, I can’t make it today. I already made plans.”

Yoona’s heart also dropped and her face wasn’t as cheerful as before. Her hopes started to drift away from her grasp.

“Can I see you tonight?” Yoona asked, rather desperately.

Seohyun shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m going to have dinner with my parents and Yonghwa-oppa.”

“Who?”

The named was awfully unfamiliar to Yoona. She knew that Seohyun was a single child so the chance of this ‘Yonghwa’ person being the girl’s brother was eliminated. Though, he could have been a distant cousin or maybe even an ex-boyfriend (in which the probability had already begun stabbing the edge of Yoona’s heart). Seohyun was never the type to dig up too much of the past and Yoona was never the person to bug her friend about a matter that the girl did not wish to bring up.

“He used to be my neighbor,” Seohyun began clarifying, “His parents are quite close to mine. My mom invited him over for dinner because we have not seen him ever since his band debuted in Japan.”

“He’s in a band?”

“Yeah, it’s CNBLUE, have you heard of them?”

Yoona pondered for a few seconds before answering, “I think I have heard of them but I’m not quite sure. So you can’t go with me?” Yoona got back onto the main topic, uninterested in knowing any more about this unknown figure who might be the subject of interference to all her plans.

“If anything, I’ll call you,” Seohyun suggested.

“Don’t forget.”

“I won’t.”

Seohyun’s heartwarming smile comforted Yoona even though what she had planned had been all twisted suddenly. 

Yoona then felt a harsh bump on her shoulder and turned to look at the person who had run into her. The young girl quickly apologized and began running toward the main doors. Before they knew it, the whole hallway was filled with hoards of students sprinting outside.

“What’s going on?” Seohyun turned to asked Yoona, who in reply, shook her head.

The abrupt screams of their schoolmates turned their heads and speeded their ways toward the attracted spotlight. From the distance, an expensive-looking car parked in the lot. Out stepped a young man dressed in casual white clothing, yet, also fairly fashionable and a pair of stylish wayfarers. As the two dumfounded girls observed the identity of the person, while blocking off the loud yelps bursting through their eardrums, he soon approached them in a quick pace. It was not until they received strange stares and a series of short silence did they notice that they were now also part of the center of attention.

“Hyun!” he called out, specifically looking at the younger girl.

“Yong-oppa…?” Seohyun tilted her head, eyes widened once she recognized the familiar face behind those shades, “Oppa!”

Seohyun unconsciously let go of Yoona’s hand and rushed toward her long time friend, leaving the older girl behind. Yoona’s disappointment level dropped immediately from zero degree down to negative fifty as she stared at her empty hand and looked up to find the pair talking to each other happily in front of her.

Hugs were also the fuel to fire.

Yonghwa did not give Seohyun another second to react as he threw his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. Seohyun, on the other hand, returned the hug with friendly taps on the back, not minding the contact.

The same could not be said to all of the observers around them as envy and jealousy were among the air. Most, of course, were from Yoona, herself.

“You’ve grown so much! You’re getting really beautiful, too,” Yonghwa complimented, letting go of Seohyun and patted her head as soon as he did.

“Thank you, oppa.” Seohyun blushed lightly, beaming a bright smile at the comment.

Yoona fidgeted with her legs and hands, playing with anything around her that could help be a distraction from the uneasiness she was feeling. 

Seohyun glanced back at her best friend and realized that she had left the girl alone ever since Yonghwa approached them. Attempting to spice up a conversation that involved all three of them, Seohyun introduced the two parties to each other.

“Oppa, let me introduce you to someone,” Seohyun started, grabbing onto Yoona’s hand as she pulled her unwilling friend to her. “This is my best friend, Yoona-unnie, and unnie, this is Yonghwa-oppa.”

Yonghwa immediately extended his arm for a handshake out of his politeness. He then introduced himself formally, “I’m Jung Yonghwa. It’s really nice to meet you.”

Yoona stared at his hand before hesitantly shaking it, faking her actress smile while she was at it. “Im Yoona.”

It was not a pleasant meeting for her.

Yoona’s phone vibrated and (fortunately) disrupted them from the awkwardness. She excused herself and went back inside the school hall to check her message. 

“Yoong, your dad and I have to attend some urgent family business with your aunt and uncle so we will be home very late. We can’t pick you up either, but I think you should be fine right? Love you, honey. -Mom”

‘Great, today is totally my day,’ she thought.

Yoona glanced outside at Seohyun and Yonghwa from the windows on the door. Just when she thought today would be the perfect day to let everything out, things just had to come up and disturbed her. She knew it was no one’s fault, and rather, it was just her own mistake for not having the courage sooner.

Brushing back her bangs, she decided to just deal with it for now. Stepping back outside, Yonghwa immediately turned to her.

“Yoona-sshi, would you like to join us for dinner as well?” 

Yoona looked at Seohyun, who nodded in agreement, but Yoona soon rejected the offer. 

“Thank you, but it’s alright. I have something to do,” she lied.

Honestly, their friendliness and closeness were mentally torturing Yoona and seeing any more of it would definitely suffocate her.

“Then I guess we will be going. Bye, Yoona-unnie!” Seohyun waved to Yoona, who returned the wave with half of the cheerfulness, and followed Yonghwa to the young man’s car.

Yoona leaned against the wall and watched them from afar as Yonghwa opened the passenger’s door for Seohyun before heading to driver’s seat. Seohyun buckled her seatbelt and glanced at Yoona one last time through the tinted glass. Yoona formed a hand-phone with her hand and brought it up the ears, sending a silent message to Seohyun, who nodded with a smile in reply.

And then they drove off.

Yoona took a moment to gaze at the orange sky while all bystanders scattered back to their previous activities.

He has looks, fame, and manners…everything Yoona have.

He’s a man, a gentleman, and a capable husband

…the things Yoona knew she could never be.

★☆★

“Thanks for driving me again tonight. I’m sorry for taking away some of your time,” Victoria bowed in both gratitude and apology.

“Don’t mind it. It’s the least I could help you with and you had shown me a wonderful place. I had a great time with you, so no worries,” Yuri assured.

Victoria bid her goodbye to Yuri before heading toward the entrance of her mansion. Before she stepped onto her porch, she glanced back at her friend, who was still waiting for the older girl to get in safely. 

Victoria then finally stepped in the house and closed the door behind her after waving bye for the second time. Yuri spun her keys, switching on the engine, but as she leaned forward to grab the handles, Yuri felt a vibration from her pocket. It was a text message from Victoria:

“You should become a poet, Yuri. Your words are very romantic.”

Yuri giggled but the curves on her lips soon dropped again, as if she was experiencing a bi-polar flip in emotions. Sighing, Yuri tugged the phone back into her jacket’s pocket and drove down the road to her apartment. 

Yuri was growing tired of refraining herself from not thinking about her. Yuri knew that, as of now, there was no way to remove Jessica out of mind, because everything she saw or heard was screaming the memories in her head.

Time is the key…and it’s not of the moment.

☆☆☆

“The sun rises above the hillcrest,
As does the joy of my heart;
Rays of warmth and love,
From her I will never depart.”

“You sound like you’re proposing.”

“Oh, you’re awake?”

Yuri closed her notebook as she twisted her body to check up on the person leaning on the other side of the tree. The sleeping beauty had awakened from her slumber.

“You woke me,” Jessica replied, yawning as she wiped her half opened, tired eyes.

“Well, I’m sorry about that princess Aurora.”

“Be quiet Prince Phillip.”

Both Yuri and Jessica exchanged glances and soon broke into a short laughter at their childishness. For the past couple of weeks, they had been naming each other off the main characters of animated movies, with Jessica always being the princess and Yuri would be the prince. And just like in a fairytale, they were happy.

Jessica moved herself to the center and Yuri did the same, both meeting in the middle. Leaning their back against the large trunk of the tree shading them from the sun, they appreciated each other’s presence.

“Read on.”

Jessica snatched Yuri’s book away from her and flipped it opened to the bookmarked page. She then dropped it back on the tan girl’s lap while pointing to the words scribbled on the lines.

“Since when have you been interested in poems?” Yuri asked teasingly, despite knowing Jessica was a literature lover. However, many had remained oblivious to the fact, and as well as others things about the ice princess that they never took time to notice, because they had judged Jessica based on what they saw before them. 

Yuri was one of those people before she met Jessica and she soon learned of the lovely personalities and characteristics behind all those gossips and lies. And never before would Yuri expect that she would end up becoming addicted to the warm ice’s sweetness.

“You made it seemed interesting. Now, read,” Jessica ordered in her natural demanding voice.

Yuri shook her head as she smiled at the pouts Jessica naturally made on her face whenever Yuri put up a front before complying to Jessica’s ‘request’.

“Fresh dew upon the grass,
Young birds chirp in their nests;
I watch her gently sleep,
My love to her I silently profess.”

Yuri trailed her gaze and secretly took a peek at Jessica in the corner of her eye, smiling in relief, yet, also in sadness. Jessica had not taken her eyes off the words on the page as she helped herself with reading the first part over and over until Yuri continued her recital. It dawned to Yuri that the ice princess was denser than the ice, itself, for she had not realized any of the messages Yuri were trying so hard to hint.

“I enjoy the stillness and calm,
Watching as she smiles and dreams;
She brings me to stillness and peace,
Like that of a slow flowing stream.

My heart and soul flow with love,
And I smile as I quietly reflect;
I’ve been handed a sweet princess,
A sweet princess to lo-”

Yuri paused in her reading. The next few lines would scream her feelings and she was somewhat not ready to step forward to let Jessica know yet. She had been fighting among her own mind, and big part of her was scolding herself to just take a risk, but all the possibilities that could result scared her. She did not want to lose her sweet princess, even if they were to end up to just being nothing but friends. 

‘This love was never meant to be anyway… Who am I to think that she would say yes?’

Making up her mind, Yuri closed her notebook and left it aside in a place where the lazy princess would take much effort to reach for.

“Why’d you stop? It was getting good,” Jessica pouted, trying to climb over Yuri to grab the notebook, only to be forced back down on her bottom.

“I didn’t finish copying the rest,” Yuri brushed off Jessica’s curiosity with a simple lie.

Jessica crossed her arms and pouted again. She knew that was not the case, but there must be a reason as to why Yuri did not wish to read, and Jessica would never want to force her friend onto doing something she was not comfortable with.

“You should become a poet,” Jessica commented, making a change to the mood a little bit.

“But these are not even my poems.”

“Doesn’t matter. You have the ‘voice’, Yuri. That romantic, alluring voice that can make practically anyone and everyone fall for you. Boys, girls, name it,” Jessica said proudly. It was almost like she was speaking about her own lover in which she had nothing to say but praises.

Yuri beamed, a pretty curve of the lips spread across her face.

“So what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you falling for me, yet, princess?” 

Jessica smiled widely, an expression she would not show to anyone else but those who were titled as ‘special’ to her, and Yuri was one of the very few. She leaned in closer to her best friend and comfortably laid her head on the tan girl’s shoulder, letting Yuri do the same. Jessica slid her hand under Yuri’s, trailing her fingers along the other girl’s palm while interlocking each finger one by one. Their joined hands soon became like a hinge of a perfect fit meant only for one another.

“I don’t have to, prince. You’re already mine. My Kwon-seobang…”

Jessica’s last few words trailed to a murmur of gibberish as soon as she found her peace of mind through Yuri’s warmth, falling back to sleep again. However, her tight grip on Yuri’s hand never went loose, like a lock already positioned and keyed in place.

Yuri grinned innocently while watching the sleeping beauty dripping off to another dream that noon. With her other free arm, Yuri brought her hand up to smoothly brush aside the stray strands of hair falling on Jessica’s face.

“I think I like someone.”

“W-who?”

“Donghae-oppa.”

“What do I do, Yuri?”

Breathing heavily, Yuri dropped her arm back down and away from Jessica as she recalled their conversation two weeks ago. Turning her head to the other side, Yuri tried to ignore the strawberry scent driving her senses crazy or maybe even the complex admiration she had for Jessica when the girl was vulnerably asleep.

Then, the notebook caught her sight.

As quietly as possible, Yuri recited the last few lines of the poem from memory. 

“I’ve been handed a sweet princess,
A sweet princess to love and to protect.”

It was her thoughts spoken in the form of poetry. 

“A vow to myself I make,
As she quietly sleeps away;”

It was her direct confession of truth to the one holding her hand. 

“To love and always cherish her,
Until my last breath... until my last day.”

It was her mistake that she would make again and again.

(Reflections of A Beautiful Morning by Michael Brieck)
★★★

“I’m home!” Tiffany shouted in a sing-sang voice, her booming vocals echoing the second she stepped on the welcome mattress behind the open door. 

Jessica helped herself up from the sofa and grunted in annoyance at the disturbance. She glared at Tiffany, who in the other hand, seemed to be absolutely unaffected. 

“Who said this was your home?” Jessica groaned, almost regretting her decision of giving her best friend the spare key. “So what’s making your mood?”

Tiffany flashed another blinding eye-smile at Jessica before skipping to her best friend and stole the empty spot next to the ice princess. She grabbed the television remote that had been tossed aside and to her desired channel after several clicks. Tiffany was excited that she was on time for the re-broadcasted music show that had featured her favorite artist and literally hopped in joy when she heard the voice of the person she loves. 
Jessica watched as Tiffany’s expression changed from happy to delightful to just plain-out-there. Shaking her head, she thought of how her question was no longer needed to be answered in words. The girl’s face said it all.

She turned her eyes to the screen and sat back, relaxing as she re-watched the Music Bank performance of last week that she had seen live behind the stage. Something suddenly triggered in her head as she turned back to her best friend beside her.

“That reminds me, I would like to apologize to you for something.”

Tiffany hesitantly removed her eyes from the screen and faced Jessica, thinking it was rather impolite if she didn’t. Even so, more than half of her attention was already stolen.

“I didn’t give you the VIP ticket this time. Sorry,” Jessica apologized sincerely. 

Krystal always wanted to officially support her sister by actually purchasing the ticket with her own money, thus, Tiffany became her first priority when it came down to free passes. However, this time, Jessica couldn’t help it but be a little selfish in handing the ticket to Yuri, instead.

“It’s alright. I already have one,” Tiffany answered unconsciously, her eyes once again glued to the television despite her body being turned to Jessica.

“Oh I se-…” Jessica nodded until she realized the oddness in Tiffany’s reply. “Wait, how?”

“TaeTae gave me one today,” the brunette casually replied, half of her brain not really processing correctly as her conscious mind was divided disproportionally.

Jessica raised an eyebrow as she tried to recall if she knew anyone by the name ‘TaeTae’. It took her a while to remember; her best friend had always referred her sunbae with that nickname in the two’s private conversation (that Jessica was not really supposed to peek upon). 

A mischievous grin lit on Jessica’s face as she thought to herself about the wonders of life and how fast it could be all mended together into something so interesting.

“I’m sure you’re not informed of this since I never did really tell you but each artist in our company only gets one free VIP ticket that they could give to one person as an invitation of promotions. I’m surprised to say that Taeyeon, a person who has so many close friends, had made a decision to give her ticket to you.”

The brunette turned her body back to facing the screen. Tiffany tried to not notice too much about the oddities of the fact itself, and attempted to void any delusional thinking in her questioning reply, “What’s so strange about that?”

“It’s a VIP ticket for goodness sakes. You get to go backstage with that and it’s not something to give to just anyone. I’m pretty sure you’re just playing ignorant with me right now, Tiffany.”

Tiffany pretended to drown herself into the show, despite knowing that her facial expressions had made her thoughts transparent to Jessic.a.

“I think she likes you.”

Tiffany’s eye naturally twitched at the statement. She closed her eyes and sighed, eventually relenting into the conversation.

“I know she likes me.”

Tiffany was never the type to stay oblivious for too long and lately, she had mentally taken notes of Taeyeon’s strange behaviors that were similar to her own. The occasional secret glances she caught and the displeased reaction of Jaejoong’s appearance were one of the many leading keys, but the prolonged seconds she held onto Taeyeon’s hand was the moment of unlocking revelation for Tiffany. It was just indescribably special…and it convinced Tiffany that this was their love, and not just hers. A part of Tiffany hoped that she was not imagining fantasy, but then again, another part of her was clueless on what to do now that she knew of Taeyeon’s feelings that she had been desperately questioning every hour of a heart throb.

“Well, then, I know you like her,” Jessica continued, dragging on the truth that Tiffany wished was a lie.

“I do not!” Tiffany practically half-screamed her denial, pouting fish lips at Jessica.

“Okay, chill, I take that back then,” Jessica brought her hands up to prevent Tiffany from possibly hurting her. As soon as Tiffany looked away, Jessica snickered under her breath. Her friend was like a children’s book to her level.

Tiffany sighed in relief that the topic was dropped. Pulling out her phone, she was disappointed to see that there was no notification on the screen. It was already nine thirty and Tiffany had been anxiously waiting for Taeyeon’s phone call ever since she had secretly asked the girl to call her after the schedule was thoroughly finished. She knew she was asking too much because of Taeyeon’s busy life, but she had a simple wish of wanting to hear Taeyeon’s voice even if only it was to be one minute.

Tiffany knew of this feeling, but she dare not to say it.

“You love her.”

Yes, that was what it was.

Tiffany stayed silent and lowered her head. She fully understood that Jessica could read and comprehend her like the blonde girl’s favorite book, so lying was unnecessary and would be absolutely useless either way. And of course, it would be lying to oneself as well, and why in the world would there be a need for such? Despite the troubled pain that this love had brought to her, the joy was still far greater in comparison.

“What are you going to do about it? You seem happier when you’re with her.” 

And that, itself, was also the truth.

“Are you going to tel-”

“No.”

Tiffany cut off Jessica’s question almost immediately. Honestly, Jessica wasn’t expecting such a straightforward response, but if she ever did receive one, she knew Tiffany was being serious about it. And today was one of those rare days Tiffany did not play around.

“I can’t. Not now.”

“So when ar-”

“Not ever.”

Three consecutive blunt replies from Tiffany knocked Jessica back by bewilderment. It only proved how much Tiffany had stressed herself out about this matter before their conversation even began.

“Why? Is this because of the guilt you feel about Jaejoong?” Jessica had hit on the mark, but that was only a chapter of a long story.

Tiffany heaved a heavy sigh and turned off the television. (Taeyeon had already finished with her stage and Tiffany currently bore no interest in any of the others.) She turned to Jessica and looked at her best friend in the eyes while spouting out her worries in a form of a simple ‘explanation’.

“First, I have a boyfriend and Taeyeon knows of this. Jaejoong-oppa won’t let me off easily if I break up with him and he would definitely not leave Taeyeon alone if he knows she is the cause. He really is not that bad, Jessie, and Jaejoong-oppa is really improving each day,” Jessica rolled her eyes and sarcastically nodded while Tiffany decided to ignore it and continued, “Second, I’m a girl…and she’s a girl. Things like this, society just won’t approve. Third, we just met not too long ago and I might just be out of my mind. Fourth, she has a busy life to deal with that involves rumors and reputation; I can’t risk that just because of my selfish wants. And fifth, I am not even certain she feels the same way I do. I only know she likes me, but ‘liking’ someone is on a totally different level as ‘loving’ someone…and…”

“And?”

“I love Taeyeon,” Tiffany admitted…finally.

Tiffany shrugged and leaned her back against the sofa, rubbing her temples. She managed to nudge her feelings out of her brain into her speech. She had never spoken her thoughts about Taeyeon to anyone else but herself, and Tiffany was feeling some sort of relief even if it meant she was facing reality.

Jessica suddenly felt the urge to smack some sense into her younger friend. Inhaling in a deep breath, she forced Tiffany to look at her while she ‘spoke’ reality.

“Okay, Hwang Miyoung, listen carefully. First of all, you obviously don’t even love your ‘Jaejoong-oppa’ anymore, so trying to give him chances will only end up hurting you now and him in the future. Second, do I look like I care about such an excuse? I thought it was you who told me that it was okay to fall in love with Yuri and that it doesn't matter if we are both girls or not, but now you’re the one who is firing your own say? Thirdly…true, you only met her just a week ago, and there are so many things you still don’t know about each other, but that did not stop you from love her, now did it? Nor did it stop Taeyeon from feeling some kind of affection toward you. Standing on the same business ground as Taeyeon, I know it can be difficult, but if Yuri comes up to me and tells me she loves me right now, all of those rumors in the future about us will not even be part of my worries and I would care less as long as she’s with me. Lastly… don’t just sit there and guess all day whether or not she likes you. Go ask, Tiffany. Don’t let trivial matters pull you back. Don’t let regrets tie you around. And definitely, don’t let mistakes mess with your heart. ”
Tiffany remained quiet as she took Jessica’s words to her utmost consideration. Her friend was right, but even so, Tiffany still did not know how to approach the matter properly. Everything was still vague to her and every move she make was toward to the unknown.
Jessica looked at her friend with a worried look. Tiffany bore the same expression that she had on when she knew Yuri was in love with her.

“Love was never meant to hurt you…it was meant to give you joy, so don’t let its meaning be clouded by your fears.”

Tiffany suddenly smiled again. Reality had finally hit her upon hearing Jessica’s inspirational words, and for once ever since she was forced to face with this problem… Tiffany knew what she would do next.

“Thanks, Jessie. You’re a big help,” Tiffany expressed her gratitude, accompanying it with her signature eye-smile.

“I’m just returning the many favors you did for me,” Jessica grinned as she felt a relief that her friend was now in a better mood.

Tiffany stood up from the sofa and ironed her clothes with her hands. “It’s getting late, so I’ll be going now.” Picking up her purse, she bid her goodbye to Jessica before heading toward the door. 

“Tiffany, don’t do anything stupid before you break it off with Jaejoong.”

Tiffany glanced back at Jessica and merely gave her buddy a warming smile before closing the door shut. 

---

Shuffling through her bag, Taeyeon searched for her phone in a hurry. There was no message or any missed call, and the sight of that saddened her quite a bit. 

Sighing, she then re-organized the fallen items back to her purse and let the bag hanged on her arm. Taeyeon then fast walked down the halls of the building, waving and bowing to various people along the way. When she finally reached the bottom floor, Taeyeon held her phone up to her view once again. Taeyeon moved her finger over the call button of her screen but did not budge after her thumb was only a centimeter away.

Something was holding back.

Taeyeon never gave it much thought but now that she actually remembered, things just happened to fast to be true. It had only been just one week since she had met Tiffany, but now that at every mention of that name called on armies of butterflies to her stomach. As of late, Taeyeon’s schedule had been packed with appointments, recordings, and DJ-ing and every second of each minute she spent with Tiffany was a direct relieved pill to her stress. Her mind always somehow concerned itself with Tiffany; it was like an addiction that was hard to break.

Not that she wanted to break it either.

However, everything seemed too surreal to Taeyeon. It started with attraction at first sight but then love the next moment. Like her name, Taeyeon was always calm about everything but ever since Tiffany stepped into her life, that word ceased to exist. 

Taeyeon was afraid that she might have climbed too high and past her limit. Truthfully, though, there was never a line drawn between Tiffany and her by either of them despite having known each other for no more than a week. And that, too, scared Taeyeon, thinking about how their fragile friendship could be broken at any time.

Taeyeon took a deep breath and attempted a second time. Nudging her thumb over the dial button, she quickly pressed it and placed the device next to her ear. The intimidating beeping signals were increasing her nervousness with every sound it made.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t hav-’

“Hello?”

Too late.

---

Tiffany tried to accustom herself to the cold weather after she had stepped out from the warm room. The brunette brought her hands up and rubbed the sides of her arms in hopes of creating some heat onto her skin. Each step down the stair was a reminder of Jessica’s advice. 
Tiffany halted in her walk and stared at the ground. One more step to go. 

Picking up her foot she landed on the bare floor…and within the same second, her ringtone went on.
Tiffany reached for the device that was hollering for her attention and stared at the screen for a prolonged period of time. A smile crept onto Tiffany’s face, but it was neither a smile of joy or sadness but more like something between both. 

Holding the vibrating phone in her hand, Tiffany took a deep breath before answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Fany?”

“Yes, TaeTae?”

Tiffany couldn’t help but giggle to herself at their familiar exchange of nicknames. How could two people be this close in relationship even if they had just met? It was a wonder to Tiffany; something she could still not comprehend.

“Sorry, I just got out of the studio.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Tiffany was just happy hearing Taeyeon’s voice directly speaking to her.

“Are you tired?” Tiffany asked in concern, placing Taeyeon’s health firsthand.

“No, not today. Why?”

Tiffany grinned mischievously upon hearing the satisfying reply. 

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

And with that, their night dragged on.

===========================

Hey there readers~! I'm back~
No pitchforks please (>A< )
School is just over for me and now I'm on my summer vacation. The reason why I took so long with this chapter was because of how I underwent one week without internet, busy with moving, and the chapter itself. I twisted almost everything I had pre-planned and added a lot more details in and take a lot of unnecessary parts out, thus, this is not just a YoonHyun chapter anymore.
I enjoyed writing Yuri's talk with Victoria. I went around and surveyed what my friends think about 'love' and got my inspirations from them. The idea mainly came from me and my friend, Brenda (who happened to stumbled on the same way of thinking (o__o;) ).
Locksmiths, expect a surprise jump in the next chapter hehe
Some of you need to put your knives away becauseI'mgointocontinuetorturingyou xD
I'll try to update faster within the new few weeks, but if I don't, please bear with me (>__< )
Hope you enjoy!!
-June