Chapter 21

"Why was she in your room?" Jessica asked further. She knew there was nothing going on between them, but she couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy running through her. It couldn't be helped that she feels the most jealous when Yuri is around Tiffany.

"Uhh, it's long story, but before you have any misunderstandings, she slept on my bed while I slept on the couch down in the living room—" Yuri tried to explain before Jessica cut her off.

"—But why was she in your house in the first place?" Jessica pressed on.

"Well, it's a long story, and it's kind of personal between me and her..I don't think she'll appreciate it if I tell you the whole thing," Yuri said; however, it just added more fuel into the fire, strengthening the tension between the two.

Jessica crossed her arms and scoffed at Yuri's explanation.

"Are you being jealous?" Yuri asked the girl for the obvious.

"Shouldn't I be?" Jessica retorted as she sat down on Yuri's bed.

Yuri let out a chuckle to ease up their tension and sat beside Jessica as she held onto the latter's hands. "You shouldn't be, there is nothing between me and her," she assured the girl.

"Plus, I should be the one who's supposed to be jealous," she paused, "..about you and..Jay."

"You don't have to, because I don't love him," Jessica said, not knowing how much of a hypocrite it made her sound like. She was allowed to be jealous of Yuri and Tiffany's friendship, yet she didn't want Yuri to do the same with her and Jay.

"It's not that; it's the fact that you two have already you-know-what."

"All those time I — with him, I kept thinking about our times together...I felt so stupid to do what I did back then. I was pressured to think that it was some sort of a taboo to love you. I kept telling myself that I was 'straight' but I know I'm not. That's because I love you," Jessica uttered, she could feel the lump in her throat as she confessed to Yuri. All she wanted now was for Yuri to hold her tight and never let go, was that so much to wish for?

Yuri took a look at the girl and sighed. Even though she said she was not going to be a third party in anyone's relationship, seeing Jessica like this was enough to make her go against what she promised and vowed to herself she'd never do. She told herself that the broken Mickey Mouse have symbolized the end of their relationship, but now she was thinking otherwise.

She placed her hand behind Jessica's back and pulled the girl in for a tight embrace, letting Jessica rest her head on her shoulders. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt was what she was feeling at the moment towards Jay. If only she could, she would go up to Jay and tell him straight up what's going on between her and Jessica. She wouldn't mind a few punches or any other method of pain he would inflict upon her in retribution—-at least she wouldn't feel as guilty then.

"You're not stupid, I'm stupid one for loving you," Yuri said, pulling away from the hug as she propped up Jessica's chin with her index finger.

"No, I'm the pabo—"

"—We're all pabos, let's hopefully settle this soon between you and Jay."

Jessica could only silently nod as she watched Yuri stand up from the bed. "Let's go, I left the stove on. I hope it's not burning downstairs," Yuri chuckled, holding out a hand for Jessica to grasp onto.

Jessica smiled and grasped her hand, standing upright onto her feet. Yuri suddenly paused as she eyed the calendar hanging on the back of her door and walked closer to examine it.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked her with a worried look. Yuri just shook her head in assurance.

"Nothing..but today is—," Yuri suddenly paused again as she placed her fingertip onto the calendar and began to read the small notes Seohyun had written and circled for her as a reminder.

"Is there anything wrong?" Jessica asked again.

"I just remembered Mrs. Kim is having her surgery today, Seohyun circled the date for me so I would remember but I totally forgot," Yuri muttered, palming her face.

"Who's Mrs. Kim? Should we go to the hospital now?" Jessica asked the exasperated Yuri.

"Mrs. Kim is this lady who Seohyun looks after for our volunteer work at this hospital—," Yuri said as she glanced at the clock, "Yeah I think we should go to the hospital now."

---

"I gathered a couple ideas on to what the reporters might be asking you about; mainly it's just details about the movie, but there are sneaky reporters who would try to ask you about your personal life such as that engagement with Siwon. We'll try to diverge away from those questions, and I'll ask a different reporter when that happens," Sunny explained thoroughly to the weary and unwilling Tiffany. She gently massaged the girl's tired shoulders from behind and wrap her arms around Tiffany's neck for a short informal, yet affectionate hug.

Tiffany looked at Sunny through the mirror's reflection and smiled. "I'll do my best, Sunny."

"I'm sorry I'm not with you as often. A bunch of stuff have been going on in the company lately, and there are a few actresses and actors filing lawsuits against the company for unfair contracts; it's getting ridiculous," Sunny sighed. "But you're doing okay these days right?"

Tiffany could only silently nod. Sunny knew there was something bottled up inside the girl, but it was best to leave it as it is and not question the drained girl.

"Good, but because the premiere of the movie is coming soon, you'll have a lot of schedules for next week. If there's anything, or you're too tired to attend the schedules..just tell me, I'll cancel it for you."

Tiffany smiled as she turned around to meet face to face with Sunny, "Thanks Sunny, I know you're the best."

Sunny chuckled and pinched her left cheek. "That's my Pany," she teased. "Well, I guess the reporters have arrived already. We should head out now."

Tiffany took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Today, I also want to reveal that my engagement with Siwon is officially off."

---

"Has Mrs. Kim gone into the surgery room yet?" Yuri asked immediately as soon as she arrived at the registration counter.

"You're Kwon Yuri right?" the nurse asked her.

"Yes, I'm Kwon Yuri," Yuri replied.

"That's right, I remember you. Mrs. Kim is in room 203 awaiting for surgery," the nurse said, and just as Yuri and Jessica was about to leave, the nurse called her back.

"The staffs and I would like to thank you and Seohyun for bringing Tiffany Hwang here the other time; the elderly patients really liked her," the nurse remarked with a smile.

Yuri returned the smile and nodded to the nurse as she noticed a sour expression appeared on Jessica's face at the mention of Tiffany's name.

"C'mon, let's go." Yuri grabbed her hands as they head down the hallways trying to find the designated room number.

"200, 201, 202.....203, right here," Yuri said, proceeding to politely knock on the door until a weak croaky voice of a lady allowed permission in.

Yuri slowly turned the knob and entered the room with a smile, holding Jessica's hand as they both walk towards Mrs. Kim and greeted her with a bow.

"Yu..ri," Mrs. Kim hoarsely called for her, rendering Yuri to rush to her as she held onto the elder's hand.

"Seohyun isn't here today so..I came instead. I hope you don't mind.." Yuri said, holding Mrs. Kim's hand tight.

The elder shook her head with a smile and raised her hand up to pat Yuri on her head, "Of course not, I'm glad you came here with me today—and that girl is?" Mrs. Kim asked, glancing over to Jessica as she examined her face,

"She isn't that girl you brought with you last time? What was her name..Tiffany Hwang?"

Yuri briefly glanced at Jessica to take note of her expression and turned back to Mrs. Kim with a smile. "No, actually, this is my girlfriend Jessica," Yuri said, walking over to Jessica as she held her hands and walked her over to Mrs. Kim.

"Hi." Jessica bowed with a slight smile.

"This is your girlfriend? but I thought Tiffany—"

"Oh no! No! No!, Tiffany is just a friend," Yuri quickly corrected the misunderstanding. "Jessica here, is my girlfriend." She held Jessica close.

But as for Jessica, she was not happy about the misunderstanding; she was not thrilled over the fact that Yuri had already brought Tiffany here with her before. But then again, who would?

"Oh I see, you two match each other," Mrs. Kim acknowledged, and it was only then that Jessica had a genuine smile plastered to her face over such compliment.

"Thank you," Yuri smiled, just as she was going to continue her talk with Mrs. Kim, a doctor and a few nurses walked inside the room announcing that it was almost time for the surgery-—much to Yuri's dismay.

"One person can come with us into the surgery room to encourage Mrs. Kim before the actual surgery starts," the doctor said, looking at both Yuri and Jessica.

"I'll come then," Yuri said, raising her hand. The doctor nodded and the nurses began to push the hospital bed out of the room.

"Wait for me," Yuri told Jessica with a slight smile before she head off to follow the doctor. She followed the doctor until they reached the surgery room itself, and the nurses pushed Mrs. Kim's hospital bed into the area. The doctor gave Yuri a faint smile accompanied with a nod as he left the room, letting Yuri stay with Mrs. Kim for a while.

Mrs. Kim sighed, "After a bit of hesitation, I finally agreed to do the surgery...the surgery's successful rate is only 50%, if I happen to di—"

"Don't say that!" Yuri interrupted her. "You have many people cheering you on, like me and Seohyun! Even if she's not here with us right now, I'm sure she's praying to God that your surgery will be successful...and it will!" Yuri said, trying to stay as optimistic as possible.

"You know, I wish that I had children like you and Seohyun. Even though you two are not related to me at all, you and Seohyun take more care of me than my own kids...Even when I'm going to have surgery today, they still haven't came," Mrs. Kim said weakly with a smile. Yuri grabbed onto her hands and returned the smile.

"Seohyun's mom works as a lawyer in England so they don't spend time together like what a normal mother and daughter should...she takes you as her second mother. Same thing with me, I take you as my second mother as well, and I know you really look after me and Seohyun like how our mothers should if they were here. Whatever it is, I'm sure the surgery will be successful. I'm sure of it," Yuri said with determination, her eyes were red, and it twinkled with a mixture of fear.

"I don't have hope, but because of you and Seohyun..I do have a bit of hope that the surgery will be okay, because I really want to see something—" Mrs. Kim suddenly trailed off her words.

"What do you want to see?" Yuri asked with curiosity.

"You and...Ti—Tiffany is a good girl with a bright smile that can lit up a dark room," Mrs. Kim said, and it clearly confused Yuri to what the elder meant by the sudden mention of Tiffany.

Yuri watched Mrs. Kim with a befuddled look on her face.

"Even though a person might not act as obvious, it's up to you to not act as oblivious."

Now Yuri was really confused. She absorbed the words to get a hint of its meaning; but still, she did not know what was up with this sudden talk about Tiffany.

Mrs. Kim sighed at the sight of the bewildered Yuri, "Just forget it, don't think of it too much. It's just a blabber; you know how old people are," she chuckled. "However, just in case this surgery does go well, would it be okay if I want to see Tiffany afterward?"

"See Tiffany?"

---

"Hello everybody, welcome to 'The Korean-Egyptian Princess' movie press conference. If you have any questions to ask, please do so!" Sunny started, and the cameras began to flash when Tiffany step foot inside the room and sat down at the front table beside Sunny.

A couple dozen hands were raised by the journalists eager to ask questions.

"You there, the one in the blue striped shirt," Sunny called out, and a person held out notepad and a pen in hand, ready to transcribe answers, asked the questions.

"Can you please tell us what the movie is about again? And why did the production team chose the lame title of the movie?" he asked, earning a few laughter in the room.

Tiffany cleared her throat and began to answer to answer the questions. "The movie 'The Korean-Egyptian Princess' is about a—well, a Korean Princess who tried to escape her family's arranged marriage but got captured in the end by Egyptian raiders, who brought her to Egypt, an unknown land to the young princess. There she met a young Egyptian farmer. At first it was hatred but soon the hatred turned to love. The movie is about the clash of cultures and the hardships the two lovers have to endure because of the difference in social class," she explained in one go. "As for the movie's title, something straight to the point will draw in curious viewers. Who wouldn't be curious if you saw a movie titled 'The Korean-Egyptian Princess'?"

Laughter erupted in the room as another person raised their hand up.

"You," Sunny pointed.

"I heard there was a kiss scene in the movie, is that true that you kissed the Egyptian actor playing the role?"

"Yes, that is true," Tiffany answered.

"Next question please," Sunny called out, a couple hands were raised again.

"Okay, you."

"Speaking about Egypt, I heard you met Kwon Yuri while filming there. I'm sure you know who she is."

"Yes, I know who Kwon Yuri is. She's a..friend of mine."

The reporter nodded and began to press on with more questions, "She seems like a very good friend of yours indeed. I, myself, have followed her blog, and it seems like she's very popular on the net as well. Is it true that you two have had a sour relationship before? Netizens have screencapped Kwon Yuri's early blog entries about you before it was deleted."

"Our so-called 'sour' relationship was just a misunderstanding. Now that the misunderstandings are cleared, we are on good terms with each other. Like what I said before and what you have confirmed; she's a good friend of mine now."

Another person raised their hands up as soon Tiffany finished with her answer.

"You."

"Speaking of relationships, I've heard your engagement to Choi Siwon of the Choi Franchise was successful. When did you first like him? When is the marriage going to take place? I've heard that your father was intimidated by the Choi Franchise so he arranged a marriage between you and Choi Siwon, is that true?"

What Sunny warned was correct, those pesky reporters wouldn't miss out a chance on asking such a question.

"No comm—" Sunny started, but Tiffany grabbed onto her arms and stopped her from continuing.

"Actually, I want to clear up this ordeal. We figured that we weren't that compatible, so in the end, we agreed to call off the marriage. I have nothing to do with Choi Siwon, and Choi Siwon has nothing else to do with me anymore," Tiffany finished, suddenly a hoard of camera flashes went off, and she could already sense tomorrow's headline all over the gossip magazines. It was what exactly what she wanted.

"What happened? Did he do something wrong to you? Why did you two suddenly break off the marriage? Did he cheat on you?" the reporters all asked at once while all Tiffany could see was just bright camera flashes. Sunny quickly used her arm to cover and protect Tiffany's eyes.

"NO COMMENT!" she yelled. "This press conference is now over," she declared as she and Tiffany headed out while the body guards blocked the reporters from following them.

"At least the public knows that it's over between me and Siwon," Tiffany said as Sunny closed the door to their room.

"Maybe so, but I'm sure Siwon is definitely not going to let you get away with this. Whatever you do, just don't take his threats seriously. He's not going to do anything to you—-if he's smart, that is."

"What happens if he's not smart?" Tiffany asked.

"Jail time for him then. Blackmail and threats can be reported to the police you know. Everyone is on your side. Don't worry."

"Thanks Sunny." Tiffany smiled faintly. "I think I've said a lot of thanks to you today."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm just doing my job as your manager—-and your best friend," Sunny said and crinkled her nose, lightly throwing a punch to Tiffany's arm.

Tiffany smiled once again. Suddenly, however, her phone vibrated in her hands and startled her.

"Hey Fany, I don't know if you're busy or not? but you remember Mrs. Kim right? She's having a surgery right now, and she said she'd like to see you after the surgery is done..come if you can. The surgery is supposed to end in 3 hours."

---

"Hello Ms. Im Yoona and Ms. Seo Joo-Hyun. Are you ready to go to Pompeii to meet up with the Professor?" Agostino bowed and asked them as soon as they exited the entrance of the hotel. Yoona tried to grab hold of Seohyun's hand, but the younger girl shook her hand out of her grasp.

"Yes, we're ready. Let's go!" Seohyun said and Agostino nodded as he walked over to the car and proceeded to open the door for the both of them before returning to his driver's seat. Seohyun shot Yoona a non-menacing glare as she got inside the car, and Yoona only smiled gleefully as she followed suit.

"It's a 2 hour ride so I hope you'll stay comfortable. We're leaving now," Agostino said as he started the engine.

"Oh c'mon, you're being shy around me again. I thought you promised last night you wouldn't anymore?" Yoona said to Seohyun with a sulky pout.

"But there's someone here!" Seohyun hoarsely whispered as a retort.

"So? I'm sure Agostino will think we're a cute couple and that we match well with each other," Yoona said and Agostino briefly looked back at her when he heard his name being mentioned.

Using this as a chance, Yoona quickly grabbed Seohyun's hand and using her broken English, she re-introduced Seohyun to him.

"This is my guhl-friend," she said proudly, showing Agostino their intertwined hands—-much to Seohyun's dismay as shown on her reddened face.

"Ms. Seo Joo-Hyun is your girlfriend?" Agostino asked in shock; but nevertheless, he had an open mind and was not disapproving of their relationship.

"Yes, she is my guhl-friend, juss-uhh last night!"

"Oh I see, you two match well with each other!" Agostino said with a smile.

"What did he say?" Yoona asked the slightly embarrassed Seohyun.

"He said we match well with each other," she grumbled.

"See! I told you!" Yoona smiled. "Now you don't have to be shy around me anymore since he knew already."

"Sure," Seohyun said sarcastically with a sigh.

"Is there something wrong?" Yoona asked when she noticed Seohyun was a bit out of it.

"Mrs. Kim is having her surgery today; I hope everything will turn out okay."

"Don't worry, everything will be fine...The more you worry, the more anxious you'll become..So don't worry!" Yoona assured optimistically as she pulled the girl close to her and let Seohyun rest against her chest,

"It's a 2 hour ride. If you sleep, we'll arrive there faster."

---

Yuri could only walk around, back and forth in anticipation and frustration as she impatiently wait for the surgery to finish. What was making her anxious the most was the fact that there was only a 50% chance that the surgery won't go well, that 50% chance means a lot in the medical field, and she could only hope that Mrs. Kim falls out of that 50% chance.

Jessica worriedly look at Yuri. She wanted to tell her to come sit down and just wait for the good news, but she knew Yuri was too stubborn to do so. Regardless, she wanted the girl to relax herself and not be tensed over the red light outside of the room, signifying that the surgery was still going on.

Jessica walked up to Yuri and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck. "She'll be fine, don't worry yourself too much," she assured.

Just then, the red light went off and a few minutes later the doctor walked out with a sorrow expression on his face as he take off his surgical mask-—something nobody wished to see on a doctor's face.

The doctor let out a heavy sigh as he wiped the sweat off his forehead,

"The surgery was unsuccessful...we tried the best we could. We're sorry."

Suddenly, Yuri could feel hot tears streaming down her face. She tried to regain herself and wipe away her tears but it just couldn't stop flowing. Just a while ago before the surgery, she told herself that everything will be okay and Mrs. Kim will be fine and healthy after the surgery..but now...

Jessica quickly wiped away her tears as she embrace the sobbing girl in a hug.

"How am I suppose to tell Seohyun this? She'll be devastated," she said in between sobs.

It came to Jessica as a surprise as Yuri was always optimistic and was a strong girl that wouldn't let anything bring her down to such state, but every strong person had a weak side in them, and Jessica knew Yuri was at her most vulnerable state now.

Jessica pulled away and wiped her tears off again as she kissed Yuri on her lips to tell that she'll always be by her side during this heartbroken time. Yuri then hugged her again as she helplessly refrained herself from shedding anymore tears.

---

Tiffany had just arrived at the hospital and could only wished that she made it in time. She quickly ask the nurse for the surgery's room number; and without any hesitation, she fast-walked down the hallways until she found two familiar figures in an embracing position. She hid in the corner and quietly watched the two figures, and it was only then it came to her that those two figures were Yuri and Jessica...who were hugging each other.

Seeing Yuri like that, it was most likely that the surgery didn't go well, and Jessica was just comforting her. Tiffany continued to peek at the two until Jessica carried out something that made her think that it was more than just comfort.

She let out an small audible gasp when Jessica gently kissed Yuri on her lips.

She didn't know what she should be feeling at the moment; bewildered? shocked? surprised? confused?...jealous?

Most importantly, what would Jay think of this? What would he feel about this? Isn't Jessica his girlfriend? Then why is his girlfriend kissing Yuri?

Tiffany mentally asked herself in her state of shock—why wasn't she able to interpret that kiss Jessica gave Yuri?

"Sorry, I have a press conference going on today. I won't be able to make it."