Title: Caramel (Part 1 of 2)

Rating: PG

Pairing: Jessica/Tiffany

Note: Writing exercises are… exercise.

Summary: The sweet aftertaste of caramel lingered on her tongue.

“Hi Jessi! Are you studying here?”

Jessica’s mind immediately blanks once she sees the bright smile directed at her. She blinks a few times and nods before walking over to her usual seat. Sliding her heavy bag onto the floor, she nearly collapses into the chair.

“Damn finals,” she mutters underneath her breath. She thinks the cosmos has it in for her when she finds out her winter break exams are all scheduled closely together leaving no room to truly prepare for the next one. She hates feeling unprepared, but she knows that even if she studies every day and every night she still won’t feel ready.

She slouches in her seat and closes her eyes. Her mind is in overdrive and nothing will go well if she tries to study now. Every upcoming exam comes to thought and she’s sure she’ll be fine with the lighter load of classes she’s taken the past term. What is really bothering her is whether or not she’ll actually remember the content of each class and not accidentally overlap everything together, which she thinks she’ll do.

When she opens her eyes, she isn’t greeted by the usual grey ceiling, but a pair of concerned brown eyes. Her brow rises in question when the barista touches her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Steph?” she calls out, waiting for the other woman to remove her hand. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that. Are you okay?”

Out of habit she would’ve said yes, but this is Stephanie. Her answer has to be the truth because she knows she’ll be stuck staring at a woman who will look like a kicked puppy for quite some time.

“Finals.” The answer comes out with a groan. Shifting in her seat, Jessica reaches down to get her study materials from her bag.

“Do you want anything? Your usual?”

Jessica is ready to decline, but she hesitates when she hears how worried Stephanie is for her. She pulls out her textbooks and looks up at the red-haired woman. “I’m fine for now, Steph. I’ll probably get something later.”

“Are you sure?”

She steels herself when she sees the beginnings of a severe puppy pout. Her jaw clenches when it looks like Stephanie’s eyes are glistening and she resists the urge to engulf the woman in a tight hug while telling her she’ll buy everything just to appease her.

Stephanie Hwang, what a dangerous woman.

Instead, Jessica forces on a tight-lipped smile and stiffly nods. She wills for her resolve not to crumble when she hears a whimper above her. If Stephanie Hwang set in pouting mode is a marketing strategy, she’s more than ready to say that it’s a potent one. That is, assuming her resolve shatters like glass in the next second and she buys half of the goods in the place.

Luckily, though she momentarily thinks otherwise, Stephanie finally walks away. She can finally start studying and just deal with these exams.

Damn finals, she thinks.

***

She isn’t sure when it happened, but she’s surprised when she realizes she’s been drinking caramel coffee for some time. Her eyes look into the nearly empty mug and finds a note attached to the plate it was served on.

It’s been an hour! Why aren’t you eating or drinking anything? You won’t be able to study properly! Here, this is my favourite, so drink this. I’ll come back with a couple of cookies when it’s less busy. Fighting! - S.

Jessica can’t help but smile at the act. She notices the two individually wrapped caramel squares on the plate and carefully unwraps one. Popping it into , she thoughtfully chews on it and allows her gaze to wander away from her textbook. Looking around the café, she finds it quieter than when she came in, but it makes her wonder where Stephanie is.

The sweetness of the caramel strangely has a bite the moment she finds Stephanie sitting at the other end of the café happily chatting away with him. She has the urge to spit out the melted confection, but it’s already making its way down . She’s not jealous, or so she thinks, but she knows she doesn’t like him. She, especially, doesn’t like it seeing Stephanie with him.

Rather than going back to study (because she knows it’ll be an unsuccessful attempt), she heads over to the counter and buys an iced tea and a chicken melt. She needs the break and needs to get rid of the aftertaste the caramel left in the back of .

When she gathers her food and drink in hand, she stops when there is a gentle grip on her elbow. She turns around and frowns at whoever is keeping her from moving back to her table. Her frown deepens when she finds Stephanie staring at her in confusion.

“S-Steph?” She watches as the other woman’s gaze falls to the items in her hands.

“I was going to bring you cookies.”

Jessica isn’t sure when she became soft, but she’s sure she’s becoming bipolar with how Stephanie seems to be able to adjust her feelings. Whatever irritation she felt is now overshadowed by the need to see her friend smile. Well, that is until she sees him appear out of nowhere and give Stephanie his gratitude before leaving. He acknowledges her with a few words, but she just  wants to run away back to her seat.

Let me leave or he’ll have a black eye before he leaves.

When he’s gone, Stephanie looks back at her and smiles apologetically for a reason she doesn’t understand, but she weakly smiles back. She gently removes her elbow out of the woman’s grasp and takes a step back.

“Jessi, I’ll bring your cookies in a moment, okay?”

Jessica shakes her head and clears . “Maybe later, I want something better to eat and wash out how sweet everything was.” Her intent isn’t malicious at all, but the way Stephanie is looking at her makes her feel guilty.

It looks like Stephanie Hwang the puppy took a hard hit.

Before Jessica can even retract or rephrase her statement, Stephanie is already making her way back behind the counter.

She really wants to kick herself sometimes.

From then on, every time Jessica tries to apologize she meets silence. When she tries to wait for the other woman’s shift to end, she accidentally falls asleep until closing and ends up missing Stephanie altogether. She’s annoyed and it doesn’t help when Stephanie practically ignores her later calls and messages.

***

For the next two weeks, she continues to go to the café and study. Whenever she can, she tries to stop Stephanie and verbally apologize, but the barista makes up every possible excuse to get away. She still finds food and drinks being given to her, but frowns when they aren’t sweet baked goods or sweet hot beverages.

Stupid self for buying that melt and iced tea, she berates herself.

Her mood is sour to begin with, but seeing him only worsens it. Every day she goes to the café, she finds him in his usual spot studying, but it bothers her the most when she sees Stephanie choosing to spend her breaks with him. She knows her irritation isn’t based on logic because really she just dislikes him for being that stereotypical macho man whose air just speaks of cockiness. She figures that he mustn’t be all that bad if Stephanie is hanging around him, but she really has no interest in ever befriending him.

She accidentally bites her tongue while she eats her salad watching them talk one day. She manages to refrain from alerting the entire café of what happened, but being quiet doesn’t help the pain go away any faster. Her head drops onto her open textbook and she tries to fight off the throbbing pain in . A metallic taste begins to build on her tongue and she’s almost 100% sure it’s blood.

Stupid self for being such a klutz, she thinks before reaching for her iced tea to stick an ice cube in .

Karma, she figures, is responsible for all of this.

***

Jessica remains persistent in trying to get Stephanie in hearing her out, but she feels like it’s becoming a lost cause by the time she has to write her first exam. She survives the three hours and feels like she passed with flying colours, but heaviness still fills her.

When she finishes her exam, she goes to the café because she can’t rest when she has three more finals within the same week. She sees Stephanie the moment she walks in and she catches her eye, but she frowns when the woman goes off to serve him a drink. She doesn’t need this, she thinks and walks right out of the café choosing to go to the one across the street instead.

She buries herself in her work and she doesn’t realize that she’s been there for a long time until one of the workers tells her to leave for closing. When she packs up her stomach churns in hunger and she has a feeling that there isn’t any food left in the place. It surprises her when the same worker who told her to leave hands her a large iced lemonade and a huge bag of food. She peers inside and is about to protest, but finds herself quiet when the worker tells her that it’s only fair for a hard worker to have energy for the next day.

“Thank you…”

“Gayoon,  Heo Gayoon. You should get going, it’s pretty late.”

“Jessica Jung.” Jessica deeply bows in appreciation and smiles at the woman. “Thank you, Gayoon-ssi. I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?” She doesn’t wait for a reply as she pulls her bag over her shoulder and makes her way to the door. She misses the blush Gayoon has on her face, but she hears a soft sigh behind her and it puts a smile on her face.

When she steps onto the sidewalk, she freezes when she sees Stephanie staring at her from across the street. She half-heartedly smiles and waves, but she deflates when she sees him drive up in front of Stephanie and offer to drive her home. Her smile drops completely and she walks away in contempt (to whom specifically, that’s left unknown) when she sees Stephanie step into the car.

***

Jessica collapses in the same chair she sat in the previous day. That was one final exam she doesn’t want to do again; it took too much brain power. She slumps over the table and tries to sum up her remaining energy for the last two exams. When she sits up, she doesn’t pull out her study material and chooses to approach the counter instead.

She stares at the menu on the overhead chalkboard and decides to get something simple. When it’s her turn to order, she sees a shy smile being sent her way. She says her order and tops it off with a sweet smile when she moves along the counter. The blush on Gayoon’s face was more than obvious to her and she watches as another barista quietly pokes fun at Gayoon.

When her order is made, she accepts it and makes sure her hands briefly touch Gayoon’s. She continues to smile when she returns to her table, but it passes her mind how different everything suddenly feels. From the food to the environment, it’s all different. She doesn’t dwell on it the moment she eats her sandwich and begins reading.

***

Jessica orders a caramel coffee for the heck of it after she finishes eating. When she drinks it, it feels like liquid weight when it goes down. The caramel has a bigger bite than what she remembers and it leaves a bitter aftertaste she can’t ignore.

***

“Jessica-ssi? Jessica-ssi, we’re about to close.”

The brunette manages to wake up by the third shake of her shoulder. She looks up and expects to see Stephanie, but she finds Gayoon staring at her unsure of what to do. She blinks several times to get rid of the cobwebs lingering in her brain. Rubbing her eyes, she looks at the watch on her wrist and apologies begin streaming out of when she notices it’s late into the night again.

She gathers her things into her bag and begins to bow profusely in front of Gayoon, especially when she notices a less cheerful fellow behind the counter waiting for her to leave. She’s about to make a dash out of the café when another big bag of food is in her direction.

“Take care, Jessica-ssi.”

Reluctantly, she takes the bag and leaves before the displeased fellow begins glaring daggers at her. When she runs out into the sidewalk, she goes straight home completely missing the way Stephanie was staring sadly at her. This time, he wasn’t around.

***

One more exam and Jessica feels enough energy to take it on. When she walks into her newfound place to study, she chooses to sit by the window with hopes that maybe she won’t fall asleep again. She looks out the window and briefly smiles when she finds Stephanie looking at her. Her energy drops a bit at the sight, but she doesn’t let it affect her too much.

“How many exams do you have left?”

Jessica turns to the side and smiles when she sees Gayoon taking a seat across from her with an armful of textbooks herself. “Just one.” She eyes the woman clad in casual clothing. “Day off?”

Gayoon smiles at her and nods. “I have exams like most other students right now.”

Jessica tilts her head and chuckles. She converses with the woman and finds out they go to the same university, but are part of different departments. They talk about their majors, their classes and professors with interesting stories.

The moment they are about to study, Gayoon offers to buy them food. Jessica is about to decline, but the former claims worker discount as being a privilege that should be used often. Nonetheless, Jessica states she’ll pay the woman back once her exams are over.

***

“Jessica-ssi, we should be leaving. They’re closing in half an hour.”

This time, Jessica manages to stay awake without unintentionally passing out like she has. She gathers her things and shoulders on her bag.

Both of them step out into the dark sidewalk and Jessica offers to accompany Gayoon home. The woman lives close enough for them to walk to. They mostly walk in silence and Jessica is sure Gayoon’s shy around her. She knows she can be oblivious about certain things, but something about Gayoon glared like a bright neon sign in front of her.

When they arrive at Gayoon’s apartment, they stand in the front entrance for a short amount of time until Jessica figures it’s time to release the woman from her misery.

“I don’t like you in that way, Gayoon-ssi.”

Jessica heaves a sigh when silence falls upon them again.

“I-I know, you like Tiffany-ssi, right?”

Well, I’ll be damned, Jessica thinks as her brow rises.

“W-What?”

Gayoon quietly laughs and waves a hand. “We have a few classes together and you used to go to the café she works at. Are you two having trouble?”

Befuddled, Jessica mechanically nods and drops her head. She figures they’ve grown close enough to talk about certain things and truth be told she has been waiting for someone to ask her how she is.

“Seeing Tiffany-sunbaenim in class, I think you should be straightforward with her, you know?”

“That’s what caused this mess to begin with.”

“Well, why don’t you fix it using it again? Honestly, as much as I’m envious about Tiffany-sunbaenim for having you, I’d rather have her bubbly than how she is now.”

This catches Jessica’s attention. She lifts her head and questioningly stares.

“She’s been miserable and… short-tempered? So, whatever it is you two are dealing with… can you deal with it soon? It doesn’t help that she looks like she wants to kill me sometimes.”

“She probably sees us together across the street, huh?”

Gayoon is softly smiling at her now and she thinks that she’ll be a good friend. She hopes that whatever is going on with her and Stephanie will finally fix itself. If not for her, at least for the unintended third party.