Brianna looked up from her laptop, when her new house mate knocked on the door. 

"Come in." her tone was flat as usual.

Maili peeked in.

"Are you hungry? I prepared dinner."

The dark haired girl returned her gaze to the screen again.

"No, thanks. I already ate."

Maili sighed and closed the door, walking to the kitchen with her shoulders down. They were living and working together for over a week and she was still like that. Brianna refused to eat together with her, watch TV with her or even talk to her for longer than 3 minutes.

She was like that to everyone.

On their first day at work, Maili as an assistant manager/coordinator and Brianna as internet security expert, she greeted politely, but refused to talk to anyone. She was doing her job perfectly and that's why the managers were willing to overlook her lack of teamwork capability. 

In fact she had reduced the number of successful attacks to SME system to almost zero in just a few days and had successfullly kept the level of danger at its minimum.

She was good. Really good. But was kind of... antisocial?

Maili sat to eat her dinner alone and sighed again.

The band she was working with, Super Junior, described her house mate as "ice cold". They couldn't have been able to find a more proper describtion. 

Brianna had put a huge wall around herself and didn't let anyone in.

Well, at least not yet.

At that thought Maili smiled brightly and began eating her dinner.

She was deffinitely going to change this! After all as she saw it, her mission in life was to bring smile to everyone's faces and who needed a smile more than her dark faltmate?

tak tak tak tak tak tak tak tak tak 

Only the sound of the keyboard and occasional mouse-clicking were audible in the lonely office in the basement of SME. The night shadows had long ago settled in Seoul and the hallways of the big building were empty apart from a few idols and trainees who had finished practice in the wee hours. 

Brianna was working there all by herself as she had requested. That small room in the most deserted place of the whole building didn't look comfortable, but was just the shelter she needed from all the noisy people. It wasn't that she hated people in general.

She just...

She just didn't feel strong enough to handle communication anymore. Smiling was beyond her capabilities, maintaining small talk was something she gave up as useless many years ago. She couldn't pretend to be friendly and she definitely didn't want to be friendly. With ANYONE.

It was better to keep them away. They always hurt you after all. They always leave you alone at the end. Even when they have promised they would never leave you. 

Brianna suddenly felt nauseus and closed the laptop, pressing both of her fists to her eyes for a moment fighting back the whirlpool of painful memories. She put her arms around her to quench the burning pain and shut her eyes.  

Breathe in... breathe out... Breathe in... breathe out...I can do this... I am strong enough to do this... I am Brianna...

What a nasty joke... Her  parents, a Korean man and an American woman, decided to name her Brianna, which means 'strong'. She was supposed to be strong by definition.

The young woman got up from the chair and leaned forward with both of her hands on the cold wooden desk.

She couldn't let them down. 

Even when they had let her down.

Her eyes opened again, concentrating on suppressing the eruption of emotions. Slowly the rage and agony that streamed through her pupils died down, leaving her lifeless yet again. Just as the ash-covered ground after the volcano has fallen asleep.

She pushed the thoughts away and focused again on her work. Typing filled the heavy silence once more.

In the shadows of the hallway, a lonely figure moved away from her window and giving her a last glance went away, burried in thought.

"Hi!!! Guess what!!! I brought you lunch!!!"

Brianna looked up from her computer to see the very excited Maili bouncing around.

"Would you stop jumping like that please? You're going to spill the food all over the floor!"

Her tone was still flat, but Maili could see she was not angry this time and she took it as a good sign.

"I made you chicken with vegetables, I know you like it."

She raised her eyebrows.

"How would you know that?"

"Out of 10 times you order it 6 times a week."

The girl rolled her eyes.

"You sure are a stalker."

Maili smiled brightly.

"Sure I am. But it's because I want to be friends with you."

Brianna froze in her tracks for a few seconds and murmured a 'whatever' again.

Maili tried not to feel too disapointed, especially since she actually ate from the food she gave her for the first time!!! She stayed in the dark office for the rest of the lunch break and chatted happily about the sunny weather outside, about a cat she saw on the way to work and all kinds of silly little things that made her happy. The other girl didn't even look up from her lunch box while eating, but didn't chase her out either. After Maili got up to get back to work, Brianna blinked fast several times, just as every other time when she had to do something she didn't like or had to cope with something unpleasant.

"Maili-sshi" hearing her name the other girl almost jumped startled. "Don't waste your time, please. I am never going to be your friend."

"That's alrught Brianna-ah. It's enough I am your friend." 

Brianna narrowed her eyes, but before she could say anything, Maili smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll give you more than enough personal space" the girl winked and ran cheerfully upstairs slamming the door.

Brianna stared at the empty room for a while, more confused than ever.

Deep inside her, small and lonely ice cold drops started falling slowly from her long-ago frozen heart.