As promised, Jessica stayed as far away from Yoona as she could for the next couple of weeks, making the effort to also glare at her as and when they crossed paths. Yoona took it in her stride, not allowing it to bother or upset her. She was much too busy trying to keep up with schoolwork anyway. One fateful afternoon, however…

“Jessica Jung! This is the fifth time this week I’ve caught you chatting. May I know what’s so interesting about your conversation with Taeyeon that’s causing you to lose interest in what I’m teaching here?” Ms. Gil, the Economics teacher, wore an irritated expression on her heavily powdered face. The entire class whipped their heads around to gape at the student being accused.

“It’s nothing… I’m sorry…” A red-faced Jessica replied in a small voice as Taeyeon face-palmed and cursed under her breath about how it was all her fault.

“It’s nothing? You’re sorry? You’ve said that the past four times and I’ve let things slip. Do you happen to have a better excuse?” The teacher tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, waiting for a comeback.

“I… we… well, we were kinda talking about something related to Economics…” Jessica tried to formulate an argument there and then.

“And that would be?”

“Um… the upcoming sale at one of the malls?” Jessica remarked with her tongue in her cheek as some of her classmates tried to suppress their snickers.

“Okay, you know what, that’s it. I’m gonna have to split the two of you up. It’s for the best.” The teacher, obviously agitated, capped her marker and slammed it onto the board stopper.

“Oh c’mon, ssaem. I was just kidding. Please don’t make me shift.” Jessica pleaded in her whiney voice but Ms. Gil wouldn’t hear any of it.

“There’s a seat in front here right beside Yoona and you’re gonna move yourself here right now or it’s a visit to the P’s office.” The teacher stated authoritatively.

“Aish… could I perhaps sit somewhere else or--"

“You’re in no position to bargain with me, Ms. Jung. Your grades are terrible enough and I think it’s about time you came to your senses. Move yourself. This is a command.” Ms. Gil declared. She looked as though she was gonna explode any moment.

“Sica ah, just go. I’ll catch up with ya later.” Taeyeon urged her on. Left with no choice, the girl lazily got up off her seat and proceeded towards the empty seat beside Yoona.

“Good. Be sure to keep an eye on her for me, Yoona. Now, let’s continue…” The teacher picked up her marker and started from where she had left off previously. Jessica turned to direct a glare at the girl but she was too busy jotting down notes to notice. She looked evidently more fatigued than usual, too.

“Pfft. What’s there to note? Nerd.” Jessica murmured to herself as she fidgeted around with her pen with no intention of paying attention to the rest of the lesson.

~~~~~~~~

The bell rang for lunch and Jessica hastily started to pack her stuff, all ready to leave. Yoona, on the other hand, was still buried in her notes, busy highlighting texts and so forth. As circumstances would have it, an eraser fell out of Jessica’s pencil case as she was actively stowing her stuff away. Intuitively, Yoona reached out to pick it up and so did Jessica. Their hands brushed against each other’s momentarily and Yoona pulled back at once, surprised at how it sent vibes throughout her being.

“Mian.” Yoona apologized naturally.

“Gwaenchana.” Jessica’s reply surprised the other girl slightly. That was actually the first word she had said to her that wasn’t mean at all. Was she actually being nice to her? Yoona bit her bottom lip as she figured out what to say in response. As Jessica turned to leave after she finished packing, Yoona hurriedly called out, “Um, Jessica?” The ice princess spun around to meet her gaze with a questioning one.

“I could… uh, help you out with Economics if you want… I understand that Ms. Gil’s lessons aren’t exactly the easiest to sit through… I mean--"

“Ya, Im Yoona. I really don’t need your pity or your help. Look at those dark circles of yours. Take care of your own problems before you try to poke your nose into my business. I’m not the sort of person--"

“Ya! Why’re you talking to my friend like that?” A lofty figure stormed into the classroom. Sooyoung.

“Sooyoung ah, it’s nothing like that. You said we’d have lunch together today, right? Kaja…” Yoona made an effort to coax her friend not to start an argument. She still remembered what Jessica had mentioned to her a few weeks back.

“You! I’ve been waiting for this day to come. You know, we should really take it outside because I’ve had it with you.” Jessica’s expression turned bitter at the sight of Sooyoung.

“Why not? I could easily finish a shorty like you off in a blow or two, no big deal.” Sooyoung back talked, unrelenting, conveniently ignoring Yoona in the process.

“Sooyoung, please. Let’s just go, alright?” Sooyoung stopped short when she realised the rims of Yoona’s eyes were getting slightly red.

“Ya, are you crying? What’s wrong? Did this girl bully you or something? You can tell me, I’m here for you.” Sooyoung diverted her attention to her friend at once. Jessica did a double take and realised that the girl does indeed look like she was on the verge of breaking down. She felt a pang of guilt hit her for an instance. Were her words really that harsh? Was it really her? At a loss for words and not knowing what to do, she grabbed her belongings and darted out of the classroom.

~~~~~~~~

Yoona sat in an empty classroom like how she did every other evening, fully engaged in her work. She halted for a little while, removed her huge glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping it would relieve her of some of the stress she was having trouble coping with. A knock on the door of the classroom made her jump slightly as she nimbly put her glasses back on and looked up. It was Jessica. What was she doing here? Yoona watched as the girl entered and made her way towards where she was seated.

“Is the uh… is the offer still on?” Jessica asked.

“Huh?”

“You mentioned just now that you’d help me with Economics. Would you still be willing to do that?” Jessica made herself clearer.

“Oh, that. Yeah, sure. Of course.” The way Yoona readily agreed made Jessica feel even more remorseful. Come to think of it, nobody had really offered to help Jessica with anything at all, even her parents. She was often left to her own devices because of their overloaded schedules.

“Could you help me look at this? I hate Elasticity.” Jessica placed a set of questions in front of the girl, who got down to it at once.

“Do you wanna have a seat first? This may take some time.” Yoona offered moments later when she realised Jessica was still standing there like a block of wood.

“Huh? Oh, alright.” Jessica took a seat beside the girl silently without further qualms. She occasionally turned to sneak a peek as the girl scribbled away. There was something intriguing about this girl that made her unable to take her eyes off. As much as the two of them have gotten off on quite a bumpy start (thanks to her stupid missy attitude), Jessica secretly promised that she would make things better although she wasn’t quite sure how to begin.

“So um, about that episode that occurred earlier during lunch, I… uh…” Jessica wanted very much to apologize but she just couldn’t find it in herself to do it. She has never been good with formalities and manners. “I…”

“That’s okay. It wasn’t you. I was just a little emotional because of something else. It’s not your fault. Besides, I should really learn how to mind my own business.” Yoona finished with a forced smile before going back to work.

“What happened?” Jessica probed further. She wanted to make sure that she really wasn’t to blame for Yoona’s tearing up just now.

“It’s just…” Yoona tightened the grip on her pencil as she tried hard to fight back the oncoming tears but they just started to collect.

“Ya… jebal ulji marayo… I’m really not good at consoling people…” Jessica panicked and racked her brains about what she should do. Her words only served to make the other girl bury her face in her palms and to start sobbing.

“Hey, it’s okay… it’s okay…” Casually but in an awkward manner, Jessica reached out to pat Yoona’s back.

“Omo, Yoona ah! Waegeurae? I leave you alone for less than half an hour and this is what happens.” Jessica raised her head to see an anxious Sooyoung enter the classroom. As expected, the tall girl narrowed her eyes at the very sight of Jessica. “Ya! What did you do to her?”

“I…” Jessica jerked her hand back and stood up at once. “I think I’d better go…” She prepared to leave but an arm reached out to bar her from taking another step.

“You’re not gonna just walk away again. I’m not gonna let you. Tell me what happened exactly.” Sooyoung insisted.

Whoohoo~ Chapter 4 is up, my fellow YoonSic shippers! Thanks to all who have subscribed~ I thrive on comments so keep 'em coming, yeah? Feel free to flood the comment box. Kekeke. ^^