| Chapter Thirteen |

A couple of knocks on her office door caused Jessica to look up from her desk, “Come in.” It seemed she was expecting somebody. Yet when she saw Yoona entering, she scratched her head, slightly confused, “Where’s Tiffany?”

“Looks like I’m your chauffeur tonight.” The girl shrugged, tossing and catching her car keys repeatedly with one hand.

“What? What happened? Where’s Tiff?” Jessica’s brows creased in frustration. Tiffany had blown her off on quite a few occasions the past week and she was getting anxious about it. Perhaps there was something the woman was not telling her.

“Something cropped up and she needed to go. Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you get home safe and sound,” Yoona replied, thanking Tiffany on the inside for giving her yet another opportunity.

“Is she alright? I feel like I haven’t seen much of her lately…”

“You overthink sometimes. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“But--”

“It’s almost eight, Miss Jung. Should we get going?”

---

“Tell me again why you’re car-less today…” Two minutes of silence was all Yoona was willing to put up with. They had stopped at a traffic light that was taking longer than usual to turn green, at least that was the way it seemed to Yoona.

“My sister was running late to college so she took my car… without my permission.”

“Without asking? Really?”

“Post-its with messy handwriting sloppily plastered against the front door don’t count. She’s so gonna get it.”

“How’d you get to work?”

“Taxi,” sighed Jessica as she traced incoherent shapes against the window. Her friendship with Yoona seemed to be weirdly improving with each and every conversation. A part of her appeared to be gradually warming up to the girl.​

“Ah.” That was all Yoona’s brain was capable of conjuring at the moment. She internally exhaled in relief when the green light came on, pretending to be busy being a good driver. The revving of the engine helped alleviate the quietness but let’s face it, two people in a car not talking was not exactly ideal.

Coughing dryly, Yoona forced herself to say something, “Not a lot of stars tonight…” She regretted instantly, rolling her eyes at herself from within for coming up with such a stupid topic. Stars. Really, Yoona? Eyes sweeping towards Jessica secretly, she noticed the woman staring down at her hands. Her auburn locks descended upon her shoulder so gracefully. There was a tiny pout upon her lips. She looked really beautiful.

It took Yoona by surprise when the woman looked up, eyes deflecting towards her own. She averted her gaze quickly, faking a laugh that sounded… well, fake. Giving up, she mumbled, “Okay, will you please say something? I’m this close to dying of embarrassment.” She held up her thumb and index finger, a tiny gap between them.

“Since when?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Since when did you become this awkward around me?”

“Since I fell… I mean, since I… since ugh… what I meant was, since the day I promised you that I’d stop with my antics.” Great, now she was both embarrassed and tongue-tied.

Jessica chuckled. It was also the first chuckle Yoona heard coming out of . Folding her arms, Jessica continued, “Forget it. If giving up on your jokes means turning you into an awkward turtle, forget it.”

“Well, a promise is a promise. I’m not about to go back on my word. I’m serious when it comes to these things.”

“Alright then.” Jessica nodded thoughtfully to herself. She never knew this side of Yoona even existed in the first place – solemn and mature. It felt a little odd but mostly comforting to know.

“Could I verify something with you, though?”

“Sure,” answered Jessica apprehensively.

“You are into females. Right?”​

A short pause followed and Yoona panicked, not sure if she had unintentionally hit a raw nerve in the course of trying to get to know this woman better.

“And your reason for wanting to know is?”

“Well, I… it was just, you know… the other night… that girl we met at the elevator… I was just wondering… never mind. I probably shouldn’t intrude.”

“Thank you,” Jessica replied softly, eyes falling to her hands again. It was not because she did not want to give the girl an answer. She just did not know how to respond without revealing a boatload of other personal information.​