"Wow, I haven't been here in a while." 

As Jessica held the door open, Yuri entered the room. Jessica followed suit and leaned over to turn on the light switch before closing the door behind her.

"Omo... what have you been doing?!" exclaimed the dark-skinned girl as she stared in surprise. 

"What?" Jessica dropped her keys on the table in the living room. She looked in the direction of Yuri's line of sight and immediately became embarrassed.

"Nothing..."

"Your place is a mess!" 

Jessica folded her arms defensively. "I haven't had time to clean."

Yuri sighed. "You're right, I remember now that you usually sleep to deal with stress."

She began to gather the clothes strewn all over the couch and crumpled the half-empty bag of food on the floor in her hand.

"Even though you act like you're the more organized one, you're actually just like me," she muttered to herself as she headed to the kitchen where the trash was.

"Yah! I heard that!"

Jessica bit her lip before a small smile appeared as she watched Yuri walk away.

What would I ever do without you? She thought.

The apartment had been particularly lonely for a while without Yuri's frequent visits. Jessica never thought too much about it, but most people she knew weren't very close to her and had never even seen the area where she lived. Save for Yuri, Sooyoung, and Sunny, her closest friends, no one really came over.

​"What do you want for dinner, Yuri-ah?" Jessica called. She moved to turn on the flatscreen TV in front of her. Recently, she had begun to subscribe to a program that would allow her to stream movies directly to her television.

Yuri poked her head out from the kitchen. 

"Well, seeing as how you only have cans of soup and ramen," she said in a mock disapproving tone, "I'd say takeout would be good."

Jessica raised an eyebrow.

"Chinese?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll call the restaurant now."

Yuri's head disappeared again. She couldn't help but grin when she saw the cartons of instant noodles lying at the bottom of the disposable bin she opened. Some girl Jessica was. To think that this girl came from one of the wealthiest families she had ever seen, and yet she acted like any other typical college student. 

"You should take better care of yourself, Sica," Yuri murmured.

Jessica may have had an uncanny love for naps and sleeping, but she was also hardworking when it came to creating new designs for her classes. Yuri had seen the sketches taped to the walls in the room Jessica had set aside as a place for her university efforts. She was sure that if she walked in there, she would see balls of paper piled high on her desk. 

Her girlfriend was a perfectionist. It seemed as though she always had to do things exactly how it should be, or she would never be satisfied. Or perhaps, the more plausible reason was that she had to prove something to someone. She had to prove to her father that she wasn't wasting her life doing what she loved rather than what he wanted. As far as Yuri was concerned, she was doing a fantastic job. Jessica was the best student in her class. She wondered if her father was even aware of that.

Jessica plopped down on the couch, sighing in relief as she absent-mindedly flipped through the list of movie titles on the TV screen.

It made her feel a lot better than she thought she would feel making up with Yuri. As hard as it was to deal with everything that was going on, it was especially difficult to keep Yuri out of it.

"How is school?" 

Jessica was surprised to hear the question.

"I-It's going great. My teacher really likes my designs. I've been offered an internship position, too, by a local store. It's that not well-known yet, but I think it's going to be—"

"Jessica."

"Yes, appa?"

"When are you going to be finished playing around?"

Jessica swallowed. A sick feeling was beginning to rise in her stomach.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid. I raised you better than that. It's time you come back from your silly dream-chasing. Are you still with that girl?"

"Yuri, appa. Her name is Yuri. Don't you remember her?"

"Yes, and she's only helped influence you to be this way."

There was a slight pause and a clearing of the throat on the other end of the line. Jessica's heart began to pound as she realized her father was going to give her the news she had been dreading for a long time.

"You need to grow up now. You are my daughter, and you and your sister are the sole inheritors of Jung Corporation. She is too young for now, but you have long been of age."

"But appa, I—"

"This is not a choice, Sooyeon. You will have to face it eventually."

"Give me some time." Her voice came out shaky and weak.

At that moment, she hated herself for being unable to produce the image of the girl she had worked so hard to appear as when she needed it most.

"Fine, but I don't see a point. There's not much longer left, and I see that you've even met up with Donghae once."

"It's okay."

She pressed her lips tightly together to prevent herself from breaking down any further.

"I will call back later. Your mother tells you to watch your health. Goodbye."

He hung up before she could reply.

The phone dropped from her hand and hit the floor with a clang, but she did not react.

The tears Jessica had been holding in finally began to trickle slowly down her cheeks. 

"Watch my health, huh? As if that's my biggest concern right now," she said bitterly.

It was her father that she sought to please constantly. It was her father who had become cold and strict since the company began to prosper, who could never seem to understand her doings. He was the one who told her to grow up when everyone else wondered how Jessica could be so mature.

A small sob escaped from Jessica.

This was something she could never run to Yuri for. She didn't want to see that happy smile disappear from the girl she was taking care of. She didn't want to disappoint her. She had to face this alone, but she was afraid she could not fight it any longer. It hurt her to know she had to lie and pretend so often now. She felt a little relieved to know that her father had not said what she was thinking. It wasn't as bad as she thought yet. It hadn't reached that point.

During times like these, the loneliness was nearly unbearable. She felt pathetic for crying when she had known this would happen all along.

And that's why she had called the only person she thought she could run to. That's why she had to tell the person everything even when they had not spoken for so long.

"Hey, Sica!"

Jessica flinched in surprise as a pair of fingers snapped loudly inches away from her face.

"Are you okay?" Yuri peered at her curiously. She placed the glasses of water in her hands on the table.

"I've put all your dirty laundry into the wash and got us something to drink while we wait for our food. You should really stop eating all that instant ramen, by the way."

"Oh." Jessica blinked. "Thank you."

Yuri laughed. "You look really weird when you zone out like that."

She blinked a couple more times before fully returning to reality. Suddenly realizing that Yuri had insulted her, she frowned and punched the girl in the shoulder.

"That's really mean of you to say."

"Took you long enough to react." Yuri dodged her second blow as she sat down next to Jessica on the couch.

Yuri playfully slung an arm around the other and took the remote from Jessica's hand. "What are we watching?"

Jessica shrugged and smiled. "I don't know. You pick."

"Okay, yay!"

This caused a laugh from the older. "Such a child."

Yuri paused to fiddle with the remote before reaching for Jessica's hand.

"I think I should be offended now," Yuri thought out loud. "But you're actually looking at me with a very nice expression, so I don't know."

"Shut up."

Although the truth was, she probably was doing just that. 

Her father had told her she did not have much time left. He had made things sound so hopeless, and yet the girl sitting right beside her made her forget his words. Knowing this, how could she be happy with anyone else? And until now, she had been so willing to let it all go.

She had to fight for their future just a little harder. No, it was not time to give in. After all Yuri had done for her, she could not do such a terrible thing. Jessica could protect her. Maybe she had to try to do all that was in her power to achieve this.

They spent the next hour cuddling and chatting with each other, updating each other on every little thing that the other had missed. Yuri shared all the antics she and Sooyoung tried to pull on Sunny when she had skipped their Saturday meetings. She was in the middle of a dramatic reenactment of one of Sunny's reactions when the doorbell rang and their food arrived. They both giggled at how flustered the delivery boy looked when the pair had paid for the order. Yuri said it was because he was probably really charmed by Jessica's appearance up close, but the girl immediately denied such a thing.

By the time they had finished their cartons of rice with vegetables and chicken, the movie they chose to watch was over, too, and it was already getting late. It didn't matter, though, since Jessica suggested Yuri spend the night at her place as usual. Even though it was a weekday, and Yuri had to go class tomorrow. Nevertheless, Jessica convinced her to stay and even offered to drive her there. And what would make a Kwon Yuri happier than saying yes to that?

It wasn't the first time Yuri was going to sleep at Jessica's without prior notice, so Jessica only had to take out the toothbrush of hers that she kept safetly in her bathroom cabinet and toss Yuri her extra pair of pajamas kept in one of her drawers.

The day had thoroughly tired the both of them, and they were finally feeling its after effects. Extended fights tended to do that kind of thing to people.

When Yuri came out of the bathroom after her shower, a towel over her shoulder and her hair finally no longer wet after using the hair dryer, Jessica was already in bed with her eyes closed.

She went over to Jessica's side and examined her for a minute before poking her cheek.

"Sica, are you already asleep?"

Jessica frowned in respond and attempted to pull the covers over her head.

"Always putting sleep before everything else." Yuri shook her head as she went to place the towel in the hamper.

Jessica turned over and peeked at Yuri with one eye open when she returned.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You don't care enough about me to wait for me."

"Not true, I just value my beauty rest."

Yuri furrowed her eyebrows.

"You should value me more though."

"Whatever you say, kid." Jessica stretched and yawned. One of her arms immediately fell to rest comfortably above her head on her pillow.

"Hey, that's not something you would call your girlfriend," Yuri protested, settling herself on the other side of the bed.

"But it's true, you are." The girl beside her replied sleepily as she scooted nearer to Yuri. "Besides, you're the younger one."

Yuri pouted. "That's unfair."

Jessica conveniently ignored her complaining. 

"Like I said, it's the truth, and don't argue because I'm tired."

"Okay."

Yuri's arms wrapped around the other girl's body as if by reflex.

"Good night, seobang. Saranghae."

Yuri carefully tucked a strand of hair behind Jessica's ear and smiled to herself. The face before her was so peaceful that she could not have felt more content. She could have stared at it all night rather than sleeping, if not for her own exhaustion. She felt Jessica snuggle closer as her breathing became more even and slow.

Yuri kissed the girl's forehead before closing her own eyes happily.

"Nado saranghae. Good night, princess."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two and a half weeks had passed by since the big apology, and Taeyeon and Tiffany's friendship could not be better.

After the initial awkwardness from what had occurred between them passed, the two were becoming much more comfortable with each other, and Taeyeon no longer gave any sign of an effort to stay away from Tiffany. They were like two peas in a pod, smiling at each other the moment the both of them entered English, eating lunch together, and often choosing to study together after classes.

More and more quirky parts about Taeyeon were appearing. Tiffany was wrong about Taeyeon being childish. No, she was the biggest twenty-year-old kid she had ever met. And yet Taeyeon owned an even bigger heart. Tiffany was beginning to see that, now.

Some people had hearts that shrunk from past misfortunes. Some people closed themselves to others because those from before had hurt them badly. But others left their hearts as is. They kept going about their everyday lives, never realizing their heart was growing with them even when they did not know. These hearts were a little empty and waiting for someone to fill them up with love and happiness. These were the most fragile because they were pure and innocent. They had never experienced heartbreaks, betrayals, or broken friendships. People who held such hearts were not sad, but they were not truly happy either.

As selfish as it was, Tiffany hoped to be the person to fill Taeyeon's heart.

"Taeyeon, have you done this assignment?"

"Hmm?" The girl looked up from the book she was reading. "Oh, yeah, I did those problems in class."

"Wow, instead of paying attention to the teacher?"

"I knew what he was talking about already."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Of course. You're like a genius when it comes to math."

She returned to staring at the numbers on the paper and sighed, taking out a pencil to begin the work.

"What are you reading, anyway?" Tiffany leaned over to peek over Taeyeon's shoulder.

"One of those how-to instruction books."

"For what?"

"It's a beginner's manual for learning the guitar," Taeyeon admitted, showing Tiffany the cover.

"What? Since when did you do music?" Tiffany laughed.

"Hey, I could learn, couldn't I?" said an indignant Taeyeon. "There's a guy I saw a couple times before at that bench I sit at. He plays the guitar and sings pretty well."

"Really? You should introduce me sometime."

"Well, er, I don't know him too well." Taeyeon said sheepishly. "But sure."

Tiffany laughed again. "And yet he's already convinced you to get into his hobby."

"Just trying something new out," the short girl shrugged. She placed the book face down on the table so that she could go back to where she stopped reading later. She watched the other completing another problem. Without looking up from her paper, Tiffany asked her another question.

"How are your sketches, by the way? Have you drawn anything new?"

"Nah, nothing major. There was a dog last week on campus and I tried to draw it, but the weather has been so nice lately that I keep getting distracted."

"I see." Tiffany smiled. A moment later, her smooth forehead became smudged with a frown.

"I've always wondered though, are your hands just naturally talented or something?"

Taeyeon looked amused. "If you're asking if I ever had art lessons or something, then the answer is no."

"Do your parents know how well you can draw?"

"Probably not."

"What?!"

The words came out a little too loudly next to Taeyeon's ear and made her jump back from the unexpected outburst.

Tiffany almost seemed to be blushing before she lowered her voice, remembering they were in the library. "I mean, why not?"

"I don't know." Taeyeon said honestly. "I think they wouldn't like it."

She wanted to smile when she saw Tiffany tilt her head in thought.

"Are they the type of parents who expect you to grow up to be a businesswoman or a lawyer or something?"

"Not really, but they know I like math and sciences, and I'm good at them, so why not become an engineer? I think it's that kind of mindset."

"I see, that makes sense." Tiffany nodded.

"I also imagine they'd be disappointed and tell me a career in the arts is impractical if I said I wanted to be something like an artist. I think so, too. It's just a small interest of mine, so they don't need to really know about it and worry," Taeyeon continued.

One of the things Tiffany had come to understand about Taeyeon was that she was actually a very considerate person on the inside. Like that one time she had noticed the subtle disappointment in Tiffany's voice when she had chosen Tiffany as her partner simply because it seemed like the natural thing to do, Taeyeon thought about what others felt toward her without always showing it.

"But it's not just a small interest," Tiffany pointed out. She stared at Taeyeon. "And you can't tell me you've never ever wanted once to try out the art major. Or take an art class, just to see what it's like."

She saw that the girl was about to deny it by preparing a defense, but instead the mouth before her closed as soon as it opened.

"True." There was a hint of regret in the voice. "But that is life."

Although she had said the words herself, the thought seemed to depress Taeyeon. Understanding that the girl no longer wanted to talk more about it, Tiffany decided to change the subject again. 

"What was your childhood like anyway?" she asked. Then, she smiled teasingly. "Were you a bad student?"

Taeyeon scoffed. "You wish. I did skip school once with my friends in middle school because we were trying to act cool, but once I reached high school, I had normal friends and focused mostly on my studies."

"What do you mean by normal?" 

"Huh? Well, we ate lunch together, we talked about homework, we sometimes went to see a movie together after classes..."

"You didn't have a best friend?"

"Nope. We were all classmates who happened to share the same interests. Everything was simple and ideal like that back where I lived."

"I hope that's not how I am to you," Tiffany muttered to herself.  

It seems like she has never experienced many hardships in school... I should be more mindful of that and make sure she doesn't have to see the bad end of things.

Taeyeon looked at her for a few seconds and cracked a cheeky smile. "Don't worry, we don't seem to share that many interests together."

She grinned when she received a glare in response. Within another moment, her eyes became serious, and suddenly she leaned forward and was inches away from Tiffany's face, giving her a kind of stare that made the latter feel as if she were looking into her soul.

"Sometimes, I feel more comfortable with you, a girl I've known for a couple of months, than with people I've known for years. You, out of everyone, should worry the least, if at all."

They stared at each other for a few seconds before one of them broke the stillness in the air.

"Oh." Tiffany said.

She felt a little nervous being so close to the other. However, her lips gradually began to spread into a wide and breathtaking smile as her eyes became perfectly-shaped crescents.

There was a sharp intake of breath from the other end. By now Taeyeon knew she was blushing, but she had a hard time looking away. She shook her head hastily to try to clear the jumble of thoughts in her head and cleared .

"H-How about you? How was your childhood?" she asked.

Tiffany hesitated. Taeyeon thought she saw a frown cross her face, but it disappeared as soon as she glanced at her again.

"Different," Tiffany said tentatively. "It wasn't ideal at the very least."

"That reminds me of how you haven't told me the whole story of how you came from the States and ended up here."

"You didn't seem interested in it, before."

Taeyeon sighed. "You're really going to pull that one on me?"

Tiffany said nothing, but she could tell the girl was tapping her foot under the table. Taeyeon heaved a sigh and reluctantly put on her best apologetic look.

"Okay, fine. I was a jerk. I'm sorry. You're really pretty, and I'm interested."

Tiffany smiled instantly. Sometimes, she just wanted to hug Taeyeon and never let go because the short girl literally said the most adorable and weirdest things ever. But she couldn't for now, so her heart settled on doing a little dance inside her.

"Drama queen."

"But you said you lived in Korea and then you moved to the States again and then you came back just this year."

Tiffany nodded slowly. "My parents immigrated to America, so my two siblings and I were born in California. I probably just turned fifteen when we moved back here, though, for... family issues. Had to adjust to a new school, new life... Not to mention learn a language I really wasn't too familiar with. You should've heard my accent back then."

"I still can."

Taeyeon laughed a little strangely when Tiffany pretended to be hurt. "I'm kidding."

Tiffany paused and glanced at her watch. 

"Oh wow, it's getting kind of late. We've been here for like two hours."

"The dining hall isn't open yet, though."

Taeyeon sat and observed Tiffany, who did not seem to make any movement to get up and leave. She sensed that Tiffany wanted to end the conversation for some reason, but curiosity got the best of her.

"Want to come over my place? Yuri's out today, I think."

"Okay, sure."

"You can continue your story while we're walking there."

She stood up to gather her belongings, secretly smiling to herself when she saw that Tiffany had long stopped doing her homework. She made a small fold on the corner of the page of her book on guitars and placed it neatly into her bag. In her peripheral vision, she could see that Tiffany was moving just a little more carefully than usual.

They exited the building and walked side by side without speaking. Taeyeon didn't mind too much. She liked the silence more than the noise at times.

On the other hand, she figured there was something about her family that made Tiffany need some time to say the right things and that she probably hit something of a touchy subject. But, she had told her about her own youth, so it was only fair that Tiffany would tell her a little bit of hers. And more than anything, Taeyeon wanted Tiffany to trust her a little, too.

"So—"

"We moved back to the States for the same reason we came to Korea. It was to tie the loose ends and move on. My dad and my siblings decided to stay, but I didn't. I felt like I didn't belong there anymore."

Taeyeon blinked in surprise before replying.

"That makes sense."

"Sort of. I don't really know why. I guess the loose ends I received are still kind of tangled. I want to understand some things before I can fix them."

She gave Taeyeon a smile that seemed forced. "Growing up, I did want to think I'd go and live here for a bit to get in touch with my roots."

Taeyeon seemed contemplative as they reached her floor in the dorms. She unlocked the door to her room mindlessly and let Tiffany in, still busy asking herself how she should respond.

"You can sit on Yuri's bed. She won't mind since she's the one responsible for the dirty floor," she gestured as she went over to put their things down on her desk. It was still bright out, and rays of sunlight shone through the window's shades, decorating the furniture with a pattern of white bands.

She did not look as she sat next to Tiffany and placed her arms by her sides; rather, she chose to stare at the ceiling as if to ponder something.

"It seems like what you told me really affected you and your family."

"Yes," Tiffany let out a small sigh that sounded burdened.

There was a long pause before she spoke again.

"You're probably wondering what exactly the family issue was."

"I think it has something to do with your mother."

She did not have to turn to see her reaction. Taeyeon could tell the girl was a little shocked. She took a glimpse and saw that Tiffany's body had gone rigid.

"You did not mention her even once," Taeyeon explained quietly.

There was a slight waver in Tiffany's voice when she answered.

"It's true. My mother was sick."

She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. 

"She passed away recently."

Tiffany thought she felt her heart fall a little when she saw Taeyeon gazing at her with sad eyes. Her smile was a little weak, and she shifted her hand uncomfortably on the bedsheets to stop the trembling in her arm.

Just as she was about to blink back the tears and the memories that always rushed into her mind, she felt Taeyeon turn to look above her again.

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling ashamed. "This is the first time I've really even mentioned her."

Noticing the way she shook ever so lightly, Taeyeon reached over and took Tiffany's hand, intertwining their fingers together. 

"...You should tell me about it."

She gave her hand a reassuring squeeze when she said this.

Tiffany took another breath for a long time before she nodded.

"Okay."

More and more, Taeyeon saw the different sides to Tiffany. She was wrong about Tiffany being overly optimistic and a hopeless romantic. Well, yes, she was those things, but the fact that she didn't have the blissful life that came with such a mindset made her fascinating. It was fascinating in that sad, flawed way that made people real. When Tiffany finally told her some of her troubles, Taeyeon began to believe that Tiffany was one of the bravest people she had ever met. And the eye-smile that she dawned only became more beautiful the more often Taeyeon saw it. Tiffany was beautiful on the outside, there was no doubt about that, but she was also beautiful on the inside. It was a beautiful that had been broken several times, mended by words and bandages that didn't always help the healing process, and not always cared for properly.

"When I was fourteen..."

"Stephanie, your mother and I decided we are moving back to Korea."

"What?" Young Stephanie answered in shock. "Why? What about school and my friends?"

Her father smiled apologetically. "You'll make new friends, dear."

The expression on the girl's face transformed to one of great displeasure.

"Unbelievable!" Stephanie stomped her foot on the floor loudly and turned around to go to her room. "I don't even know Korean!"

"Hwang Miyoung."

Her mother's voice made her stop dead in her tracks. 

She turned around to see a sympathetic face approaching her.

"I know this is sudden and unfair to you," her mother said. "But can you do this for me? It will only be for a little while. I promise Korea is not that bad."

There was such a sorrowful, pleading expression on her mother's face that she could not say no. Immediately, the anger flushed away and left her just as quickly as it came. 

"Y-Yes, mommy."

A pretty smile appeared on her mother as she patted her daughter on her head. "Good. Thank you, Miyoung."

She stared. She could see that her mother's forehead was lined with thin, almost invisible wrinkles. What was it from? Stress? Why was her mother acting this way? A dreadful thought was nagging her in the back of her mind.

...

"Michelle! Let go!" Stephanie shouted as her older sister pulled her roughly into her room and locked the door behind her.

She was frustrated, fuming, and tired. She just wanted to go back home to California. Her first week of school, and she already hated it. The people kept staring at her and giving her looks whenever she spoke. It was horrible. She had to keep reminding herself that she had no choice. This was where she had to be now.

"What the hell! Leave me al—"

The stare from her sister was so intense that she shut almost instantly.

"Stephanie," her sister said. "Mom's sick."

...

"Hey. Wow, I never know how to start these. Anyway, things haven't been going so well. Korean is such a hard language, and the people at school aren't so friendly. On a side note... I looked back at my old entries and I was so embarrassed! A lot has changed since then (not just my writing, by the way). It's been a year and I'm still not used to the way things are here. People are so conservative here. I feel like I'm being judged wherever I go. But don't worry, I'm a lot stronger now. Daddy is proud of my grades in school, but I feel like he's distracted so often except when he's at work. It's really weird because it's just the two of us now, you know? As for Mommy, well, she's..."

Tiffany's fingers paused, hovering above the keyboard.

What was she doing?

She sighed for a moment and moved her mouse to over to the trash icon. There was a split second of thought before she clicked the button, erasing the draft of her post.

"What's the point of even keeping track?" She asked out loud.

...

"Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Tiffany's eyes hesitantly fluttered open. Her mother smiled when she gasped.

They were in the middle of a path in the park where white and pink petals were scattered all over the ground almost like fresh snow on the very first day of winter. She looked up in awe and saw the dark branches of trees hanging over her, where the flowers grew from all over.

"They're cherry blossoms," her mother explained. "Pretty magical, right?"

As the words left , a gust of wind came by and blew more flowers off the trees. They floated in lazy circles and drifted down, one landing delicately onto Tiffany's outstretched palm. Magical was just the word to describe them.

"When I was your age, I took a lot of walks in this park with your halmeoni." her mother said. "Getting to here was always my favorite part. I used to pick some of the cherry blossoms off the grass and take them home with me."

She took Tiffany's hand.

"Your halmeoni used to tell me: 'Whenever you are having troubles, look toward the sky and remember that good things will come to you when the moment is right.'"

She watched the view in front of her with a wistful look.

"I wanted to see this just one more time..."

That was when the horrible epiphany came.

It suddenly occurred to Tiffany that their move to Korea was all for her mother. Her mother who was now fragile and had the appearance of one who had been pushing herself for a long, long time. She could not often go out anymore, but she had persuaded her daughter to go with her on this trip. And of course, Tiffany agreed.

It occurred to her that life wasn't fair, and it would never be fair no matter how many times she wished it so. Sometimes things happened that didn't make sense, and maybe they would never make sense. The things that people often took for granted one minute became precious treasures in the next because life did not play by anyone's rules.

Worst of all, it finally dawned on her that her mother had come here because she was dying. And in that instant, she hated how life had decided to do this to her. She hated that she was miserable. She hated that she was going to lose someone who was supposed to grow old and see her graduate from school. Her mother was the one who should be there when she got her high school diploma, when she would finally receive the proposal from the person she loved most, and when she would begin a family of her own.

She hated everything because she was lost, because if there was nothing to hate, then she would have to face reality.

There was worry that cast across Mrs. Hwang as she watched her daughter fighting with the demons inside of her.

"Why don't we take some of these home to show Daddy?"

Hearing the subtle strain in her mother's voice, Tiffany could only nod wordlessly.

That night when she lay there in her bed and the endless whispers of suffering in her head had faded away to nothing, staring at the cherry blossom in her hand, she concluded that there was no better color that existed in the world.

Pink would always be her favorite color, no matter what.

...

"What do you mean we're not going back? I have to go back to university!" Tiffany blurted out in disbelief.

"Stephanie, both your sister and brother have studied in the U.S. Don't you think it'd be better if you just transferred?" Her father tried to reason with her. "You said you had a hard time learning Korean, anyway."

She frowned. Regardless of the amount of times she had reminded him that she wanted to be called Tiffany, a name her mother always wanted to give her, he refused to do so. 

Perhaps all people dealed with death differently. She, for one, did not want to ignore it and let it get in her way. Meanwhile, her father invested heavily into his work and tried to get away from what happened. First, he had desperately brought his wife back to the States in search for a miracle cure, but Tiffany knew the end had been near for her mother. It seemed that her father wanted to only associate happy things with Korea, as if to trap the memories in a single snapshot or a snowglobe. 

It was true that he was a coward, but deep down she knew she was one, too. She also ran away from anything connected to her past. She was the only family member in Korea, and yet she still felt so far from her mother. For her, it was just easier to hide her distress behind a mask. It was easier to smile than to cry. It was easier to start afresh than to pick up where she left off.

Taeyeon was speechless as she listened to the entire story of Tiffany's life back then.

She had told it all without shedding a single tear, albeit Taeyeon could see she came close to it several times.

Currently, Tiffany's eyes watched her intently. Just the smallest hint of fear flickered in them, waiting for Taeyeon's judgment.

She was well aware that she should have been sitting there trying to gather some condolences to say or portray her sympathy in some way. But words of that nature were often unfulfilling and hollow, and all this time she couldn't help but ask: why didn't Tiffany cry?

Why didn't Tiffany ever have anyone to talk to about such things? Why was she forced to lock up the secrets that someone should've heard and said, "It's okay, it's going to be okay"? The worst thing that Tiffany's father did was not avoiding the past nor denying to comply with her wishes but never being there for his daughter when she needed it most.

It's going to be okay. That's what Taeyeon wanted to say to her.

But when she finally began to speak, something totally different comes out.

"You don't have to act strong in front of me."

Tiffany could only stare at her.

Taeyeon merely continued more solemnly. "It's fine to cry. I don't mind."

The other girl did not appear to expect such a response, either. Taeyeon was afraid she had said the wrong thing when Tiffany simply wore a blank and unreadable expression on her pale face. Her mind was frantically trying to find a way to amend the poor choice of words as she searched for the right thing to say.

But something inside of Tiffany must have snapped, however, because the next thing Taeyeon knew, Tiffany threw herself at her, and the soundless girl's body was pressing against hers as she hugged her hard like she was afraid she would disappear otherwise, and all the conflicting feelings inside of the eye-smiling girl finally poured out like a huge waterfall.

She let the long-awaited tears drop, and Taeyeon held her and said nothing.

It didn't hit her so much, how bewildering the situation had abruptly become, until the shoulder of her shirt began to stick to her skin, wet from Tiffany's downpour of salty tears. The old Kim Taeyeon would not be able to understand. She would've found the situation nonsensical, allowing another girl her age to just release all her emotions freely onto her. The old Kim Taeyeon would have long steered herself away from such a personal subject before it could even have an opportunity to come up. She guessed Tiffany Hwang had become the exception. The one person who could make Taeyeon react utterly out of character without even realizing it. 

Come to think of it, it did seem kind of ridiculous for her to be here, sitting on her roommate's bed, in such a position.

Yuri wouldn't let her hear the end of it if she caught them. Well, she'd probably try to comfort Tiffany as well with a bad joke or two.

Aish, this girl makes me crazy. I always do the weirdest things around her.

Taeyeon hummed softly as she ran her hand gently through Tiffany's hair to soothe the crying girl.

But I guess that's okay. Maybe it's good to be different sometimes. Listening to Tiffany's was important. I should be there for her more often. She's gone through so much more than I have, and yet she's so cheerful all the time. 

...Maybe I haven't really been trying my best to really live after all. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yuri's phone played a jingle and began to vibrate in her pocket.

She was whistling as she took it out.

"Yoboseyo?"

Identifying the voice on the other side, she suddenly beamed. "Umma, hi. I'm really great!"

She furrowed her brows and took a few steps to pace as she listened to her mother speaking to her. 

Sighing, she nodded to no one in particular. "Yes, yes, everything is fine. I'm making friends, I have good grades so far... my roommate's smart, so she can help me. Yes... I'm swimming and exercising at least five times a week."

She switched the phone to her other hand so that she could inspect a bag of chips in the aisle. Yuri was at her weekly run to the local convenience store nearby.

"What am I doing right now? Just buying some food."

Yuri laughed when she heard her mother scolding her, knowing she was probably getting some junk food.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Really."

A smile appeared as she decided to take the bag she was examining before.

"Jessica is doing well."

Glancing quickly at her watch, she shifted the items in her arms slightly and spoke into her phone receiver again.

"Umma, I have to go pay for my things. I'll call you and appa later tonight, okay? I promise. Yes, okay. Annyeong."

Yuri looked at the phone after she hung up and laughed.

"My parents are always so overprotective."

The first time Yuri announced to her parents that she was going to university to swim and, more importantly, to figure out who she was, her parents thought she had lost her mind. They tried countless times to convince her to not do such a thing. They wanted their daughter to be something normal and reasonable, like an accountant.

But Kwon Yuri would not sit to hear such a thing. She wanted adventure. She wanted to find herself and her passions, not follow a fate laid out by someone else. And that was simply who she was. Always bold, outspoken, and unafraid to say what she liked. When she told her parents of her preference toward girls, they were just as shocked as any other parents. However, over time, her mother and father understood that this was how she was, and after exhausting themselves, they chose instead to support her, although they never did stop worrying about her.

Her father believed she would ultimately do the right thing. After all, her older brother had gone through a similar phase, and he was doing well. He was getting ready to settle down with a nice girl soon and he had a good job with a steady income.

So long as she was happy, her parents would eventually be happy, too. 

And Yuri loved that about her parents. She appreciated their worrying even when she constantly acted carefree, and she even promised herself that she'd get there to the end of the road where success lay sometime, just in her own way. There was only one chance to be young, so she just wanted to live for a small while before she couldn't anymore.

Suffice to say, she was probably the most blessed of all her friends in that aspect. 

Hence, it was the reason Yuri vowed to always be the energy that others needed to keep going so that they could also be courageous enough to take the road they had always dreamed of, and not the one they were obligated to follow.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Happy New Year! What are your resolutions?

I updated a lot faster this time, haha.

This chapter reveals a little bit of the past to help you understand each character better... :)

To me, it seems as if Yuri is always the eager kid in the relationship while Jessica always tries to be the mature adult. It's a good balance, but it can also be bad if the two conflict too much... It's always interesting to learn more about someone's past in real life, right? It turns out lots of people have experienced things that you fail to notice at first glance.

Thank you so much to the new subscribers... We're almost to 100! Please don't be afraid to comment! ^^