“So what was the argument between you and Victoria about?” Taeyeon asked as the girls entered the gate of the university. “Jessica said she saw you two arguing this morning.”

“Ah…that,”

“What?”

Victoria and Tiffany looked at each other then crossed their arms. They smirked to one another.

“We were arguing about what was the right word in Korean for ‘jewels’.” Tiffany revealed and stuck her tongue out at Victoria who rolled her eyes back.

“Obviously, I was right.” Victoria claimed.

“American English versus Chinese, this is interesting!” Yuri commented, sounding almost excited about the “fight.”

“Both of you say it, and I’ll be the judge.” Taeyeon suggested and waited as the girls prepared themselves to pronounce the word “jewels” in Korean in the best of their abilities.

Victoria went first with arrogance written across her face. “Boseok!”

“Nooooo,” Tiffany jumped in. “It’s boeseot!”

Immediately after Tiffany’s answer was heard, the rest of the girls had to retain their laughter. Taeyeon quickly dragged Tiffany towards the direction of their dorm room as she waved goodbye to Victoria.

“Yah! Why are you dragging me?”

“Tiffany-ah, you just said ‘mushroom,’ not ‘jewels’.” The shorter girl began to laugh, much to the American girl’s distaste.

When the girls got back to their respective dorms that night, it was already four am in the morning. They quickly washed up and headed to bed. Taeyeon and Tiffany hugged each other tightly as they slept soundly together till the next morning. However, with all of the things that happened and affected their relationship, Yuri and Jessica remained on their own sides of the bed, apart from each other. They knew something was bound to happen to their relationship soon.

***

Due to the amount of work and stress from school during the last few weeks of the semester, Yuri and Jessica were unable clear the misunderstandings that existed in their relationship. While Taeyeon and Tiffany seemed to be doing just fine, Yuri and Jessica remained awkward with each other. They continued to sleep apart from each other on the bed. Jessica often spent time with Tiffany like normally while Yuri divided her free time with Victoria and the old group including Taeyeon, Yoona, and Seohyun. Even others have noticed how little time the couple spent with each other.

Finally, all exams and stress were over and the girls could breathe again. They were quick to throw a small dinner party to celebrate the end of the semester at the nearby restaurant that they frequently visited. The four roommates, Yoona, Seohyun, along with Victoria were included at the dinner table that night.

“Cheers!”

“Finally, all the stress is over!” Taeyeon stated and the rest of the girls nodded their head in agreement.

“Do you guys have any plans for the long break until the next school year?” asked Victoria.

“I’m going back to the states,” Tiffany snuck in, surprising the group. “You know...like a vacation, to see my family.” She forced out a smile that seemed to have convinced everyone, everyone but Jessica.

“You didn’t tell me this before,” Taeyeon spoke, slightly disappointed that she did not know of this sooner. “When are you leaving?”

“I thought it would be obvious that I’m going to visit my family like last semester,” she answered. “I’ll be leaving the day after tomorrow.”

“What?!” Taeyeon responded in shock, almost bursting Yoona’s ears, who was on the other side of her. “You could’ve told me earlier, you know.”

“You didn’t ask!”

Taeyeon glared at her girlfriend, but Tiffany just smiled back guiltily. Seeing the possibility of a small argument coming up between the couple, Yuri quickly jumped in.

“I’m going back home too! And Taeyeon too, right?” Yuri asked but received no response from her best friend. She guessed that Taeyeon must be upset that Tiffany did not announce her departure to her sooner. “Yoona, you’re coming too? Why don’t you bring Seohyun, we can show her around our hometown.”

“Oh that’s a good idea, unnie!” Yoona said in excitement while glancing at Seohyun for her reply.

“Ah, that sounds like it would be fun.” The youngest commented in a well mannered way, though it might have lacked the enthusiasm.

“And you, Victoria? Going back to China?” Yuri asked, almost in a teasing, mocking tone.

“That sounds so wrong, Yuri. Are you discriminating against me because I’m not Korean?!” the Chinese girl jokingly raised her voice, playing along with the scheme.

Seeing the two girls play around in front of her eyes, Jessica did not feel completely comfortable. Even when Yuri had numerous times reinforced that there was nothing between the two girls, something was still bothering her deep inside. Especially, since she was sure that Victoria had feelings for her girlfriend.

Tiffany took many glances at her girlfriend who was still upset over the late news of her leaving for America again. Taeyeon was right, she had purposely kept it a secret for as long as she could. She knew that her girlfriend would be upset, but because she did not want to be reminded of the plan she had made, the plan that would tear her heart apart, she waited till the end.

“Tae-Tae-ah,” she called, her hand yanked on the sleeve of Taeyeon’s shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I should’ve have asked,” the girlfriend answered, but she still did not feel any better. Disappointment was written all over her face.

That night, the girls drank a lot all because of different reasons. The occasion was the best excuse to hide the true reasons for their needs for alcoholic drinks. As they drank, Jessica and Yuri often took glances at each other, for they feared of what was to come and affect their relationship in the future. Taeyeon drank to forget the thought of being without Tiffany while she visited her family in the states. However, Tiffany, with a whole different reason, took in more alcohol than she knew she should have. She, too, wanted to rid her mind of certain things. As for Victoria, although she seemed like everything was fine, she had problems of her own as well. Knowing how much Yuri loved Jessica and the fact that she would never want to purposely ruin their relationship, they pained her greatly. Yoona and Seohyun were the most innocent, drinking only a small amount of alcohol for the merely purpose of a celebration.

Soon enough, the alcohol took its toll and some of the girls became more intoxicated than they could handle. While Yuri and Jessica were only tipsy and the two youngest were unaffected by the small amount they drank, Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Victoria were completed drunk.

“Yuriyahhh, you must know I really like you, right?” asked unexpectedly the drunken Chinese girl who threw her arms around the tall, dark Korean girl.

With Victoria hung around her, Yuri stared back at Jessica in guilt. A good friend of her was causing pain to the girl that she loved and she knew it very well. “Yoona, Seohyun, can you guys take them back to their dorms?” she requested and received nods from both of the polite girls. “I’m going to take Victoria back on my own.”

“Wait,” Jessica called and stopped her girlfriend from leaving her with another girl. When Yuri turned around, Jessica gave her a look that was almost begging for her not to leave. “Do you really have to?”

Yuri sighed and took a deep breath, one that was felt all the way to her heart. She nodded. And just like that, she left the rest of the group to go back on their own. She knew she had to take her friend home, although Jessica was literally begging her not to, because she was the only one Victoria knew personally. The Chinese girl became her responsibility the moment she extended the invitation to the girl. Yuri never lied when she said she had no romantic feelings for Victoria, but she still saw the girl as a good friend, and as a good friend she did not want to abandon her.

But then she began to think of what happened that night between her and the older girl. A mixture of anger, confusion, and longing for love caused her to make a decision that she still could not forgive herself. She wanted to pour her heart out after the argument with Jessica, and Victoria wanted to take her pain away, so together they made a mistake. A kiss sparked all by the wrong reasons.

Later that night, the tall, dark Korean girl arrived back at her dorm without the sight of her girlfriend in bed. She did, however, notice the bathroom door was opened, and so she went towards it to check. When she still could not see Jessica, she decided to continue walking towards the other end of the connected bathroom to the room next door. As the sight in front of her appeared clearer to her eyes, she felt her heart began to ache again. Her rational mind told her it was nothing more than friendship, but her emotions got the best of her that moment and corrupted her judgment.

Jessica looked up towards the bathroom door when the corners of her eyes caught a shadow of someone staring at her. She looked at the girl she was holding onto tightly in her arms then to the bathroom door where her girlfriend stood. The moment she saw Yuri’s face and her painful expression, the blond girl knew the damage had been done and no explanation could save her. She quickly but carefully helped her best friend up from sitting on the ground in front of the bathroom then to the bed where Taeyeon was already lying.

“Tiffany, I’m going to need you to pull yourself together on your own. I have to go now,” she said before she walked back into her own dorm room.

Yuri was sitting on the bed at the time that Jessica entered their room. The blond girl slowly approached the brunette girl but still left her some personal space. She sat on the opposite side of the joined bed. But unexpectedly, Yuri stood up and walked over to Jessica’s side of the bed. She looked down at Jessica’s face and caressed it with her hands, which Jessica then held onto. They shared a passionate kiss then, at that moment.

“Let’s break up,” said Yuri after the kiss was let go. “Let’s break up.”

Jessica’s eyes widened and she stood up on her feet. She began to cry as she looked at her girlfriend’s face. With all that had happened between them, she would be lying if this never crossed her mind. But still, it came as a shock to her. She had hoped that, however unlikely it was, that they could fight through the problems and emerge even stronger from it. Her wish did not come true.

“Jessica, I love you. I love you more than anyone and you mean so much to me, but I don’t think we can carry on like this anymore.” Yuri’s hands held those of Jessica’s, trying to make the separation as painless as she could even when she knew both of their hearts were bleeding inside. She, too, began to cry as more words are uttered out from . “You can’t trust me with Victoria, and my heart aches every time I see you being intimate with Tiffany. I think it’s best if we separate and take some time away from each other for a while. Later on, if we can ever get over our problems and still love each other, let’s be together again at that time.”

Jessica pulled Yuri towards her and they both hugged each other tightly, neither side wanted to let go, neither side wanted the break up, though they knew it was best for them at the time being. They loved each other deeply, but problems had come up in their relationship, problems that they themselves could not solve, and thus, they were forced to say goodbye. It was the last time they hugged each other and pour their hearts out that year… and those to come.

*****

The next day after the break up, Jessica cleaned her things and moved back to her family’s house. It wasn’t a big deal since it was the school year had already ended and students were supposed to move out of the dorms within the next couple of days. Yuri waited until Taeyeon was ready after sending Tiffany off at the airport before they, along with Yoona, would go back to their hometown together. The rest of the girls returned to their respective hometown on their own time.

That day was the day that Tiffany was flying back to her family in California. With a lot of help from Taeyeon, they were able to check in the American girl’s multiple luggages successful. And they stood there again, in front of the security scan, to bid their farewells to each other.

“Tiffany-yah, when are you going to be back? Don’t you know that I’m going to miss you a lot?” The shorter girl pouted as she asked the question.

However, instead of replying to her girlfriend’s question, Tiffany stood there and stared into Taeyeon’s eyes. A strong gush of emotions flowed through her body and her eyes sparkled as tears began to form. She had been acting strange all morning, acting too normal, too calm even for a vacation trip. But as the moment approached, she wished she didn’t have to leave.

“What’s wrong?” asked the worried girl who held the taller girl’s hands. “Aww, it’s okay. You’ll come back soon, right?” She forced out a smile, hoping to lighten the mood for Tiffany. “Don’t miss me too much, silly.”

Once again, the girl did not say a word. She flew towards Taeyeon and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. “I love you, Tae-Tae. I love you so much.” Her voice cracked and a few drops of tears had fallen down onto Taeyeon’s back.

“I love you very much, too.” she replied from her heart. “What’s wrong? Why are you like this?”

Tiffany let go of the hug and wiped away her tears with her fingers. She forced out her typical eye-smile and said, “Nothing! It’s just that I’m going to miss you a lot.”

“We can call each other silly. You’ll be back in my arms in no time!”

“Yup.”

“So when are you coming back? You never told me.”

“I’ll be back on the 9th,” Tiffany responded while biting her lips. “I think it’s time to go now. Take care, my little dork. Live well, okay? Be good without me. Bye!” Without letting her girlfriend ask any more questions or say anything else, the girl rushed off. She held her chest as she ran away with tears dripping from her face unstoppably. That day her heart was broken, and it remained like so for the years to come.

Taeyeon stood there watching the girl she loved walk away, not realizing the real reason why Tiffany was acting the way she did.

*****

When Taeyeon returned to her home in Busan and began to unpack her things, she noticed a strange box she had never seen before. It was the size of her hand, white, and light. She opened the box and was greeted with a piece of paper that covered the rest of the content inside. However, confusion quickly filled her entire body when the piece of paper was lifted and the items under it were shown. She saw the rings that she had given Tiffany, the one for her finger and the one around her neck. She opened the piece of paper as fast as she could, hoping it would offer some logical explanation from her girlfriend.

Please forget me. Please forgive me. Those were the only words written on the white canvas along with Tiffany’s signature.

Taeyeon stood there, frozen. She did not know what to make of the situation. She thought everything was going perfectly fine with Tiffany and their relationship. She even believed the American girl’s words that she would come back on the “9th.” But Tiffany never stated what month, or what year.