Jessica stepped onto the chair and waited for Tiffany to hand her a painting. The new paintings they had ordered to replace the old, boring oil paintings in the hotel's lobby had just arrived today.
Earlier, Yuri had offered Jessica her help to take off the old and putting on the new paintings, but Jessica unhesitatingly refused. She called Tiffany instead and sent Yuri to do her shift at the reception, much to the tanned girl's disappointment. But the cold treatment had been going on for a few days already; Jessica believed Yuri would have to get used to it soon. That was, if Yuri never changed her behavior. Because Jessica had decided she had had enough.
"Her eyes are glued at you," Tiffany remarked while handing Jessica a nail.
"I know."
Jessica didn't turn around once, but Yuri's stares were so obvious that she needn't do it. She could literally feel the gaze shooting across the entire lobby and hitting on her body. She had never felt being more checked out in her whole life.
"It's your fault, too," Tiffany mumbled, handing Jessica the hammer. "Oh, the painting is crooked. Left side needs to be lifted up a little."
Jessica complied before taking the hammer. "What are you saying?" she protested. "Why is it my fault?"
Tiffany waited for Jessica to pound the nail into the wall before answering. She glanced at Yuri, who was still resting her head on her propped-up arm, taking Jessica's clothes off with her eyes and looking like a silly, love-struck fool.
"Look at you," Tiffany looked at Jessica's legs reproachfully. "What's with these short shorts and that midriff teaser? It's not even summer anymore. You're totally making her swoon over you senselessly on purpose."
Jessica didn't reply to that, for it was partly true. But not in a million years would she admit to Tiffany that she was just pretending she was annoyed, when in truth, she enjoyed every second of Yuri eating her up with her eyes. It was a cruel and satisfying way to punish Kwon Yuri. You want, but you can't have – exactly this could easily drive Yuri crazy. Besides, this was the only game Jessica was able to be in complete control.
"Should I talk to her?" Tiffany asked again. "I can… you know, give her some advice. Telling her she's been a jerk and needs to change. If I encourage her enough, then maybe—"
"No," Jessica cut her friend off, sounding impatient. "For the n-th time, Fany, no. She's most certainly smart enough to know what to do. If she thinks reappearing out of nowhere and pretending like nothing has happened would make me come back to her, she'll have to bear with the consequences on her own." Jessica stuck her hand out. "Give me another nail."
Tiffany sighed as she did what Jessica said. "But… just look at her."
"I don't care!" Jessica hissed before pounding the nail into the wall excessively, creating a little more noise than needed. Even when there was only the nailhead visible, she kept hammering on it.
Tiffany heaved a small resigned sigh as Jessica stepped off the chair and pulled it to the next painting.
"Don't sigh," Jessica told her friend. "It feels like as if you want us back together badly."
"Well, I just want the best for you."
"You know," Jessica slowly continued. "When she first came back, I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't know if I wanted her to stay or to go away."
The pause Jessica made took a little too long, so Tiffany prodded "What about now?"
Jessica didn't reply right away. She silently took off the old painting and handed it to Tiffany. As she waited for Tiffany to give her a new one, her eyes threw Yuri a brief glance. The tanned girl was still looking at her, as expected. Upon seeing her eyes, Yuri flashed a smile. Jessica rolled her eyes visibly for Yuri to see before turning around again. It wasn't until she was sure her face was out of Yuri's sight that Jessica became pensive.
