Yuri blinked, perturbed upon opening her school bag to retrieve her English textbook. She frowned, her brows creasing progressively as her fingers rummaged through book after book. She paused, bit her lip and did a second take. A third one. And maybe a fourth one. She was pretty sure that she had placed her textbook into her bag the night before, so where it the world had it gone to? 

The growing panic was gnawing at the pits of her stomach incessantly and she felt her palms going cold and clammy as she looked desperately and thoroughly through her bag, on the verge of simply tipping it over and pouring all the contents out of it for a more complete search.

The sound of clearing of throat beside her jolted her and Yuri found herself jerking back in shock, which gathered herself some sniggers and giggles. She found herself looking up into the stern face of her English Teacher, a certain Ms. Vanessa who had came from the States— a pretty Caucasian with blonde hair and striking blue eyes—, who was currently frowning down at her disapprovingly.  

“Miss Kwon, is there something wrong?”

Yuri pursed her lips and lowered her eyes away bashfully. She swallowed. She could feel the tips of her ears growing hot. 

“U-um, I f-forgot to bring my textbook.” She had stammered, barely managing to get the words out properly as she responded back hesitantly in English that was required during English class. Her voice was unusually soft as if by doing so, it would make her a lot more inconspicuous. Yuri fiddled with her fingers nervously as she awaited judgment from her English teacher with bated breath.

Blue eyes had softened slightly as Ms. Vanessa let loose a resigned sigh. “Go on and share with someone else then. Since this is your first time, I'll let you off easy. Make sure that this won’t happen again, understand?” 

“Understood,” murmured Yuri, a relieved sigh escaping her parted lips as Ms. Vanessa gave a small, curt nod and made her way up to the front of the class once again, resuming her lesson.

Upon instinct, Yuri had looked towards the direction of Sooyoung, seeking for help. However as she saw her best friend lifting up a textbook that had looked awfully like her own and sent her a wink while jerking her head pointedly at the girl sitting in front of her, Yuri had very nearly let out a groan in exasperation.

She shook her head, bit her lip and ducked around anxiously, scanning the small area around her for any hint of helpful and friendly face. She would not succumb to Choi Sooyoung's stupid ploy. She would not. But as her eyes sweep around her surroundings, it had come to her realization that the people around her was either a) bored of their wits and had their heads laid down to rest or b) winking at her flirtatiously and wagging their brows suggestively. When finally, her eyes had came to meet a pair of dark brown eyes that was peering curiously at her over an all too familiar shoulder. The same shoulder which Yuri had already committed to memory after a year and a half of sitting behind of.

Her heart gave a lurch, trapping itself in and her knees instantly reduced itself into jelly. All she had wanted to do was to just stop and stare at her for the rest of the day, drowning herself in those rich brown pools. But at last, Jung Sooyeon had averted her eyes away; turning back to the front to face the blackboard and Yuri gave a small frown, her heart sinking ever so slightly.

She knew what she had at the moment.

A chance.

And somehow it unnerved her that it was all created and gifted to her with a shiny bow by a certain Choi Sooyoung, whom she knew was probably grinning gleefully at her right now.

Gulping, Yuri had plucked up her courage and steeled herself, throwing caution to the wind as she extended a shaky arm, gently tapping the shoulder of her crush and classmate— Jung Sooyeon.

When the girl had turned to look over her shoulder at her once more, Yuri felt her breath hitch and she prayed that her voice wouldn’t fail her at a time like this. She smoothened out her nervous features and gave a practiced smile. “Um, could you share your textbook with me?”

And she waited expectantly for her reply, holding her breath.

After what felt like a decade, Jung Sooyeon dipped her head in a short nod and Yuri had instantly broke into a radiant (relieved) grin, proceeding to hastily (and clumsily) move her desk up front. When their desks had finally came together and Sooyeon had meekly offered the other half of her textbook, Yuri gave another small, grateful smile.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” mumbled Sooyeon, and Yuri was instantly struck by how velvety and smooth her voice was. It had sounded very much like the soft, tinkling bells in the wind and was overall, just extremely pleasing to the ear.

And then it hit her.

The last time she had ever heard Sooyeon speak was during her self-introduction, when she had first transferred over to their school. And it made her want to hear her speak again. To hear her voice again.

But how?

Yuri glanced up and it was then, she finally realized how close they were, with their shoulders brushing and arms bumping against each other. And that faint strawberry scent, which she had not noticed till now, had probably belonged to Sooyeon as well. Yuri pressed her lips thinly against each other and swallowed deeply, stifling the urge to take a deep whiff. To allow that sweet intoxicating fragrance to consume her fully.

She will not smell her.

No, she will not.

Well, at least not openly... But still.

Self-control, Yuri-yah. Self-control.

When she had managed to calm her erratic beatings of her heart (and hormones), she risked a glance at the brunette sitting beside her.

The side of her face was being propped up by her fist as her light hazel-colored hair formed a curtain over her cheeks, shielding most of her delicate features away from view. But it didn’t stop Yuri from admiring the outline of her straight nose and those long eyelashes of hers from the side. Oh god, how much she wished she could just reach forward and feel those silky brown locks between her fingers. It had looked so soft…

And her eyes gradually trailed down and towards her long, slender arm and to her hand, where a pen was firmly gripped between her fingers and was moving along her notebook lazily. Initially, Yuri had thought she had been jotting down notes, but at a much closer glance, she realized the girl was actually doodling, scribbling down words that were in English, but wasn’t at all class-related as far as Yuri could recognize.

“Je… shi… ka…”

Before Yuri could stop herself, she had verbally vocalized one of the words she had saw Sooyeon scribble in her notebook and it was only when the brunette’s hand had came to an abrupt halt and the pen had then fell out of her grasp, that Yuri realized her mistake.

She blushed as dark brown eyes found hers once more and she couldn’t help but glance away, clearly embarrassed. Her lips parted as apologies began tumbling out quickly.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to peek. I know it’s rude of me, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, no worries.” Yuri braced a glance up at the fair, petite brunette and found herself staring up into a rather amused-looking face with a tiny smile hanging off the edges of her lips.

She blinked, pleasantly surprised at the lack of annoyance tainting her features. And that, for some reason, made Yuri a little more bold than usual.

“D-did I say it wrong?” She asked meekly and silently cursed at how everything she said was starting to come out in stutters and stammers in front of Jung Sooyeon. How embarrassing.

Yuri thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when she saw her smile growing slightly wider. Sooyeon shook her head musingly and giggled softly. “Not exactly… but the way you say it is kind of…” She trailed off and Yuri watched in fascination at the way her features had taken up a pensive quality— how her brows were scrunching and her forehead wrinkling as she thought of that one particular word. “Cute, I guess.”

Yuri had flushed deeply at that. She could feel the familiar heat creeping up the base of her neck and up to her cheeks and she had to stop herself from squealing and rejoicing over the fact that her crush had just called her ‘cute’. Well, maybe indirectly. But at least it was something, nonetheless.

She inhaled deeply, calming down her jittery nerves and regained her poise. She put on her usual winning smile.

“Is that your name? In English?”

A wistful tint had suddenly painted Sooyeon’s features as she gave a small nod, a faint smile hinting at her lips. “Yeah…”

Yuri nodded musingly and she allowed her name to roll of her tongue a couple more times. Playing with it. Testing it out. “Je… shika…” She gave a silly grin, almost like a child who had discovered a brand new toy. She liked the way it sounded on her lips. It left a pleasant taste in . “Jeshika… Jeshika, Jeshika, Jeshika. It’s such a pretty name!” She laughed, and amongst all that excitement, Yuri had subconsciously dropped the formalities with Sooyeon, but the girl hadn’t seem to mind one bit.

Sooyeon smiled, her eyes shimmering up at her. The ends of her lips had curled widely in amusement. And Yuri had never seen her this positively happy before. Almost as if she was glowing. “Thank you. But it’s pronounced as Je-See-Ca actually.“

Yuri frowned as she tried again. “Jeshika?” Still smiling, Sooyeon shook her head, biting down a giggle. “Aish, can I just call you ‘Shika’ instead?”

Sooyeon laughed, and as cheesy as it sounded, Yuri had thought it was probably one of the most beautiful thing she had ever heard on earth. She shrugged her shoulders carelessly, “Yeah sure, I don’t mind.”

Yuri could only grin goofily down at her. “Sica.”

“Hm?” Sooyeon asked, arching a brow at her.

Yuri shook her head and grinned. “Nothing, I just like the way your name sounds. Though, Sooyeon is also a pretty name, I think I like Jeshika better.”

Sooyeon’s eyes had widened imperceptibly at that, her breath hitching ever so slightly that Yuri wouldn’t have even noticed if she hadn’t paid attention. But that would be impossible since her eyes had been trained onto her ever since she had seated herself beside her. The pen, which Sooyeon had been twirling with her fingers, froze.

Their gazes interlocked and brown met brown. It was probably the first time Yuri had ever seen those dark, dark eyes up close before and they were absolutely mesmerizing, with dark pools sparkling up at her invitingly. She had found herself captivated by the swirl of raw emotions flashing through them, unable to look away.

And then, Sooyeon pursed her lips, quickly directing her eyes away shyly. A light pink hue tinted the edges of her cheeks and Yuri found herself smiling in accomplishment. (Small achievements.)

She sighed and glanced down, lowering her eyes onto her notebook as she gained a faraway look in them. She had resumed her twiddling with her pen between her fingers and was biting at her bottom lip.

“Me too…” Sooyeon whispered softly and gave a small rueful smile. “It’s been such a long time since anyone had called me Jessica.”

Yuri frowned, lips parting, but before words could even spill out of , a strong accented voice had cut in.

“Miss Jung,”

The two of them had both looked up simultaneously, meeting the steely gaze of their English teacher.

“Yes, Miss Vanessa?” Came Sooyeon’s quiet address.

Ms. Vanessa frowned and pursed her lips, heels clicking away as she made her way over to the teacher’s table at the front of the classroom and propped herself up against the edge of the table.

“Could I invite you to stand and read out the first and second paragraph of page one-hundred-and-sixty-four to the rest of class.”  It was obviously more of an order than a question and Sooyeon could only sigh and get up to her feet obligingly.

The next time Sooyeon spoke, it was in fluent, flawless English and she had read confidently and effortlessly. Needless to say, Yuri was left completely entranced by Sooyeon’s flowing, velvety voice tinged with a hint of an American accent that wasn’t as strong as compared to Ms. Vanessa’s usual drawl. It was a nice breath for fresh air and for once English lesson was not consumed entirely by ‘broken’ English and random inserts of Korean. Everyone in class could only listen in awe.

When Sooyeon was finally done with her reading, she had glanced back up at Ms. Vanessa unflinchingly, her usual stoic, calm mask hanging off her features.

Ms. Vanessa narrowed her blue eyes critically down on the brunette, folding her arms across her arms as she looked over at her appraisingly.

“That was a very good read.” (An obvious understatement.) “As excellent grasp as you have on English, Miss Jung, I would still prefer you to keep any private conversations after class.” Blue eyes briefly flickered over to Yuri. “And that applies to you too, Miss Kwon.” The Black Pearl thinned her lips, nodding meekly and hung her head abashedly, blushing as Ms. Vanessa then resumed her lesson breezily.

And when their English teacher finally had her back turned, Yuri tilted a sideway glance towards the fair brunette beside her. Their eyes had found each other rather quickly. And almost instantly, they each broke into a playful, knowing grin of their own.

Yuri shifted closer, purposefully ignoring the warmth of their shoulders coming into contact and the intoxicating scent of strawberry filling her nostrils. Her finger came up to shield her lips as she spoke in soft whisper. “Then would you like it if I called you Jeshika instead of Sooyeon from now on, hm?”

Sooyeon blinked, her head snapping towards Yuri and she could see the surprise and a hint of something else sparking through those beautiful brown eyes. Yuri smiled that same winsome smile at her, flashing her set of perfectly straight and white teeth.

Hesitantly and sheepishly with pink hinting at her cheeks, Sooyeon gave a nod, the ends of her lips curling into a small, shy smile.

“I would love it.”

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