For the next few days, there was no sign of the girl once more. While Tiffany had grown used to the lady’s sudden arrival and busy schedule, she still felt a sense of emptiness in her. However, what made Tiffany frustrated even more was that there was no Ice Princess at night either. Her station had been taken over by a temporary DJ who was unable to smooth her irritation and frustration. It was as though somebody landed a punch on her chest, blocking any access of airway to her lungs thus suffocating her.

"Can I get a cup of coffee?"

Tiffany's ears perked up at the familiar sweet voice. The voice was not cracked anymore as it used to be few days ago, but it still had the same tiredness and hoarseness in it. Silently, Tiffany began preparing the coffee that was requested. Placing the cup on the girl's table, Tiffany realized that the girl had her head lying sideways on her hand with her eyes closed, facing the counter, giving Tiffany a chance to observe her while she napped. She had worn the thick coat and scarf no more, probably because of the heat. Instead, choosing a pair of faded jeans with a plain hoodie, showing off her slim body. A pair of sunglasses covered almost three-quarter of her face, leaving only her nose and lips exposed and few strands of striking blonde hair peeked out from her hood.

"Thanks."

Tiffany was startled by the sudden voice. She did not know how long the girl had been awake, or if she was caught observing her. If she was, Jessica had not attempted to tell her. However, still feeling embarrassed of watching Jessica, Tiffany turned her body back towards the sink and pretended to be busy.

"Tiffany. Come and bring out the cupcakes!"

A shout from Sunny in the kitchen was heard. Feeling relieved by the distraction, Tiffany hurried into the kitchen without looking back.

"Wow! That's new!"

Sunny exclaimed when she saw the girl, in which Tiffany just stuck her tongue out and brought the cupcakes out swiftly, arranging them on their shelves. As she arranged them, Tiffany took a glance to the girl who seemed to be engrossed in her hand phone. She watched as she slammed her hand phone against the table only to pick it up instantly the moment it vibrated.

Boyfriend. Tiffany thought as she watched Jessica typing furiously away on her phone.

"Work."

Jessica spoke up suddenly; much to the shock of Tiffany who did not realized that the girl had noticed her sneaking glances of her. Feeling embarrassed of getting caught again, Tiffany frantically went back to her business around the kitchen and behind the counter, pretending to be busy. However, even though her hands were busy, her mind was not. It had flown to the particular girl always bundled up in her hood and scarf and sunglasses.

Work. That was all she said, but it had sparked Tiffany's curiousness in her as to what her work was. Tiffany had never heard the girl talk about her job, in fact she had never heard about the girl talking about her life. Every time, it was Tiffany the one who did the talking while the girl just listened. Suddenly, Tiffany just wondered what job Jessica had, but as usual, she did not want to probe into it. As though Jessica knew what Tiffany was thinking, she spoke up once again, surprising the girl.

"Listen to the radio in the afternoon tomorrow."

With that, Jessica left; leaving Tiffany pondering over the sentence she left her. Jessica had not even told her neither the channel nor the time but to just listen to the radio. It meant listen to the channel she always listened to, right?

---

That next day, Tiffany switched on the radio skeptically as she waited for the program to come on. She was actually half listening to the songs played through the radio and was thinking of turning it off, but since it was requested by a customer and she was curious about it, Tiffany left it on, deciding that music would be good for the slow afternoon when a familiar voice caught her attention. In fact, it was not only hers but also the attention of the other customers.

"Good afternoon everyone, the song you have just heard was Twinkle by Girls' Generation TaeTiSeo. What a lovely twinkling way to start a nice afternoon..."

Once again, Tiffany zoned out on upon listening to the melodious voice while other customers perked up. It had been months since the voice penetrated through the afternoon, and with that voice, the cafe started to buzz up with life as though welcoming the return of their favorite DJ.

"Thank you for tuning in to 89.9FM. This is the Ice Princess signing off. We will be here with you tomorrow."

It was only when the ending music came on that Tiffany let out a sigh. It had been great; in fact it was heaven to listen to the voice, a great way to start and end the afternoon.

"Can I have a cup of coffee?"

A slightly cracked voice interrupted her thoughts. A glance at the clock told her that she had probably spaced out for at least half an hour or so. How she managed not to get caught from Sunny was a miracle.

"So, can I get a cup of coffee?" The strangely familiar voice spoke once again seeing the barista spacing out again.

"Hey, you are here." Tiffany greeted with a cheerful smile. She then set to work having the machines whirling and pouring coffee into a cup. Placing the cup in front of the girl, Tiffany went back to work smiling happily.

"You seemed happy." Tiffany looked up at Jessica and grinned.

"I am."

Although Tiffany was still unable to see her expressions due to her humongous sunglasses, she knew the girl was waiting for her answer from the way she was facing.

"My favourite DJ was back on." She watched as Jessica's lips curved upwards into a smile.

"Hey, you smiled."

As if she had won the first lucky draw, Tiffany exclaimed loudly, causing the other customers to look at her weirdly. Giving a sheepish smile, Tiffany bowed her head as an apology and went back to work.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.

Tune in to the radio in the afternoon tomorrow.

That was what Jessica had said, as though she knew that the DJ was back on the show, or was it supposed to be a lucky guess? Curious of the reason, Tiffany turned around.

"Why did you..."

However, all she was greeted was a few change placed on top of a napkin.

Soon, maybe

That was all that was written. Re-reading the 2 words on the napkin, Tiffany wondered what it was about.

---

"It's really a beautiful day isn't it? Recently during my break from the afternoon shifts, I have grown to like visiting a particular cafe somewhere in the country, and there I met this young and talkative lady who would talk about the random things that happened around her."

Tiffany was engrossed in the radio once more. Her hand was mindlessly wiping the counter with a cloth but her mind and ears were focused on the radio. Something about the person that the DJ was describing seemed familiar to her, but she was unable to pinpoint where.

"Tiffany!"

A voice from the kitchen distracted her from listening more. Reluctantly, she tore herself away from the radio and headed towards the kitchen.

"Sunny! You know I was busy." Sunny rolled her eyes sarcastically when Tiffany pouted.

"Yeah... Busy listening to the radio. I saw you wiping the same spot for the last 10 minutes that I'm sure there isn't a speck of dust there at all."

Tiffany stuck out her tongue at the retort.

"There isn't any customers."

"But you could still make yourself useful. Go wash the cups or something. You can listen to the radio while multi-tasking."

"Fine, but Sunny, the DJ seemed weird. She seemed to be someone I know."

"Yeah yeah... Tiffany Hwang, you seemed to be hallucinating a lot. I can understand that you like the DJ, but for her to be someone you know, it's impossible. No one has ever seen who the Ice Princess is, not even knowing her real name."

Pondering over the answer, Tiffany nodded. Her suspicion faded as soon as it rose.

That whole afternoon, Tiffany spent pondering where and when she had heard the voice before when she realized a missing presence.

Jessica Jung. Jessica Jung had not been in the cafe in the afternoon. Ever since her favorite DJ had return to hosting, she realized that Jessica would only drop by the cafe 30 minutes just after the show ended instead of her usual dropping by in the early afternoon and staying till evening.

Jessica Jung. The image of the girl with her trademark sunglasses appeared in her mind as Tiffany thought back to their conversations and her voice. At times it would seemed hoarse, and at times it would seemed nice and smoothing or sometimes just cold and indifferent. Tiffany thought back on the various topics from the broadcast when she finally remembered why it seemed so familiar to her. She was the one who told the stories and these stories she only told to one person besides her friends, which meant that...

---

Life was usual. Everyday Tiffany would listen to her favorite broadcast of the day while humming a lively tune. Now that she had an idea of the person behind the Ice Princess facade and knew who Jessica Jung was, she felt accomplished as though she had solved two really intriguing puzzle. She had also talked to her idol, which was enough to make her jump for joy. Everyday, she would be waiting patiently behind the counter, but till then, her regular buddy had failed to turn up.

"Tiffany! Lock the door before you close, and don't forget to turn off all the switches."

The day had ended with Sunny leaving Tiffany to lock up the shop. Tiffany sighed as she turned the sign by the door to 'close'. Jessica had once again failed to turn up. It was as though the girl could read her mind and knew that Tiffany had figured her out, hence she decided not to turn up. Grabbing the broom, Tiffany returned to sweep the floor until a jingle of the door was heard.

"Sorry, we are close."

Tiffany shouted from the back of the kitchen. No answer was heard, but there was no jingling of the bell to show that the person had left. Irritated, Tiffany put down her things and walked towards the front cafe.

"Sorry..."

"I'm sorry but could you make me a cup of coffee?"

Tiffany shortly froze at the sound of the voice. Looking at the figure before her, she realized that Jessica was not wearing her sunglasses anymore. Instead what was replaced was a pair of bloodshot eyes. Without saying a word, Tiffany nodded and walked towards the machines, glad that she did not flick the switches off. Peeking at the girl, she watched as Jessica slowly grabbed a chair and sat down, leaning her head on the table.

Softly placing the cup in front of the sleeping girl, Tiffany resumed her duties in cleaning up once more, occasionally taking a glance at Jessica to check up on her.

Finally when she was done, Tiffany gently shook the slumbering girl who woke up rubbing her eyes.

"Jessica, I'm leaving now. Do you need me to call for anyone to send you home?"

Jessica shook her head and but down on her lips as though contemplating on something.

"Can I sleep at your house tonight?"

The question was simple, but it caught Tiffany off guard. She had never told anyone how she had figured out Jessica's identity but for the girl to say something like that was something that she did not expect. All these while, as various thoughts were shooting through Tiffany's head while Jessica looked on, observing every expression.

"If you are not convenient, I can..."

"I'm convenient."

Tiffany blurted out in a rush only to realize how weird her sentence sounded.

"I mean my house is convenient of having you."

"Thanks."

That was all Jessica said before standing up, leaving her cup for Tiffany to place in the sink and getting ready to leave.

---

That night, the barista tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. She wondered the reason behind the blonde arriving in the shop late at night and asked to sleep in her house. Besides, the fact that Jessica was lying near her was not helping at all. Tiffany was lying on a bed while Jessica took the floor. The latter had insisted that she take the floor so that she did not impose on the girl. Tiffany was surprised at first and wanted Jessica to take the bed but soon gave up when she saw the girl's bloodshot eyes. She decided not to prolong the bicker any longer and let the girl sleep.

After minutes of tossing and turning, Tiffany finally decided to just walk around the house and grab a drink, but before she could do that, a phone rang throughout the room. Immediately, Tiffany lay back down on the bed and pretended to sleep even though her eyes were wide open.

Her ears perked as a hand reached over the to the side of the floor and pat the floor for the vibrating phone. Finally the incessant ringing of the phone stopped and a voice spoke up through the silent night.

"I know. I'm at a friend's house... I will be there in the morning. Right."

With that the phone was smacked on the floor with a soft thud. Tiffany heard the girl shifted slightly in bed before even breathing resumed.

After ensuring that there were no other movements from the girl, Tiffany tip-toed out of the room towards the kitchen where she grabbed a cup of coffee. Mindlessly, she stirred her coffee and sat down on one of the chairs. Her thoughts had flown to the sleeping girl inside the room. She wondered the reasons why Jessica Jung had chosen to sleep at her house. Apart from seeing her in the cafe and rambling in an one-sided conversation, Jessica was no more than an acquaintance or rather simple a regular customer at the cafe just like the other patrons. Besides, from Tiffany's experience, indeed she may not be the most friendly girl, but she had still taken time off her busy schedule to pop by the cafe and listened to the girl's ramblings about everything. Tiffany had been so engrossed with thinking about the mysterious girl in her bedroom that she did not realized that she had fallen asleep on the table, her coffee cold and untouched.

---

The next morning, Tiffany woke up with a stiffed neck, aching back and numbed arms. She also found a blanket being draped over her shoulders, which she vividly remembered not bringing one out to the kitchen with her. Her coffee from the night had also disappeared, the cup and spoon washed and placed in its original position.

Standing up, Tiffany wondered who had done all the above for her, when she saw a note placed in front of her stuck underneath a covered plate.

Tiffany,
 Thank you for letting me stay at your place yesterday night. I have to leave early in the morning for a meeting. I have also cooked some breakfast for you. Just heat it a little when you wake up. 
From J.

After reading the letter, Tiffany opened the plate that was covering the food and to her surprise, it was a full set of American style breakfast, with toast, eggs and sausages. Tiffany gave a small smile as she proceeded to wash up before settling down for breakfast. While eating, Tiffany felt warmth through her body, as she tasted the food made with sincerity, something that she did not expect the Jessica Jung to do for her.

After breakfast, Tiffany walked to the cafe and started her daily routine of serving customers and making coffee as well as daydream. However, throughout the day, one thing that never left her mind - Jessica. There she stood, behind the counter thinking about Jessica and her motives. It was only till a familiar voice rang out through the radio that she snapped out of her daze.

"Good afternoon everyone. This is Ice Princess accompanying you through the afternoon from 2-5pm. How has the day been for everyone? Well, if it has been boring or not a good day, please tune in to the radio from 2-5pm, we will have many topics and songs to share with everyone..."

As Tiffany got increasingly mesmerized with the angelic voice, she started to beam brightly, causing the other customers in the cafe to stare at her, mesmerized by her dreamy look.

"Tiffany Hwang!"

A rap of knuckles on the side of the said girl's head caused her to jolt awake. Glancing to her side, she found a furious Sunny glaring at her. Gulping and showing a sheepish smile, Tiffany quickly hurried with serving the long line of customers who were waiting patiently. Luckily for Tiffany, they were regular customers who had been around long enough to know that Tiffany would start her dreams and imagination of the Ice Princess once the program started.

After serving the endless queue of customers, Tiffany started wiping the counter and clearing the table. Even so, her ears were pricked up against the radio, trying hard to catch on to every word she said.

***

"When's your off day?"

The sentence had come out casual, yet it sounded to be more than that to the eye-smiling girl. She resorted to jokes in attempts to calm her pounding heart.

"Why? You want to date me?"

Tiffany dared herself to look at the girl's eyes but all she got was a serious expression instead of the laughing expression she had expected.

"What if I said yes?"

-TBC-