A few weeks later, Yoona returned to the park. This time, the sun was still in the sky and not a trace of alcohol was to be found in her precious den. As always, she slid onto her park bench and pulled her knees up close. As always, nobody was around.

And, as always, she wasn’t alone.

“Hey.”

“Dammit!” Yoona shrieked, resisting the urge to leap away as she had done last time. Really, she shouldn’t be surprised to have been wrong again.

Just like last time, Yuri began to laugh.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” she noted, hesitantly taking a seat beside Yoona. “Uh… did I… um, scare you away?”

When Yoona finally looked up at the girl, she found she couldn’t look away. Her puppy dog eyes were frowning at Yoona, an approach so very different from the one she’d received last time. At that, she tossed any inch of anger down the drain.

“No,” she replied with a sigh. “I don’t tend to come here at night very often, that’s all.”

“Ah, right,” Yuri nodded, tapping her fingers against her knees. “Oh! Well, I, uh, not that I do either. You know, I mean, I don’t go and get drunk every night or anything. Ha… ha ha…”

“Why that night, then?” It would be impolite to excuse the conversation, so Yoona found any possible way to carry it on. “Was it a special night?”

Yoona thought she must have said something wrong as that sent Yuri into a long and thoughtful silence.

“Not exactly,” she mumbled at last. “Not a good night, at least. To be honest – well, I don’t know why I’m sharing this with you… I mean, I barely know you! In fact, I don’t know you at all. But I… my girlfriend broke up with me that night and… I’ve always liked the way alcohol makes you happy, even if it is only for a brief time.”

Now Yoona wished she’d never asked. How are you supposed to comfort someone after a breakup? It’s not like she’d ever been through any of that.

“Oh,” was all she could muster. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Nah,” Yuri shrugged, leaning her elbows against the back of the bench. “She was sort of high maintenance, anyway. We’re still friends, I guess. Or we’re supposed to be. Jessica just likes somebody else now.”

Once again, there was an awkward silence.

“My friend Seohyun thinks people should only begin relationships once they reach the age of twenty two,” Yoona blurted out. “Saves the emotional heartbreak, I suppose. She thinks we’re not mature enough yet.”

“How many boyfriends have you had?” Yuri blushed as she said that. Though she had been extremely drunk, she still remembered sharing her opinion on Yoona’s glowing beauty.

Honestly, Seohyun was the only true friend Yoona had ever had. Boys would whistle to her sometimes or flirt with her, but mostly they thought she was strange. Why would such a pretty girl laugh like a crocodile or find such trivial things so funny? They much preferred girls like Tiffany, who knew they were beautiful and acted as a real girl should act.

“None,” she answered truthfully.

“Seriously?” Yuri’s eyes widened. “But you’re so-” Yoona’s eyes also widened “-Never mind.”

“Hey, you know what?” Yoona pushed herself off the bench. “I kind of like hanging around with you. Do you think we could meet up and do something actually fun one day?”

“One day?” Yuri looked sceptical, which frightened Yoona. “Why not just now?”

“What would we do?”

“Buy ice cream,” Yuri swung her legs off the bench and stood beside Yoona. “Then shove it in Jessica’s new girlfriend’s face. That stupid Tiffany Hwang… I… ugh!”

“Tiffany Hwang?” Suddenly, Yoona became interested. “You know Tiffany Hwang?”

“Jessica does,” Yuri grunted. “Doesn’t go to our school. Take it she goes to yours?”

“Yeah…” Yoona laughed a little. “All of the boys drool over her. I never thought she’d be – well, I never thought she liked girls.”

“Most people do,” Yuri smirked. “Now can we do something fun? Have you ever climbed a building?”

“Climbed a-”

Before she could respond, Yuri’s hand had clasped around Yoona’s wrist and she was tugging her along at a faster pace than Yoona had ever wished to run in her life.