Jessica sat patiently on one of the benches in the center quad waiting for Suzy.

Jessica had asked Suzy to meet her there so they could grab lunch together, like clockwork,

the new student arrived clutching two books against her chest, she smiled and Jessica grabbed her hand leading

her through the hallways to the cafeteria. There everyone observed what Jessica had in tow;

a new student always piqued thestudents’ interest.

She began introducing Suzy to her friends one by one,

          “It’s nice to meet you Suzy-sshi.”

          “Your hair looks incredibly straight.”

          “I hope you get situated with everything.”

          “If you’re looking for great parties, don’t hesitate to text me!”

Jessica led Suzy off, introducing her to the next table, she giggled.

Jessica found it funny how Suzy was just walking along, almost as if she couldn’t keep up with her.

But Jessica knew that she was happy to be meeting people, she could see it in her eyes.

          “Oh Jess, we’re having a party this weekend.” Her friend, Choi Minho said, “You should come by with Myungsoo.”

          “Mmhmm!” Jessica nodded, “It sounds fun! I haven’t been out in a while either!”

Suzy watched the exchange between Jessica and Minho.

She was absolutely dazzled at Jessica’s popularity;

they never had anything like this back in Gwangju, where everyone was in equal popularity status.

Suzy had felt a bit out of place and small against Jessica,

she was the hot commodity that was showing around some average small town girl.

Jessica turned to her and smiled,

          “Are you alright Suzy?”

She nodded, still a bit shocked at how many people she met in fifteen minutes.

Jessica looked at her questioningly but shook it off, she told her that they needed to get lunch and join her table.

          “Are you sure you’re alright?” Jessica asked her as they were walking to the table where Woohyun and Myungsoo were.

          “I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed,” Suzy said, “You know so many people.”

          “Do I?” Jessica asked, laughing, “I’ve never thought that.”

Suzy giggled, she liked Jessica.

She always thought that people like her would be awfully atrocious and stuck up just like in the movies

but Suzy was completely wrong about her.

Maybe she would end up liking Seoul after all, despite what her Grandma said back home.

          “Hey guys,” Jessica greeted, when they both arrived at the table.

Suzy took her seat next to Jessica and locked eyes with Myungsoo, who was staring at her.

She sent him a small smile and turned to Jessica who introduced her for the umpteenth time,

          “This is Suzy Bae, she’s a new student from Gwangju.”

          “Hey,” Woohyun said, “Nam Woohyun, pleasure to meet you.”

          “Wow,” Jessica said surprise, “I thought you’d say something inappropriate.”

          “I don’t wanna scare her off.” Woohyun said, “I’m surprised they asked you to show her around, you’re kinda scary.”

          “Excuse me?” Jessica said with an icy glare.

          “N-Nothing.” Woohyun stuttered.

Suzy laughed at the two’s exchange.

Myungsoo on the other hand couldn’t believe his luck. He was utterly speechless.

It was the girl he had bumped into at the library a few days ago

and his best friend was put in charge of showing her around the school.

She was just like when he saw her, long dark hair, pale skin, and rosy lips.

This was it, Myungsoo thought.

This was fate; it was another chance at happiness after a whole year of heartbreaking pain.

Jessica felt a smirk forming on her lips, Myungsoo’s face was too priceless.

She was honestly happy for him to actually be attracted to someone after what had happened last year;

Jessica had thought he would never come back from it.

This was his first steps at healing, but she couldn’t help feel that uneasiness rising in her once again.

Something wasn’t right, but there was nothing Jessica could do nor say since she couldn’t pinpoint the source of her uneasiness.

          “So Minho told me there’s a party this weekend,” Jessica said, trying to calm herself down.

          “I heard about that,” Woohyun answered, “Shall we go?”

          “I am.” Jessica said, “I need a break. What about you Myungsoo?”

          “Well since you’re going might as well.” He said.

          “You should come Suzy!” Jessica said, “It’ll be a great way for you get to know more people!”

          “Uhm I don’t know,” she said, “I’ll have to ask my Mom.”

          “Aww! Well if she needs convincing let me know.” Jessica winked.

          “Jessica’s awfully convincing,” Woohyun said to Suzy, “She can get you to do the most tedious things.”

          Suzy laughed, “I could see that. Who could ever say no to you?”

          Jessica blinked, “Eh? What are you guys talking about? People have!”

The bell rang and like clockwork the students stood up from their seats,

gathering their empty trays, making their way to their next class.

Jessica and Woohyun stood up first with Jessica turning back to wait for Myungsoo, since they had their next class together.

Myungsoo joined them with Suzy by his side, all walking in silence.

          Woohyun leaned to Jessica whispering in her ear, “Am I missing something?”

          Jessica laughed, “I don’t know, are you?”

          “Now what kind of logic is that?” Woohyun pouted.

          “One that you don’t have,” Jessica said stepping into the classroom, “See you inside Myungsoo! Bye Suzy!”

Myungsoo nodded and began to follow after Jessica, when he was stopped by Suzy,

          “I’m sorry for last time Myungsoo-sshi.”

          “Don’t worry about it,” Myungsoo said, “And it’s Myungsoo, just Myungsoo.”

          Suzy nodded, with a smile, a smile that made heat rise to Myungsoo’s cheeks.

          “Try to go to that party, it’ll be fun.” He said walking into the classroom hands in his pockets, “See you.”

Myungsoo was sure then, this feeling wasn’t entirely new, he actually knew it all too well.

It made him feel excited, like he was back to his old self.

Jessica would surely be glad to have the old Myungsoo;

he could tell that she had been missing him for a year but was waiting patiently.

This was the beginnings of falling in love, he just hoped it wouldn’t end badly, like it did before.

--

Suzy was stunned at the sight before her, she had almost forgotten how much people could change in 4 years,

Jessica was no exception.

Her once brunette hair was now a glittering shade of blonde,

the habit of her wearing sneakers out everywhere she went was replaced by heels, and through her silhouette,

Suzy could tell that her body had been to the gym these past years. Jessica was right out of a magazine cover.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, compared to Jessica’s outfit of skin tight jeans, black pumps, and peplum top;

her loose jeans, t-shirt, and flip flops were no match.

Jessica was indeed stunning and Suzy suddenly felt miniscule, like she did the first time she ever studied Jessica.

          “Hello Myungsoo, Suzy.” She said with that smile that seemed to dazzle everyone.

          “Hey,” Myungsoo responded,making Suzy look at him,

           how casual of him to greet her after they haven’t seen each other since graduation,“What are you doing here?”

          “Shopping for drapes since this is a shop for it,” Jessica giggled,

          “The restaurant might need some and I’ve been procrastinating. You remember Tiffany don’t you?”

          “Hello.” Tiffany said shyly, she was beginning to feel an awkward atmosphere,

           maybe it was a bad idea to have kept Jessica planted where they were, “Uh, you guys catch up I’ll look around.”

Tiffany shot Jessica an apologetic look when she caught the blonde giving her a death glare.

Something definitely happened between the three, but she had an uneasy feeling if she stayed and found out.

          “Restaurant?” Suzy asked, after she finished watching Tiffany walk away.

          “Yeah, that’s right.” Jessica said, “I’m opening my own restaurant down Gangnam. I’ll be its manager.”

          “So are drapes your finishing touches?” Myungsoo asked.

          “No, we’re light-years away from finishing touches,” Jessica said,

          “But if I get this done I’ll be one step closer. What about you Suzy? How have you been?”

          “Great.” Suzy said, trying to keep down an exasperated sigh,

           she was sure Jessica and Myungsoo would be awkward between each other, have they met before today?

          “I work as a project manager for one of the corporate offices.”

          “That sounds fulfilling,” Jessica said with a smile, it was genuine Suzy could tell.

She wondered if Jessica still hated her, there was that possibility, there were some feelings that don’t change,

and hers didn’t especially about Jessica.

          “I haven’t seen you since graduation,” Suzy said curious, “Where have you been these past four years?”

          “I’ve been traveling Europe actually.” Jessica answered, “I just got back from France about a month ago,”

Myungsoo watched Jessica and Suzy; he wondered why their conversation sounded so strained,

even though he knew  they didn’t get along that well in high school,

at least  they always acted to civilized towards each other, but this was too coated over,

          “Didn’t Myungsoo tell you I came back?” Jessica asked with confusion.

          Suzy looked at Myungsoo, “No he didn’t.”

So Suzy was right, this is why they had spoken to each other so casually,

they had gone past the awkwardness because they’ve already seen each other.

She frowned inwardly, why didn’t he tell her?

Little Hyunsoo feeling like he had been long ignored, glanced at his parents and tugged on their hands,

          “Omma, Appa, who is she?”

          “Hyunsoo, this is Jessica.” Suzy said introducing him to the blonde.

          “She’s our very good friend back in high school.” Myungsoo said, “Say hi.”

          “Hello my name is Hyunsoo.” Hyunsoo said, looking up high at Jessica.

Jessica smiled sweetly at the boy, he really was cute. Jessica squatted down to his level,

          “Hi there, it’s nice to meet you Hyunsoo. My name is Jessica.”

          “She’s pretty!” Hyunsoo exclaimed to his parents, making Jessica laugh.

She wanted to cry, it was so surreal that she knew of this little boy’s existence before he was even born

and to see him now four years later was heartbreaking, oh how she wished she could be in Suzy’s place.

This was what she imagined everything would be in the future back in high school. 

For the past 4 years she couldn’t bring herself to be bitter to the kid,

even though if Hyunsoo had never come into the picture, she might’ve had a chance with Myungsoo.

          Jessica caressed the boys face, “And you’re a handsome little man.”

Hyunsoo quickly went to hid behind his father’s leg, feeling embarrassed by Jessica’s words,

only to earn laughs from the three adults.

Jessica stood up dusting her jeans off she smiled at Suzy and Myungsoo,

          “He really is a cute kid Myungsoo, just like you said.”

          “We need to get going,” Suzy said cutting in, “It was nice seeing you Jessica.”

          Jessica nodded, “Same. See you guys around. Bye Hyunsoo.”

          “Bye Imo.” Hyunsoo waved.

Jessica watched the three disappear, that was one of the toughest things she had done.

She crossed her arms, Suzy’s feelings haven’t changed about her and Jessica had felt the same about Suzy.

The thing that bothered her was why didn’t Myungsoo tell Suzy about her return?

She was sure that he would’ve told her.

Tiffany tapped Jessica on the shoulder snapping her out of her thoughts.

She gave Tiffany a pout,

          “So much for your saying ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going,’”

          “The going wasn’t getting tough, the going was getting awkward.” Tiffany said.

          “So did you find the OMG factor yet?” Jessica asked.

          “I think you should invest in a durable glass.” Tiffany said, “Drapes would make it less modern.”

Suzy unlocked the door to their apartment, Hyunsoo the first one to rush in,

          “Hyunsoo, you can play games in your room.”

          “Yay!” the boy shouted in happiness, “Can I have it loud?”

          “Mmm,” Suzy nodded, “Not too loud okay?”

But her words fell on deaf ears when she noticed the boy had all ready ran off into his room.

She turned her attention to Myungsoo, who was drinking water,

          “Why didn’t you tell me she came back?”

          Myungsoo released the bottle from his lips, “I didn’t think it would matter. It’s just Jessica.”

          “It matters,” Suzy defended, “Since you spent a whole year looking for her.”

          “She didn’t tell me she was in Europe.” Myungsoo said, “I didn’t know until today.”

          “What I’m curious to know is if you’ve gone to see her after you guys saw each other again.” Suzy said.

          “Yeah,” Myungsoo said, “We’re best friends, its normal.”

          “Like how normal it is not to tell me?” Suzy said with arms crossed.

          “I’m not doing anything wrong Suzy.” Myungsoo said, “Besides why would you even care? You and Jessica didn’t even get along that well.”