Yuri was almost certain that she was texting him again.

She had been at it with her phone for quite some time now, giggling and smiling away to herself.

It was nauseating watching her like this— like she was some lovesick school girl.

The most Yuri could spend was three seconds— three seconds— before she actually turned away and decided to mind her own business, having seen enough.

No, more than enough actually.

It made her stomach clench, twisting into knots, and her heart ache, fracturing into pieces. And hell, she still needed her heart in one piece and she would jolly well do whatever it takes to keep it whole.

Especially after what happened the last time.

Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder what exactly did she mean to her.

Just another fling?

With that whole list of people she dated after her…

A high chance, maybe.

While Yuri was being so absorbed with her own thoughts, she didn’t hear the light knockings or the door to their waiting room cracking open.

And it was only when Sooyoung had bumped her pretty hard on the shoulder, did she finally glanced up and noticed the seven new occupants in the room. Tearing her earphones off in a hurry, she fumbled to rise to her feet, bowing and smiling politely at their guests.

Her eyes briefly scanned through the faces lined up before her, though she soon realized that they were all rather familiar. Her gaze fell onto a particular member who had her eyes downcast and head hung slightly as she clung to one of her other member.

Tall, tanned and pretty.

A beat passed before the gears shifted and clicked in place.

Ah, she remembered them now.

They were that fairly new girl group who won the Best New Female Artist for that award show. The one that Tiffany had been raving about for some time now.

APink.

It seemed that they were finally having the chance to be greeted by them officially.

“Sunbaenim, we would like you to have our signed albums.”

Immediately, each member of the newer group scrambled forth to personally present said-album to every of them.

Amusement curled at her lips as she watched that one particular member that had caught her eye— Tall, Tanned and Pretty— came stumbling towards her after being playfully shoved in her direction by a member, with apprehension scribbled all over her body language.

Head bowed and hands shaky, she held the group’s album up towards Yuri.

“Thank you, we’ll listen to it well.” She said, smiling.

Glancing up at her sheepishly, the girl broke into a small smile of her own, and Yuri was momentarily struck by the radiance of it.

Ah, I was right. She definitely is a pretty one.

“Um, Yuri-sunbaenim, the truth is... Our maknae, Hayoung, is actually a big fan of yours.”

Yuri blinked, surprised. “Oh, really?” She looked to the member— the one in the group with the thick Busan accent— who had addressed her, then back to the girl before her once more.

 “Ah, unnie…” The girl— Hayoung— half-said, half-whined; turning back to her member with an abashed expression, ears glowing bright pink.

At least now she knew it wasn’t animosity that she was radiating the other time.

Yuri could only smile; feeling very much flattered— and relieved.

Spreading her arms out at the supposed maknae of the newer group, she could have sworn that the girl’s eyes had positively glowed a tad brighter as she meekly reached out towards her.

She held her in a simple, chaste hug that only lasted seconds.

“Don’t mind me asking, but how old are you?” asked Yuri, upon drawing away from the slightly shorter girl.

She studied her closely, eyes fleeting across every feature— from the fluttering of her eyelids, high arch of her nose bridge and pink rosy lips — making full use of the short distance between them.

“I'm starting my first year of high school soon.” The— apparently— younger girl said, bashfully, blushing a nice attractive shade of red.

Yuri blinked. The surprise left her fairly quickly. However, in its stead was a pooling heaviness in chest…

Disappointment?

“You look really mature for your age.” She smiled softly down at the girl, gently petting her on the head, albeit careful to not ruin her hair. “Very pretty.”

If only you were older.

“Thank you,” With a slight dip of her head in a small bow, the girl was smiling shyly back up at her again.

Having really nothing else to offer in return, Yuri took a step back, and was finally struck by the unusual silence in the waiting room.

It sunk in quickly— the absence of voices. It was something Yuri wasn’t particularly used to; being in such a sizable group and all, there was always bound to be a conversation going on somewhere. She reckoned that the years had made her rather attuned— sensitive— to silences, as it usually was the foreboding sign for trouble.

And with such an abrupt halt in movement, it served to be a tiny bit alarming to Yuri.

Doing a swift survey in environment, it was then did it come to her realization that everyone was (had been) watching them with an eye of curiosity and amusement.

Looking up, she was met with a stony-hard, expressionless gaze from a certain Ice Princess.

The seconds ticked by in agonizing tension and silence.

“Thank you for having us, Sunbaenim.”

A member from the newer group announced, clearing . Despite being much shorter and petite in stature as compared to the rest, she seemed to exude authority over the group. The leader, Yuri presumed.

With that being the cue to leave, the waiting room had soon turned into a large bowing fest as final pleasantries were thrown.

“Yes, thank you for dropping by. We’ll listen to your album well.” Someone from Yuri’s side, sing-songed.

As soon as the group filed out and the door to their waiting room clicked shut, the high-leveled activity— loud unrestrained chatters and boisterous laughter— was set into full gear once more

Casting one last lingering look at the door, Yuri was about to head back to whatever she was doing before the interruption, when she had jumped upon she suddenly noticing Jessica standing right beside her.

“Whoa, how long have you been standing there?”

“For quite some time now.”

“I totally didn’t hear you…” Yuri pursed her lips, regarding the shorter girl musingly for a second. Her lips tugged into a playful smile. “I hope you’re not out to shorten my lifespan now, Sica-yah.”

“I honestly don’t think I’m that cruel, Yuri-yah.” She punched her lightly on the shoulder, snorting.

“Oh really?”  

Jessica only gave her a tight smile and a dry chuckle.

“So… What do you think of that group from before?” She asked, sounding seemingly nonchalant, but there was this weird strain in her voice.

Yuri shrugged.

“Well, they seem to be rockin’ the cute, innocent and pure concept really well. Kind of reminds me of how we used to be back then. I think quite like them.”

“Hmm, Is that so?” Jessica murmured pensively. However from the look on her face— the slight furrow in her brow and flinty look in her eyes— Yuri thought she looked rather displeased.

Wrong answer…?

“How about you, Sica-yah?”

“They’re cute, I guess.” She said airily, and then proceeded to breeze off without a word, leaving Yuri alone, perplexed and speechless over what had just happened.

 What the heck was that all about?

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A/N: Thank you so much for subscribing and commenting! Really, really appreciate it. :) I hope you guys are enjoying the speedy updates, haha. So yeah, with this whole... love-triangle business (at the rate we're currently going, it's getting there, I promise), I'm actually rather curious. But which pairing do you guys want to see more of? And which pairing are you rooting for or hoping to be endgame in this? You can let me know in the comment box below, or you can just simply take a vote in the poll. :B