| Chapter Twelve |

There was nothing but silence awful silence flooding the car as Jessica did her best to focus on the road with the figure seated beside her.

“How’ve you been?”

From the corner of her eye, Jessica could see the woman gazing at her. Keeping her eyes centered on the road, she softly replied, “Good.”

“How’s Soojung?”

“She’s fine as well. Do I take a turn here?” The woman did her best to stay as detached from the dialogue as possible.

“Sica-yah, could we go someplace to talk? Haven’t seen you in a bit and I really think we should catch up.”

“Not tonight, Yuri. It’s really late and I have to get up early for work tomorrow. Maybe some other--”

A hand wrapped itself around hers abruptly, forcing her to look the woman in the eye, “Please? For old times’ sake?”

---

The chilly night air made Jessica shiver a little, and she momentarily rubbed her palms together, garnering every bit of warmth she could from the motions. The woman seated beside her on the park bench noticed and removed her jacket at once.

“Here.” Casually wrapping it around her shoulders, Yuri offered a brief, reserved smile.

“What about yourself?”

“No worries. I could use some night wind.”

It grew quiet again and Jessica stared down at her hands, her mind not functioning well enough to come up with a topic.

“Do you always get off work this late?” Yuri began. She had waited well over two hours before eventually deciding to head upstairs to check if the woman was still in the office. Thankfully they bumped into each other at the elevator.

“Yeah, guess so. How did you know where I worked?”

“I ran into Tiffany a couple of months back and we did some catching up. Benefits of having mutual friends.”

“Right…”

“You look skinnier. Haven’t been eating well?”

“I take small, frequent meals.” Jessica responded accordingly, not sure where all the small talk was leading.

When Yuri reached out to brush a few strands of hair behind her ear, the woman flinched a little. It was more of a reflex reaction, one that revealed the resistance that had built up over the years.

“You’re still the same… still not taking good care of yourself… it worries me, Sica-yah…”

“I’m doing okay. There’s no need to worry.” As much as she wanted to sound sympathetic, she could not control the indifference in her tone.

“If you say so.” Yuri shrugged her shoulders. She had expected that reply anyway. Who was she to show up out of nowhere and start telling the woman how to live her life? Things were not as they were anymore.​

Jessica pulled the jacket around her a little tighter, sniffing slightly from the cold. She was not enjoying the conversation one bit. The woman’s sudden appearance apparently reminded her of some stuff, and distracting thoughts started to invade her mind, threatening to submerge her to the point of suffocation.

“Are you seeing somebody now?” Yuri broke the silence once more, her voice lower this time.

“What?”

“Was that your girlfriend?”​

“Hm?” On hearing the words, the woman snapped her head to the left, meeting the other’s eyes once more.

“That girl with you in the elevator earlier.”

“You mean Yoona?”

“Whatever her name is.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know… she seemed somewhat… protective of you. I don’t like it.”

“I… I don’t understand. Why would it matter?”

A lone sigh escaping her lips, Yuri continued, “You’re right… it’s not important now.” She paused to chuckle, “I was such an idiot for letting you go, Sica. You have no idea how mu