Chapter 6

The Airport

Nicole sighed as she glanced at her watch. She was sitting on her suitcase at the arrival section of the airport, waiting patiently for her cousin to come and pick her up.

What’s taking her so long?

She groaned as she looked at her watch again. 4:45pm. Jessica was supposed to be there 45 minutes ago.

Suddenly, a gurgling sound erupted from her stomach and she gasped in surprise. Food sounded really good to her at the moment.

Sica, where are you?

-

“Yuri I told you, you shouldn’t have taken that left!” Yoona complained, seated on the front passenger seat next to Yuri, eyeing the traffic jam they were in.

“Damn it, Yoona I heard you the first time! You’ve been repeating yourself for the past half hour and there’s nothing we can do about it, okay?!” Yuri yelled back.

In the meantime, Seohyun was sitting at the back next to Jessica. She looked on amusedly as the two best friends continued bickering about traffic and directions. She’d seen her sister like this multiple times, especially when arguing with their parents but this is the first time she’d seen Yoona so agitated.

She thought it was cute.

“You should’ve just let me drive.” Yoona said with a pout and her arms crossed.

“And get my van jacked up? No way, Im Yoona.”

As Yuri turned her attention back to the road, Yoona looked at her with a mocking face and mouthed what she had just said. Seohyun witnessed all this and couldn’t help but giggle at the girl’s childishness. Yoona then noticed that Seohyun was watching her and turned red in embarrassment.

Yuri glanced at the rear view mirror, taking a peek at Jessica who was sleeping soundly in the same row as Seohyun. She couldn’t help but smile a little at the way the blonde girl looked. For once, she looked peaceful and wasn’t sending her a mean stare. Jessica was probably better off like this.

“Yah, Yuri eyes on the road!” Yoona yelled, taking hold of the wheel and swerving their van away from the partition on the road.

“Ah ****! Sorry.”

“And you were worried that I would jack up your car? At least I don’t let girls distract me.” Yoona said smugly.

“Shut up, Im Yoona!”
Sica’s eyes fluttered open as she woke up from her slumber. She smiled as she finally saw the airport in her range of vision but that smile didn’t last very long when she saw what time it was. They were already an hour late.

Yuri glanced at the rear view mirror and saw that Jessica was awake. She felt apologetic since the girl had probably woken up from her and Yoona’s constant arguing about driving.

“Sorry, Jeshca. We’re pretty late but at least we’re here, right?”

Jessica just nodded quietly in response, waiting for Yuri to park the van.

As soon as they had parked, the four of them quickly made their way to the arrival section of the airport. Jessica led the group, being the only one who knew what Nicole looked like.

Or so they thought.

“Nicole?” Jessica called out to a girl sitting atop her luggage.

“Jessica!” the girl called back, running towards the blonde girl quickly and enveloping her in a tight hug.

Yoona, Yuri and Seohyun had finally caught up to Jessica and watched on as she greeted her cousin happily. None of them could see what she looked like due to Jessica blocking their view. But as soon as Jessica turned around to introduce her cousin to the trio, Yoona froze in her spot.

“Nicole this is my um… friend. Kwon Yuri. Her sister Seohyun, and her friend Yoona.”

Nicole’s ears perked up at the last name as she followed Jessica’s motioning hand.

For the first time in two years, she and Im Yoona’s eyes had met again. She felt herself go cold from Yoona’s seemingly emotionless face.

“Yoona.”

-

Yoona remained silent as Nicole said her name. The others looked confused for a moment at Nicole’s tone and Yoona’s expression.

Then suddenly, Yoona took Nicole’s hand and smiled brightly at the supposed stranger.

“Hello, Nicole-sshi. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Im Yoona.” She said politely while shaking Nicole’s hand.

Nicole’s eyes widened at the action but went with it. Her grip on Yoona’s warm hand tightened as she smiled back.

“It’s nice to meet you too… Yoona-sshi.”

After gathering all of Nicole’s things, the girls made their way back to Yuri’s van. Nicole walked up to the back of Yuri’s van to load her luggage but was stopped by a hand holding her back. She turned around to see Yoona looking at her blankly, and then smiling her alligator smile once again.

“I’ll get that for you. You should get in the van.” Yoona said simply.

“Thank you.”

Why is she being like this? Does she really not remember me, or is she lying?

Nicole opened up the door of the van and sat in between Jessica and Seohyun. Yuri was already getting into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. Nicole felt a stare on her and looked up into the rear view mirror, seeing Yoona’s doe eyes looking right at her through it. Her heart raced rapidly from Yoona’s stare. It bothered her so much that she couldn’t figure out what the other girl felt. Her face was unreadable.

Yoona finally finished loading things up and closed the van’s trunk and made her way to her own seat next to Yuri.

“So, why don’t we all go out to dinner? My treat.” Yuri suddenly said.

“Yuri, you don’t need to. Just drop my cousin and I at my place and-“ Jessica was interrupted.

“I think it’s a fine idea.” Yoona said.

“Great! I’m sure your cousin misses Korean food anyway. Right, Nicole-sshi?”

Nicole nodded shyly, staring hard at the back of Yoona’s seat.

“Augh, fine.” Jessica complied.

-

The five had arrived at a typical local restaurant. They were seated together inside a booth and each told the waiter their orders. Yuri was excited as usual. She always did enjoy meeting new people, and Nicole seemed interesting.

“So Nicole-sshi, where are you arriving from?”

“The States.”

“Oh? Do you live there or…?”

“I grew up there along with Sica-unnie as well. Then we came back here to Korea except I went back there to take up college.”

Nicole glanced at Yoona as she brought up college, but Yoona wasn’t looking at her. The red haired girl seemed to be focused on the empty plate in front of her.
“What’d you study?”

“Aish, Yuri why are you asking so many questions?” Jessica started.

“I’m just curious about your cousin, Jeshca. Can’t I be interested?” Yuri retorted.

“It’s fine, Sica-unnie. Yuri-sshi can ask me anything she wants. I actually studied Mechanical Engineering at first, but shifted course and moved universities.”

“What a small world! Yoona took up the same thing when she studied in the states and went to college there too. Isn’t that right, Yoong?”

Yoona looked up from her plate as if she was pulled up from a trance and nodded quietly. Seohyun watched Yoona worriedly. For some reason, Yoona had become extremely quiet and blank ever since they left the airport. She stopped being talkative and seemed very uncomfortable.

“Yoong, are you alright?” Seohyun pried.

The doe eyed girl sent Seohyun a small smile and reassured her that she was fine.

“So Nicole, where did you study?”

“I studied Mechanical Engineering in the University of California, Santa Barbara. Then I moved to California State University to join the dance department.”

“Wait a second. That’s the same university Yoona went to. Are you sure you never met her there?”

Nicole gulped at the question and couldn’t find what to say.

“I’ve never met her before.” Yoona answered for her.

“I see.” Yuri nodded in understanding. “So you’re a dancer?” She asked brightly, instantly excited by the thought of dance.

“Yes. I love dancing very much. I’m hoping to find a related job here in Seoul, actually.”

“Well you’re just in luck, Nicole-sshi. I actually own a dance studio and still have a job opening for dance instructors. Maybe you’d like to apply for the job?”

Jessica and Yoona both looked at Yuri after she stated her offer. Jessica’s jaw had dropped in disbelief and Yoona’s eyes had just widened in shock. Yuri ignored the two and took out a card from her wallet and handed it to Nicole.

“This is my card. Call me if you’re up for it.”

“Thank you, Yuri-sshi.” Nicole smiled happily and pocketed the card.

“I need to go to the restroom.” Yoona said abruptly, bolting up from her seat and leaving in a dash causing everyone except for Nicole to be slightly shocked.

After Yoona left, Jessica started questioning Nicole about her stay in America. Yuri and Seohyun listened intently and joined the conversation from time to time. Every time Jessica and Nicole would suddenly break into English, Yuri would be left dumbfounded and Seohyun would nod casually, catching bits and pieces of the things they said.

After a few minutes, Yuri had realized that Yoona still hadn’t come back. Surely going to the bathroom didn’t take that long. Nicole noticed as well, biting her lip and fidgeting with her fingers. She was confused about how she was supposed to act around Yoona, but she also knew that she wanted to straighten things out with the girl.

“Excuse me.” Nicole said as she stood from the table.

She made her way to the restaurant’s bathroom, slowly pushing the door open. As soon as she walked in, her eyes met with Yoona’s through the mirror once again. The doe eyed girl had bloodshot eyes and was in the middle of washing her hands. It was obvious that she’d been crying.

“Hello, Nicole-sshi.”

“Yoona-yah. Please drop the act. It’s just us in here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nicole moved closer to Yoona, grabbing her wrist tightly and pulling Yoona to face her. She stared at Yoona right in the eyes, tears forming in her own. Yoona’s eyes were so full of hurt and anger and Nicole could feel every bit of it. Every bit of those feelings was aimed towards her.

“Yoona, please.” Nicole pleaded. Yoona just harshly pulled away from Nicole’s grip and headed for the door but Nicole was fast. She was grabbed by the wrist once again, forced to turn around.

“Talk to me.”

Yoona looked up at the other girl, her tears finally falling freely. The same was happening to Nicole as both were unable to express how they felt in words. So they stood there, communicating with their stares.

“I loved you.” Yoona suddenly said.

“I’m sorry Yoona.”

And with that, Yoona finally managed to get out of the bathroom. She got back to her friends’ table and kept her head down, not wanting any of them to see that she’d be crying.

“I’m leaving. I’ll call you soon, Yuri.”

“What? Yoona why are you-“ Yuri was confused.

“I need to go. See you all another time.” Yoona hurriedly ran out the restaurant, leaving Yuri, Jessica and Seohyun completely confused.

“Yah! Yoona!” Yuri called out to her best friend, only to be completely ignored.

“Aish, that girl.”

-