So this is me swallowing my pride,
standing in front of you saying, “I’m sorry for that night,”
and I go back to December all the time.
It turns out freedom ain’t nothing but missing you.
Wishing I’d realized what I had when you were mine.
I’d go back to December, turn around and make it all right.
I go back to December all the time

If someone asked her which university she would consider attended after graduating, it would be that university with fifteen minutes far from her home. Krystal ever ask her whether she would take it if she got an invitation letter from university overseas but she, as a not-so-smart student who has huge possibility to not gotten any invitation letter answered her sister question with a shook of her head.

She had tiny little interest with study anyway.

Maybe study freak or invitation letter are not the only reason why people choose to fly to other country to the exact university, maybe there’s more reasons behind it. Like right now, she herself was standing looked up to the boarding board with passport in hand and suitcases stay put beside her. She has never been so excited to go overseas but today.

“So… good luck? I think?”

“Thanks, Yuri. Please don’t tell her anything.”

“Sure.” With a smile, Yuri side hugged the girl and pulled away soon after. She glanced to the short girl who clings on her arm.

“Tell her you give up crushing on my girlfriend.”

With a snort, Jessica slapped Yuri’s arm playfully and walked to the gate with a wave of her hand.

“I like short girl no more.”

“Heeeyyy~~ I hear that!”

***

Flashback
3 years ago…

High school, and all Jessica had in mind was just ‘how to get along with humans’ as if she’s not human herself. It was just that she wasn’t really good at making friends, hell, she doesn’t really know how to interact with those laughing strangers as the same year as her. Jessica hopes her friend ― which is only three ― from junior high went to the same high school as her.

The school was big, no, it was HUGE; it has such many cool facilities and there even the school dorm which looks more like expensive apartment rather than just-a-dorm-to-live-in-for-a-while. She got the room, number 801, and the middle aged man who gave her the key said her roommate is a senior and he added with that blinded grin and excitement;

“She has good reputation plus she’s eye catching.”

Before he stormed down all his way to the hallway to checked up the other students.

Maybe he was biased.

So, Jessica pushed open the unlocked door and the view of the room number 801 left maybe a good impression. There, she saw the senior which is her roommate just got knocked on the head by the orange colored ball on the hand at the time the door fully open and Jessica’s presence surprised her.

It was pretty hard, she had to balance herself when she greeted the freshman while rubbing her spinning head, biting her lips and unstable steps approaching Jessica helped her with the suitcases.

Tiffany Hwang was the name the girl told her at that very moment.

And five month later, Jessica thinks her high school life wouldn’t be as boring as she thought it would.

She was trying to open her locker by banging her not so strong fist against it but it remains still. Jessica hit it harder but it doesn’t make any difference.

“You bang your head against it won’t make it open.”

“Wouldn’t do that anyway.” Jessica rolled her eyes and turn to look at the girl with ball on her hand, Tiffany leaned against the locker. “Suggestion? Or maybe open it for me?”

“I would really glad to see you banging your head on it though, please try.”

“Oh please shut up.”

The younger girl looked away in annoyance and tried to open the seem-broken locker with more force now, though it doesn’t make any meaningful changing. Jessica slams her palm and snapped her head to the laughing senior beside her, shot her deadly glare but instead of stops laughing, Tiffany laughs harder instead. Jessica stepped closer to the girl before she hits the girl’s arm.

The older girl patted Jessica’s head while handed her the ball, she walks to the front of the locker and slam it once. The locker opened with a painful crack.

“Weak Jessica is weak.” Tiffany grinned when the younger girl slapped her arms once again and handed her back the ball. She leaned against the locker and eyed the girl before her. “Let’s go get ice cream tonight.”

“Thought you have basketball practice tonight.”

Tiffany nods. “After practice, you wait until I finished.”

“Don’t want.” Jessica closed the locker door and leaned against it looking at her five months roommate, she has her arms crossed.

“You love watching me play.”

“Says who?”

“Says me. Besides, I’m so charming when I play, you know with all the sweat and the iness.”

“You smells bad after practicing, what y.”

“That’s one of the charm!”

Tiffany beamed as she opened her arms, wrapping Jessica and messed the brunette hair. The younger girl pushed away the basketball team shooting guard and pouted. Geez this girl cannot be less annoying can she? She every now and then even though they know each other for only five months. It’s not like Jessica didn’t like the girl, Tiffany was a fun person and being near her was awesome but the girl has so much fun to herself and teasing might be on the top of her list.

“Fine, just stop messing my hair.”

“Cool! Your treat!”

“Pardon!?”

***

“Pass the ball! Hey you human being, pass the ball to Tiffany!”

Jessica raises her eyebrows at the shouting coach standing right behind the line of the basketball field. The forty years old man in front of her keeps on yelling to the girls playing game before them which makes all the player had a hard time concentrate with the game.

She darted her eyes to the field again where Tiffany and her team at, most of them are freshman, same year as her and Jessica thinks it might because they’re all new and the coach had to tell them what to do. It was true though, they play more like flying ant run after the ball like it was the light. Jessica might be didn’t understand sports, especially basketball because it has so many rules and such but at least she can distinguish between good play and bad play, and the freshman in front of her playing worse.

Tiffany get bumped countless time instead of getting the ball, even Yuri, the captain slash point guard barely shooting when she got the ball because all the girls inside will be run in a group to where the ball was and grabbing with mad hands.

“Ugh! COACH, TIME!!”

Tiffany groaned at the time Yuri passes her the ball and those mad girls started to run after her and tried their best to grab the ball from Tiffany’s hand until the girl left fell down the ground with messy condition.

“Those freshman are piranhas!!” She said as she pointed and stormed to her coach with messy hair and scratch marks on her arms.

Jessica stood up upon seeing her roommate in such a pity condition and handed her water and towel. Yuri followed closely behind and stops beside the coach, expressed her stress over the new players.

“They’re like hens chasing over a ! Who qualified them seriously?”

“I feel your frustration okay?” the coach throws his hands to the air. “We’ll train them.”

Both Yuri and Tiffany nodded their heads and fell silent for a while. They think it’ll be cool if training can make the new girls over there as good as their current team, won many championships and gave the school a good name. Maybe if they train―

“Wait, ‘we’?” Tiffany looked at her coach.

“Yeah we as in us, three of us.”

“NO WAY.”

When Yuri protested about her disagreement for helping the coach with the freshman, Tiffany grabbed Jessica’s hand and jogged silently out from the commotion. Jessica looked over her shoulder to where Yuri and the coach arguing before she voiced out her mind.

“You’re not going to help them?”

“I don’t train piranhas.”

“They aren’t that bad.”

“Not that bad my .”

***

Later on that night after the hell of practicing, Tiffany dragged the younger girl to walk for six blocks to her favorite ice cream stalls. The girl doesn’t even bother to go home for showering as Jessica keeps on complaining how smelly the girl was. Tiffany said it’s the smell of every charming person.

“Kim Taeyeon doesn’t smell like you.”

“That Kim Taeyeon who plays ukulele? He’s charming!? He looks like a total nerd with that Mohawk hairstyle! He smells like peanut jam!”

“It’s Taeyeang you a$$h0le!”

They talked nonsense until they reached the ice cream stall and ordered choco-mint for Jessica and plain strawberry ice cream for Tiffany. They sat on the sidewalk beside the stall as they counted every car that pass by. Jessica counted the white one while Tiffany counted the black one, the person got less cars will pay for the next ice cream.

Jessica ends up buying four more for Tiffany.

“Let’s go home.” Jessica said at the happy face of her senior. The older girl shrugged as she followed Jessica walking back to the dorm. “I have homework, you have to help me.”

“That’s never mentioned on the deal earlier.”

“I pay you ice creams!”

“You’re a loser, don’t blame me.”

“Give me back the ice creams then!”

“Uhm… not now? Maybe later when I poop.”

“GROSS!!!!”

Tiffany chuckled at Jessica’s behavior before she huddled the younger girl. “What homework?”

“Chemistry.”

***

She focused on the book before her on the table, sits on the floor with her back leaned onto the sofa in the living room and Tiffany was there sitting peacefully while eating apple, eyeing the scattered book of the younger girl. Jessica lolled her head back and Tiffany raised her eyebrows.

“Still not giving you my last year homework.”

“Ugh! C’mon, Tiff. It’s the same, look! It’ll be easier since Jungah gave the same exact question as last year!”

“Calling her by the name make it like you are dating her.”

“Wh―” Jessica turned her head looking at the girl.

“Are you dating the teacher?”

“I’m― look it’s not the point! Give me your note? Please? It won’t hurt.”

“Not until you tell me what was going on between you and Mrs. Kim.”

“Tiffany!”

The said girl laugh lowly after seeing Jessica pouted and she slip down from the couch to the floor next to the younger girl. Took a pencil from the case and grabbed the book from in front of Jessica.

“Instead of copying my last year task, let the awesome Tiffany teach you.”

***

Her classmate had to amaze at how high Jessica’s chemistry score that day, she got an A plus plus for the first time of her life. The highest score she ever got was only B minus and it already made both Sooyoung and Hyoyeon went frenzy, and now when it A plus plus, the two troublemakers went alien. They once managed to hang the paper onto the classroom door so every person that passed by can see. Embarrassing, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon needs to calm down from their tipsy self even though they’re not tipsy at all.

Jessica thanked Tiffany when the older girl practicing as she walked passed by the field, she shouted,

“IT’S A PLUS PLUS! THANKS AS MUCH AS YOUR FRUSTRATION!!”

When Tiffany once again being chased by all freshman of the basketball team who seems like not improved at all. The older girl waved her hands towards Jessica as she still dribbling the ball as far as she could from the girls.

Time was eating all their awkwardness when the two of them become closer by each passing day. Might be it’s all because they’re roommate which means they spend a lot time together in the room, sharing this and that, eating snacks together while watching DVDs, or maybe it’s Tiffany’s help when she saw Jessica struggling with her homework or even trying to stay awake to study for tomorrow’s exam.

The helping hand of Tiffany was more that helpful since Jessica found Tiffany’s presence really helping, plus Tiffany’s brain very smart despite of her crazily stupid behavior. She depends much on Tiffany without her realizing.

In the other hand, Tiffany was very sincere when she helps the younger girl. She has her own homework of course and it wasn’t makes it easier since she has to catch up on many materials because her basketball activity, it eats as much times for studying together with her classmate. Thanks to her fast leaner brain she always studied together with Jessica in the living room of their room as well teaching the younger girl her exam’s material (or helped the girl staying awake since Jessica always tends to sleep in the middle of studying).

She likes it the most when Jessica was there watching her practicing and sparing, it somehow gave her another series of enthusiasm or spirits. The younger girl would be sitting on the first row of the bleacher in the middle of it which made it easier for Tiffany to catch the glimpse of her. She also notice how the girl will stood up and claps her hands when Tiffany made points and frowned when the older girl being pushed by their opponent.

It was a little bit too much for noticing such gesture from the spectators, she should be focusing on the game since it was the bigger passion Tiffany had in her life, but seeing Jessica cheering for her from the bleacher didn’t make her missed their opponents moved, it was vice versa. She became more sensitive when Jessica was there watching her.

The younger girl cheered the most every time Tiffany’s name mentioned as the MVP.

Tiffany sits on the bench watching Jessica’s class doing sports with Yuri sitting beside her. The captain of the team had her elbow rested on her thigh while looking at the same direction as Tiffany. She glance over to the girl beside her once she heard the girl chuckled when Jessica failed catching a ball.

“You have an issue, do you know that?”

“I’m so awesome? Please, everyone knows that.”

Yuri raised one of her eyebrows. “You do have feelings for your roommate.”

Tiffany chokes on her own saliva as the girl started chough like an old woman, Yuri smirks upon receiving such responds from the other girl and she continued without giving Tiffany any water to stops the chough.

“I knew it. They way you looking at her was different. All this time! What is it? tell me, do you really crushing on her?”

“Water! Water!”

“I was wondering though, since you two are roommate, have you seen her changing all this time?”

Chokes more

Chough more

Yuri tends to kill her.

“Oh! Don’t tell me you also watch her bathing!!!”

Tiffany’s eyes widened and her face flushed red. She grabbed water bottle from her bag and gulped down the clear fluid before she spurts the water to Yuri’s face.

“Bless you erted mind, Kwon Yuri!”

“GROSS!!”

Tiffany snorts at the tanned girl at her failed attempt to wipe her face with the hem of her jacket and it sends her fell to the ground face first instead. Yuri sat up quickly and turned around pointed her index finger to Tiffany, the other girl leaned against the tree behind her with her arms bellow her head.

“Yah!”

“How is thing with Taeyeon?”

“W-what thing?” Tiffany smirks wider when she noticed the red shade creep on the girl’s ear and she continued on.

“Oh you know what things, Yul. So? Make any move yet?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Said the girl groggily as she sat back up on the bench, she cleared and rubbed her ears.

TBC

a/n: another req from Bluepinkz! kk. this is from a song by Taylor Swift - Back To December, and i recommend you to listen/watch the video first if you havent heard the song yet (as clueless as ever like me at first LMAO) since there's still nothing in this part yet so maybe if you want to know where this story goes, listen to the song first can help heheh.
oh i want to do a little promotion for my new on-going fic Exceptionally Difference please kindly check it or maybe subscribing if you like :D it's about jeti ofc (it's not like i can write any other pairings) and dandyu and taengsic (HEHEHEH yes taengsic!! you read it right!)
anw, please enjoy and let's cheered for Bluepinkz for the idea! LOL.