Chapter 2
Memories“Annyeonghaseyo, I'm Kim Taeyeon. Nice to meet you.”
Tiffany stood there frozen on her feet, her head spinning as she couldn't take her eyes off the girl politely bowing at her, unable to utter a single word.
Am I dreaming? Erika, is that you? No, it can't be. Yeri said this is her friend. And she definitely looks so young. But she looks the same as Erika. How can this be?!
“Umma? Umma!”
The oldest woman woke up from her train of thoughts when she felt a gentle shake on her shoulder. She glanced at her side to meet her daughter's worried eyes.
“You ok, umma? Are you feeling unwell?” Yeri noticed her mom was looking flushed and pale.
“Uh, I, um, actually,” Tiffany looked away from the petite highschooler named Taeyeon and tried her best to speak although she was feeling like all the oxygen in her lungs were off, “yea, I'm feeling...quite dizzy and tired today. I'm gonna go buy some medicine at the pharmacy. Sorry. Have fun, you two.” With that, she dashed out of the house, not being able to care if she looked weird or how Yeri and that Taeyeon girl would be thinking of her at that moment. She needed to leave and recover from the shock first before she could even digest what just happened.
It was already dark when Tiffany stepped into her house. She was immediately greeted by a figure hurrying toward her direction.
“Umma! Are you alright? What happened?”
Tiffany managed to flash a smile at the worried teenager, plopping her tired body down on the couch.
“I'm fine now, Yeri-ah. The doctor said my blood pressure is quite low and I just need some good rest,” she said, feeling guilty for lying to her daughter through her teeth.
She called and informed Yeri she would be going to the clinic and see a doctor as she was feeling sick, when in fact she came back home for a while without the girl's knowing to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.
When she peeked through the door to the kitchen where the two friends were eating the food she cooked and happily chitchatting, the more she got anxious the more she stared at the new girl as she looked like an exact replica of the love of her life, like her younger version. Even her voice sounds the same as Erika's. As much as she was dying to know about that girl and why she looked so much like her passed girlfriend, she was still very nervous, to actually look straight at her and worse, to talk and interact with her, so she left. She wasn't ready to face that girl yet, at all.
“You must be so tired these days,” Yeri commented, holding and squeezing Tiffany's hands with hers after she joined her mother on the couch, “How about taking some days off?”
Tiffany shook her head at the suggestion, “Can't, honey. It's wedding season and many projects are piled up at the studio. I have to be there as a senior photographer. Besides, I'm really fine now.” Which was obvious, because she wasn't even sick in the first place.
Yeri sighed in defeat, “Okay if you say so,” she mumbled, side-hugging the woman and nuzzling her head into the side of her neck, “Taeyeon said it was unfortunate that she couldn't meet and greet you properly by the way.”
The name of the girl who was in her head all day alerted all her senses. “I see. I feel the same. Ermm....how old is she?” she carefully asked, trying to control her tone to be as calm and normal as possible.
“Of course she’s my age. Just a few months younger than me, I think. Told you she’s my classmate.”
15 years old. Even months younger than Yeri.
“What is she like at school?” she asked, finding it hard to keep her curiosity about the girl.
“She's a nice kid, umma. Don't worry,” Yeri said with a chuckle, thinking her mother was judging her friend, “although she's like an extreme introvert who stays at home all the time and has very few friends, I came to know she’s actually a dork with a lot of cute quirks as we got close. And she studies quite decently too. Often gets into top 10 ranking in class.”
Tiffany nodded slowly, finding the polar opposites between the two lookalikes. Erika was far from being an introvert but instead was one of the coolest and probably the most popular girls at college. And the studies? She still remembered very well how they ditched classes and sneaked out together to go on dates to the movies, the seaside or even just riding the bike around all day. They would just laugh it off whenever they failed in exams.
So similar yet so different.
<
Comments