Jessica cautiously made her way towards the dorm where Wenwen stayed. She hoped that the kind Er Jie was around to help her return the paper that Wenwen had accidentally dropped in the library. She was about to knock at the dorm’s front doors when she almost got run over by a very tall figure who had suddenly opened the door.

“Oh my!” The figure, a girl with porcelain skin and long black hair, blurted in Mandarin, “I am so sorry! Are you okay?!” Noticing that it was the new transfer, Lili immediately switched to broken English, “I-I am sorry, you okay?” She examined the girl for any injuries she may have caused.

Jessica recovered herself from being startled and replied, “I-I’m fine. Uh, are you living in this dorm?”

“Yes, I live with Cici, Er Jie, and Wenwen. You were asleep when Cici and I arrived. We did not meet properly. I’m Zhang Li, but you can call me, Lili.”

They shook hands and Lili invited the new transfer into her dorm. “Make yourself comfortable. I was about to head out to practice, but I can go later.”

“I’m sorry for bothering you. I was just going to hand this to Kelly. Is she around?” Jessica showed the folded piece of paper for Lili to see as she settled on the couch.

Lili stood there pondering on where her other roommate could be, then pulling out her phone, “Wait a minute, I ask her.”

While Lili was busy with tracking down Wenwen’s whereabouts, Cici came downstairs surprised to see an unexpected visitor.

“Hi, you must be Jessica. Nice to meet you. I’m Cici Wang Zixuan.”

“Hello, Cici. Nice to meet you, too. I was just hoping to hand this to Kelly. She dropped this at the library. Lili is trying to figure out where she is.”

“Oh, did you check her room?” Cici asked no one in particular, making Lili freeze before shaking her head.

“Aiyo, bèndàn!” Cici knocked Lili on the head, surprising Jessica at how bold Cici acted in front of her.

“Ying ying! It slipped my mind, okay?!” Lili defended herself.

“Anyway, let’s go and see. Come, Jessie.” Cici motioned for Jessica to come along down the hallway leading to Wenwen’s room. “She might just be hiding out in her room.”

Lili knocked at the door, “Wenwen?”

There was no reply but the muffled sound of a guitar being strummed could be heard. Cici and Lili looked at one another before opening the door. Jessica peered into the room with the two girls and found Wenwen sitting crossed legged on her bed, a guitar resting in her lap. She had her headphones on which was the reason why she did not hear Lili calling her before.

But seeing the door to her bedroom open, prompted her to look up from her guitar. Pushing off her headphones, Wenwen addressed the trio who barged into her room. “Yes?”

Cici and Lili gently pushed Jessica to speak up. The shy new transfer felt small under Wenwen’s penetrating gaze.

“Uh, h-hi. Uhm, y-you dro-dropped this at the library…” Jessica revealed the piece of paper containing Wenwen’s handwriting. The latter’s eyes lit up and, in a flash, she left her guitar on her bed and engulfed Jessica in a hug.

“Oh my, I didn’t even know I lost it! Thank you!” Wenwen said as she tightened her embrace around the shocked Jessica. Cici and Lili were also astounded and confused at their roommate’s action. “I wouldn’t know what to do had you not found this for me.” She gently pulled away but still kept her hands on the foreigner’s shoulders, “How can I repay you? Would you care to go out with me for dinner? My treat, since you found the lyric sheet that I didn’t even know I lost.”

“W-Wait, Wenwen, can we join too? I mean, we technically helped her to find you.” Cici suggested with a hopeful look on her face.

Lili also nodded, hoping to tag along for some free food, “I helped Jess first!”

Wenwen released Jessica from her hold and cast a glare at her two conspiring roommates, “You two just want to take advantage of the free food.”

“Of course! We’d do anything for a free dinner!” Lili said with confidence, making Jessica chuckle at her brashness.

“Right… but you’re both not coming. You didn’t find the lyric sheet I lost. It was Jess, here, who found it. So, I owe her one. Besides, she made the right choice of looking for me at our dorm even though you were here to assist her.” Wenwen pointed out.

Cici and Lili scowled before backing out of the room.

“You’re such a cheapskate!” Cici yelled as she and Lili exited the room, leaving Jessica alone with Wenwen.  

Jessica turned to look at Wenwen, who was already looking at her with an unreadable expression. Jessica felt like Wenwen was staring at her soul with those sharp eyes of hers. Surprisingly, it was Jessica who broke the ice.

“You haven’t taken your lyric sheet yet.” Jessica held out the sheet of paper. Wenwen received it with a kind smile, an expression that surprised Jessica since she had never seen the other woman smile once despite having only met her properly the previous night. Wenwen secured her lyric sheet and sandwiched it in a notebook before turning to face the newbie.

“Thank you, Jess. Now, what kind of food do you like?” Wenwen asked, her expression softening.

+++

Jessica recalled the last time she went out with someone. It had been years that she had gone out with someone for some Japanese food. Her thoughts drifted back to the first dinner outing with her.

+++

“You don’t like sushi? Why? Is it because you haven’t tried it yet and that’s why you didn’t like it?”

Jessica just blinked innocently as her companion smiled at her. Jessica was surprised when her lips touched a piece of nigiri, her companion presenting her with a piece for her to try out.

“Try it, Sooyeon. You’ll never know how it’ll taste unless you try.” Here companion said as she held her chopsticks towards Jessica.

Jessica’s cheeks turned a shade of pink as she took the proffered food into , a pleased moan escaping her lips when the food melted in . Her companion cast her a charming smile, delighted with Jessica’s reaction.

+++

Jessica shook her head as she tried to push those thoughts to the back of her head. She followed the waitress as she and Wenwen were ushered into a dining booth. It was a small room inside the restaurant, quite a private place for them. Wenwen settled herself across the table motioning for Jessica to have the honor of reading through the menu and ordering the food.

“Doesn’t this place look a little too expensive for the both of us?” Jessica inquired, curious of her surroundings as she observed the luxurious decoration and the liveried staff. She did not realize the lyric sheet she found was this precious for Wenwen to treat her to a dinner at an expensive Japanese restaurant.

Wenwen shook her head, “No, it’s not. You deserve this for finding my lyric sheet. You don’t know how much that piece of paper meant to me. I can’t thank you enough, Jess. Have whatever you want. Don’t worry about the expenses.” She eyed Jessica sincerely, causing the latter to blush.

“You don’t have to, Kelly. I only did what was right. Anyway, was that lyric sheet going to be one of your performances?” Jessica tried to make conversation with her dinner companion.

They both got distracted from the conversation as the waitress had asked to take their orders. Jessica was still shy about ordering too much and opted for a simple platter of sushi and sashimi, but Wenwen ordered a larger platter for the both of them and even chose their most expensive wine, making Jessica pale at the possible bill that they might have to pay, although Wenwen brushed her worries off with a shrug.

“Answering your previous query, yes, I had prepared that for some of the performances. You should prepare one for yourself, too. School is starting in a few days, and we are all required to showcase our talents on our first day. Whether it’s singing, dancing, playing an instrument, or acting, we are all given opportunities to stand on stage.” Wenwen replied after the waitress had left them to carry out their orders.

The bottle and two wine glasses arrived shortly after, with Wenwen offering to pour them both a glass of the claret liquor. The gesture was quite unfamiliar to Jessica, having been the usual person to pour a drink for another.

+++

“Yah! One more drink! Come on…”

“No more. I don’t think I can handle it.” The companion’s face was already red from all the liquor she had ingested, but Jessica was nowhere near drunk. “I’m a light weight and you know that!”

Jessica poured her another glass of Chardonnay, nonetheless. “Don’t worry, darling. We don’t have classes tomorrow and we’re staying upstairs anyways.”

“Ugh, fine. Just one more glass!” The other one blurted as they clinked glasses and took a sip of the drink. Jessica smiled, her reddening cheeks remaining unnoticed by her companion, who leaned her head against her, clearly tipsy from their numerous drinks.

+++

“Jess?” Wenwen’s mention of her name brought her back from her reverie, “Are you okay? You haven’t touched the food in front of you.”

Jessica blinked and looked at her now filled plate. She had been too caught up with her thoughts of the past that she did not notice the food had arrived. A hand hovered over hers on the table, shifting her attention towards Wenwen.

“Hey, you looked bothered. I’m here if you ever wanted to talk about it.”

Jessica smiled appreciatively. Wenwen’s touch and concern was warm, something she had missed when she was back home.

Shifting her hand to hold Wenwen’s hand on the table, Jessica maintained her gaze on their entwined fingers, her ears reddening as she replied, “T-Thank you, Kelly. I appreciate your concern for me. I-It’s just I’m, I’m trying to take in everything that’s happened to me right now. I- moving here was a huge thing for me and I-I barely know anyone or the language here.” Jessica tightened her hold on Wenwen’s hand, to which the latter held firmly to reassure Jessica. “W-Will you help me adjust to this new environment?”

Wenwen stared at Jessica, who had her head down, before shifting her gaze on their intertwined hands. The young musician gently rubbed her thumb over the back of Jessica’s hand further reassuring the latter, “I know it’s a lot for you to take in and I know there will be a lot more for you to learn besides just the songs, the music, and the dance choreographies. But know that I’ll try my best to be there for you.”

They continued their dinner on a lighter note as Jessica felt better and more reassured now that she had found a new friend to count on. Her eyes widened when Wenwen took it upon herself to pay for their very expensive meal.

‘Just how rich was Kelly?’ Jessica kept the thought to herself, afraid that her query might ruin their budding friendship.

+++

A/N: Snippets of Jessica's life in Korea? :3 And we have KelSic finally!!! (Based on KelSic's real dinner date prior to the airing of SWMW3.) Bonus on Lili and Cici being such dorks and funny roommates! XD Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone! And to those who had a rough week like me, hang in there! Take it one day at a time! :3