CHAPTER XVIII

CHRISTMAS AT THE JUNGS

“Prepare yourself, Iron Jonathan!” The girl shouted. “I’m going to take revenge for Sic-clops unnie!”

A man in his forties beside her laughed evilly. “You can try, Ken Soojung!”

“But you will know that in the end Iron Jonathan always wins!”

“Oh, we’ll see…” Ken Soojung glared at him.

Ken Soojung jumped and threw her kick, but Iron Jonathan was too quick and evaded her attack. He jumped back and shot his chest laser beam, “Repulsor Blast!”

The girl didn’t have any chance to evade, and took the hit. She fell down but quickly stood up and threw wild punches and the chuckling half man half robot. Iron Jonathan took a step back as he laughed and shot another beam. “Repulsor Blast!”

Ken Soojung ducked down at the right moment and threw her legendary uppercut move, “Shoryuken!”

But the ever quick Iron Jonathan was still too fast for her, as he jumped back and shot another laser in mid-air, “Uni Beam!”

The girl grunted as she took a step back after getting hit with the laser beam, and jumped back several times.

“What’s the matter, Ken?” Iron Jonathan laughed. “You scared?”

“Hadouken!” The girl shouted and released her devastating chi energy through her palms.

“Repulsor Blast!” The man countered the attack with his laser, and both energies collided and disappeared into thin air.

Ken Soojung took the chance to jump forward and threw her combo kicks, “Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!”

But the man was prepared for this, as he quickly blocked the attack, and waited for the girl to go into mid-air before releasing another laser beam. “Repulsor Beam!”

“Ugh!” And the girl found herself on the floor for the second time. The red and yellow man then rushed forward and bombarded her with punches and kicks, before releasing his final weapon, a huge pistol that appeared from nowhere twice his size, and shot the stunned girl with everything he got, “Proton Cannon!”

The effect from the hit was so devastating that Ken Soojung found herself back on the floor, unable to stand up. The whole world started to go dark, and she knew what it meant.

“Wait!” She said weakly. “I can still fight!”

“Round two!” The girl shouted as she got up and felt revitalized.

“Bring it on!” Iron Jonathan taunted her as he laughed.

And no longer than two minutes, Ken Soojung found herself beaten and defeated again. This time she didn’t have the strength to continue, and the screen popped out Iron Jonathan’s name, Ironman wins.

“Yeah!” Jonathan Jung raised his fist. “I’m invincible!”

“You…” Krystal threw her controller to the sofa. “You cheated!”

“Moooom…!”

She yelled and ran to the kitchen, where her mother and older sister were preparing their Christmas lunch.

“Mom!” The little girl hugged her. “Dad cheated!”

Lauren Jung giggled and stared at her youngest daughter. “Why don’t you try another game?”

“Choose one that your father couldn’t cheat on.”

“But I like that game…” Krystal whined.

“Unnie…” She hugged her tightly and whined. “Unnie… Daddy’s cheating…”

“I know, I know, Soojung-ah…” Jessica smiled at her cute little sister.

“Please don’t bother your sister, Soojung.” Their mother said after a while. “She’s holding a knife; it’s dangerous.”

“Go back and play with your daddy.”

“Unnie…” She turned to her blonde sister. “… Don’t you want to get revenge on daddy?”

“I didn’t lose the first time, Soojung-ah.” The blue eyed girl giggled while concentrating on cutting the carrots. “We were still in the middle of fighting when you took the controller from me.”

“Unnie…” The little Jung whined and tightened her hug and buried her face against Jessica’s back again. “… Play with me…”

“I have to help mom first, Soojung…” The blue eyed girl said softly. “Go play that racing game you like with dad.”

“I’ll play with you when I’m finished here.”

“I don’t want to…” The girl kept whining. “… He always cheats.”

“Use my car then.” Jessica said calmly.

“Really?” Krystal’s eyes lit up. “Yay!”

And the youngest girl ran to the living room to her father. The two blondes then continued preparing lunch happily.

“It’s fine now; go play with your sister.” Her mother said after a while.

“No, it’s okay.” Jessica shook her head. “I want to learn how to cook your beef stew anyway.”

“Aww, you’re going to make the perfect wife someday, honey.” Her mother giggled. “I’ll bet your future husband is going to be so proud of you…”

“Stop it, mom; jeez…” Her daughter blushed as she stared at her beautiful mother.

Lauren Jung was an American with light vanilla blonde hair. Her eyes were bright blue, same as Jessica’s, and her eyelashes were long and thin. They look a lot like each other; the mother and daughter, with the same heart shaped face and slim figure, long thin eyebrows and small nose, and perfect small thin lips.

People would say they were twins if they ever saw them together, walking down the street. Two angels descended from the heaven to live a normal human life; they always said. The only different was probably their age, as the mother had some wrinkles on her face due to natural aging. But one should learn immediately that it was not a good idea to mention those aging signs, as Lauren could swiftly turn into a scary demon at the comment.

“If I don’t kill him first.” The father said as he took a piece of meat from one of the plates.

“Jonathan!” His wife slapped his hand. “Wait until lunch.”

“And what was that about killing Sooyeon’s future husband?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not ever going to give her hand to anyone!” The husband suddenly shouted like a little kid. “Ever!”

“No man shall touch my lovely daughter. No man alive!” He laughed evilly.

“How about a girl then?” Jessica suddenly asked, keeping her eyes on the boiling stew.

“A girl?” Lauren turned to her eldest daughter, shocked by her comment.

“Well, then I’d say a girl would be fine…” Her father said as he stared at his beautiful wife.

“Jonathan!” She glared at her husband. “Don’t give her any funny idea!”

“What?” He shrugged. “I’m not going to let a man comes near her; so a girl would be perfect for her…”

“Jonathan Jung. You take that back!” The mother threw her icy glare.

“I will not!” The husband countered with his fiery glare.

“How about me?” Krystal suddenly said as she sat on the dining table. “I’ll marry unnie instead!”

“She already said she loves me the most!”

“Yes!” Their father shouted in glee. “You’d be perfect, Soojung!”

“No, she’s not, Jonathan.” Their mother sighed and shook her head. “She’s her baby sister, they can’t marry each other.”

“Says who?” Her husband taunted her.

“Says who?” And Krystal copied him.

“Says the law…” The mother put her hand to her forehead, she was already exhausted dealing with the two immature kids; one was Krystal, who was ten and it was natural for her to act that way, but the other was her husband, a mature man in his forties.

“I’ll find a country that allows it then!” Jonathan continued. “Or I’ll change their birth certificates!”

“Yes!” Krystal was happy to hear that. “Change my birth certificate, daddy!”

“Great!” Her father patted her head. “It’s decided then; both of you are going to marry each other!”

“As soon as you both graduate from high school!”

“Yay!” Krystal laughed, and Jessica giggled at their silly antics.

“Oh, God…” Lauren stared at the ceiling. “… Why did I marry this man?”

Lunch time came and they were enjoying their Christmas lunch when the father decided to talk about marrying his two daughters again. Lauren was too tired listening to her foolish husband and decided to ignore him completely.

“I can’t marry Soojung, dad…” Jessica finally said.

“Why?” Jonathan and Krystal shouted at the same time.

“I already said I’ll change your birth certificates!” He continued.

“Even if you changed our birth certificates it won’t change the fact that we’re sisters.” The eldest daughter said calmly. “We have the same blood in our veins…”

Krystal pouted at her words and her eyes were teary. Jessica saw that and quickly pulled her in for a hug.

“Don’t cry, Soojung-ah…” She said gently. “… I will still love you the most.”

“Finally.” Her mother said. “Another sane person in this house.”

“T-Then…” The father looked like he just heard that the end of the world had finally came. “Then you’ll marry Seohyun!”

“What?” Jessica was dumbfounded by her father's comment.

“Or Yuri! Or Yoona! Or Sooyoung!” He panicked.

“Jonathan, dear God…” Lauren was all exhausted again all of the sudden.

“Or Tiffany!” Jonathan ignored his wife’s plea.

“No!” Krystal suddenly shouted. “Unnie is going to marry me! Only me!”

“Soojung-ah…”

“Shush, unnie!” Krystal tightened her hug. “You’re going to marry me and that’s it!”

“Mom...” Jessica turned to her mother, who couldn’t say anything but shook her head and sighed.

Lunch ended and the family was sitting in the living room. Luckily for Lauren, the two immature kids had forgotten about their immature talk and were already busy with their video games, while the mother sat back and massaged her own forehead, and Jessica was playing with her cell phone.

The door bell rang and the eldest daughter got up from her seat and walked towards the front door. She returned to the living room a moment later carrying a medium sized box.

“Who’s it from?” The father said as he glanced to his precious eldest daughter.

“Hmm…” Jessica was reading the card. “… Oh, it’s from Donghae oppa…”

“Donghae oppa?” The father quickly stood up and took the box from her.

He opened the present box and found a large teddy bear inside, with a heart shaped collar on its neck.

“Who is this Donghae oppa, Jessica Jung?” The father glared to his eldest daughter, his eyes filled with shock and anger.

“J-Just a friend from training…” Jessica never saw her father got angry before.

“Oh, the nerve of this kid…” Jonathan grumbled as he put the teddy bear back to its box and went outside. “… I’m going to kill that son of a…”

“D-Dad?” Jessica was scared now.

“Mom?” She turned to her mother, but she could see that her mother was scared too.

Jonathan returned to the living room and picked up his cell phone. He dialed a number and waited for a response, while his whole family watched in fear.

“Lee Sooman!” His voice was stern. “Do you know a kid named Donghae?”

“Yes; Donghae!”

“D-Dad, what are you doing?” Jessica stuttered.

Her father raised a finger and the blonde girl quickly closed .

“Well he got the nerve to send my daughter a teddy bear!” He yelled at the phone. “A freaking teddy bear!”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” His eyes grew bigger. “You’re the f—g director of the company!”

“Didn’t you promise me that no boy would ever come close to my Sooyeon?”

“Oh, you better, Sooman.” He threatened the SME founder. “Or you will feel the wrath of Iron Jonathan…”

All the ladies in the room gasped at his comment.

“Yeah…” He listened to the director speaking something.

“Yes…”

“Of course we’re still playing golf tomorrow.” He chuckled. “What? No, I can’t tonight…”

“No, I’m not taking Lauren to the bar…” He scratched his head and laughed.

“Yeah, merry Christmas to you too, hyung.” And he ended the call.

“Okay.” He clasped his hands and grinned like nothing happened. “Ready for round two, Soojung?”

“O-Okay…” Krystal hesitantly answered.

And the ladies decided not to mention anything about his explosion earlier, and continued their peaceful family time.

“Daddy…” Jessica said after a while.

“Yes, honey?” Her father was still staring at the screen, trying to control his in-game racing car.

“W-Where did you take the teddy bear?”

The father paused the game and turned to his lovely daughter. “I threw it out.”

“I’ll buy you a much nicer, bigger one.” He said calmly and smiled his sweetest.

“O-Okay…” Jessica was afraid to say anything else.

But soon the atmosphere returned to normal, as Jonathan quickly went back to his older, silly self. He was laughing loudly when his in-game car got wrecked by Krystal’s, and begged his youngest daughter for a rematch.

Lauren was reading a magazine now, and Jessica was back playing with her cell phone. The bell rang again, and the eldest daughter carefully went to the front door, wishing it wouldn’t be any more gifts from her male friends. She opened the door slightly and peeked her head out, and saw four girls standing at her door. It was Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun. They were smiling sweetly at the blonde girl, who was staring at them suspiciously.

The girls were carrying their usual sport bags on their shoulder, and Sooyoung was carrying an extra bag in her left hand. Seohyun was carrying a white present box with small pink hearts and a white ribbon.

“Merry Christmas, Jessica!” They said at the same time.

“Merry Christmas, Sica unnie!” Juhyun smiled her sweetest.

“Merry Christmas…” The blue eyed girl smiled sweetly before she closed the door and left them outside.

She walked back to the living room and sat on the couch.

“Who was that?” Her mother asked.

“No one.” Jessica continued playing with her phone. “I think they got the wrong address—“

And the bell rang again. And again. And again.

“Is that that Donghae kid?” Jonathan stood up and was about to open the door, but Lauren quickly stopped him.

“I’ll get it.” The mother decided to check the front door herself, despite her eldest daughter pleas to just ignore the bell.

“Merry Christmas, umma!” The girls said when Lauren opened the door for them.

“Oh, it’s you girls!” She smiled widely. “Merry Christmas to you too.”

“Come in, come in.” She said as she cleared the way for them.

“Thank you for having us.” The girls said, still in perfect harmony.

“This is for you, umma.” Seohyun said cutely. “It’s Christmas cake from all of us.”

“Aww, thank you so much, Juhyun.” Lauren petted the youngest, and the girl blushed.

“Merry Christmas, appa!” The girls said to Jonathan, who was very happy to see them.

“Merry Christmas, girls!” He said as he hugged and kissed them on their foreheads one by one.

“This is a lovely surprise!” He laughed.

“Merry Christmas, Krystal!” The girls said greeted Krystal with their best smiles, but the youngest Jung quickly sat in her older sister’s lap and hugged her tight, scared that the girls would take her sister away from her.

“Merry Christmas, unnies.” She said unexcitedly, and threw her glare at the girls.

“Have you girls eaten yet?” The mother asked them kindly. “We just finished lunch, but there are still plenty of foods for you.”

“Oh, no, thank you, umma.” Yuri smiled her sweetest. “I just ate lunch myself.”

“Me too.” Yoona matched her older friend’s smile.

“Me too.” Seohyun said shyly. “Thank you for the offer, umma.”

“I just ate too.” Sooyoung giggled. “But I’m not going to pass the opportunity to eat your wonderful dish, umma.”

And the tall tanned girl went to the dining room with Lauren.

“Good girl.” The mother said as she petted Sooyoung, and the girl smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, NFS Underground!” Yoona’s eyes were sparkling. “Can I play too?”

The father laughed and handed her Krystal’s controller. “Of course you can. Ready to get beaten?”

“Oh, bring it on, appa!” The deer eyed girl shouted in glee.

Seohyun sat near Yoona and watched the two pushed their in-game cars to the limit. Yuri sat next to Jessica who was still carrying Krystal on her lap, and smiled widely at the two.

“Why are you here, Kwon Yuri?” Jessica stared suspiciously.

“What? Can’t I visit and play with you on Christmas?” The tanned girl giggled.

“What’s with the bags?” Jessica asked when she noticed that the girls were carrying their sport bags.

“Oh, we’re planning a sleepover here!” Yuri looked excited. “It’s been a long time since we had a sleepover, right?”

“And you need five bags for four people?” The blonde counted their bags in her mind. “And who says I’m letting you guys sleep here?”

“Oh, of course we’re not sleeping here, Sica-yah!” Yuri laughed. “We’re sleeping upstairs; in your room!”

“And if I refused to play host?” Jessica looked annoyed now.

“Don’t be silly, Sooyeon.” Her father suddenly said.

“You girls go ahead and have a fun sleepover.” He turned to the girls. “You already got your parents’ permission, right?”

“Yes, sir!” The girls said at the same time, and they all laughed; except for the Jung sisters; since they had a bad feeling about all of this.

Sooyoung had just finished her second lunch and joined the girls in the living room. She sat across from Yoona and Seohyun and smiled widely.

“Ah, I’m so full…” She said as she rubbed her stomach.

“It was very delicious, umma.” The tall girl said as Lauren joined them and sat beside her.

“You’re very welcome, Sooyoung.” The mother giggled and playfully pinched her cheek.

“Oh, yeah, Sica.” Yuri said. “We have a surprise for you!”

“I hope it’s not one of your pranks…” Jessica sighed.

“W-What are you saying, Sica-yah?” The tanned girl laughed awkwardly. “We just want to give you your Christmas present.”

“Oh?” Jessica was getting more suspicious. “We don’t usually give each other Christmas presents, though.”

“W-Well, this is a special present from us.” Yuri continued. “Come on, let’s go to the backyard.”

“Why?” The older Jung asked. “Can’t I just open them here?”

“Oh, don’t be such a party pooper, Sooyeon.” Her mother said. “Go on to the backyard and open their presents.”

“They obviously have spent time and effort for this surprise.”

“Yes we did, umma.” Sooyoung pretended to look sad and wiped her fake tears. “We just want our Jessica to be happy…”

“Alright, fine…” Jessica gave up and walked ahead to her backyard.

The girls quickly took their presents and followed her, and Krystal was about to stood up from her seat but was cut off by Yoona. “Oh, you don’t need to come, Krystal…”

“Just stay here and play with your appa, okay?” She grinned widely.

“No.” Krystal shook her head. “I’m going too.”

“Soojung,” Her father said. “Don’t bother your unnies and play with daddy, okay?”

“But daddy…” Krystal whined as she knew the girls were about to prank her older sister.

“Stay.” Her father simply said as he handed her the controller. “Be a good girl and stay.”

“Fine…” She gave up and took the controller. “I want a rematch, dad.”

“So,” Jessica crossed her arms. “What’s the big surprise?”

“Here,” Yuri handed her a small red box with a white ribbon. “This is from me.”

“Merry Christmas, Jessica.”

“O-Oh, thanks…” The blonde girl suddenly regretted being rude to her.

She opened the box and found a pair of red gloves with white faux fur on them, just like Santa’s gloves.

“Oh!” She smiled. “Thank you, Yuri.”

“This one is from me!” Sooyoung quickly handed her another red box with white ribbon. “Merry Christmas, Jessica!”

“Thank you, Sooyoung.” She smiled and found Santa’s hat inside the box. “It’s so cute!”

“T-This one is from me, unnie…” Seohyun said shyly as she handed her another similar box. “M-Merry Christmas…”

“Thank you, Seohyun.” The blue eyed girl petted Juhyun and opened the box.

“Oh, and I didn’t get anything for you guys…” She said apologetically. “… You should’ve told me…”

It was red hot pants with white faux fur, with a brown wide belt. She stared at the gift for a while, puzzled as it was definitely not something Seohyun would give someone, and she stared at the shy girl in front of her. “Juhyun, this is—“

“—My turn!” Yoona quickly gave her another box. “Merry Christmas, unnie!”

“O-Oh, thank you, Yoona…” Jessica decided to open the deer eyed girl gift first.

“W-What is this?” She said as she pulled out a red sleeveless half shirt with again white faux fur, and a pair of suspenders.

The blonde girl suddenly realized that the girls had just given her a Santa costume; but not a ‘normal’ nor a modest one.

“Do you expect me to wear this?” She stared at the girls one by one. “I am not wearing this!”

“Oh, but you have to, Sica.” Yuri grinned. “We’ve spent so much time and effort and pulled our money together for these…”

“I don’t care; you can just take them back!” Jessica glared at her.

“Oh, but unnie…” Yoona looked sad. “… If you do that then I have to show your pictures from when we were at the amusement park…”

“Wha… What are you talking about?” The blonde shivered at the thought.

“You know…” Yoona spoke in a seductive manner. “… When you got wet from the log ride…”

“Oh, no.” The American girl shook her head. “No. No. No. No. No…”

“Are you trying to blackmail me?” Jessica glared at them. “In my house?”

“Oh, we’re not blackmailing anyone, Sica-yah…” Yuri smiled innocently. “… We’re just… Persuading you to wear the costume just once…”

“I’m not wearing that.” She said firmly. “You can just show the photos to anyone.”

“I don’t care.”

“Oh, we’re not going to show these photos to anyone, unnie…” Yoona giggled. “… We’re going to show them to your… Father…”

“Y-You wouldn’t dare…” Jessica suddenly lost her strength.

“Oh, what would your daddy think?” Yuri grinned. “Her daughter was drenched and was showing her bra to some boys at the amusement—“

“—Give them to me!” The blonde quickly grabbed the boxes, as she was afraid of what her father would do if he knew she was going around the park flashing her wet shirt. He might go mad and close down the entire park, She thought to herself. Or worse; he’s going to track down every visitor that day and kill them!

“I-I just need to wear this costume once, correct?” She stared at Yuri.

“Yes, Sica-yah.” The tanned girl nodded. “Just wear it once and let Yoona take some photos of you.”

“W-What?” Jessica’s eyes grew bigger. “N-Not a chance!”

“Then I guess I’ll have to show the photos to your father then.” Yoona turned around and walked towards the living room.

“No!” The blonde panicked. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

“I swear I’m going to get you…” She grumbled as she went to the bathroom to change, while the two pranksters smiled their widest.

Jessica returned to her backyard wearing the costume, carefully walking so that her parents wouldn’t notice her in such a provocative outfit. She slipped through the kitchen successfully, and opened the backyard’s glass door.

“I look ridiculous…” She blushed and covered her stomach area with her hands as her friends started to whistle at her.

 “What are you talking about?” Yuri grinned. “You look like one of those Christmas model!”

“Oooh, you have a great body, Sica-yah!” Sooyoung as she kept staring at her flawless figure. “You need to show your iness more!”

“Y-You look beautiful, unnie…” Somehow Seohyun was flushing.

“Wow, unnie…” Yuri left her jaw opened.

“Just take the pictures and get this thing over with, please…” The blonde girl sighed; her face was getting redder because of Juhyun’s comment.

“Okay, just stand there.” Yuri pointed at the furthest spot from the back door.

“What are you planning now?” Jessica asked but did what she was told.

“Nothing,” The tanned girl laughed. “We just need one more props to make this photo shoot perfect!”

“Sooyoung; would you do the honor?”

“Yes, captain!” The tall tanned girl saluted her and pulled something from her military sport bag.

“Tadaa…!” She grinned as she showed the blonde girl a large colorful water gun. “Isn’t this the coolest?”

“W-What are you planning to do with that?” Jessica cowered.

Yoona took out her digital camera and prepared herself for her first amateur photo shoot.

“Just make sure to smile at the camera, unnie…” She winked at the blonde thorough her camera lens. “And act natural…”

“Okay.” Yuri giggled. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

“Give me the gun, Lieutenant Sooyoung!”

“Commence Operation Dessert Storm!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Sooyoung saluted once more, but started to walk towards Jessica instead.

She handed the gun to the blonde girl and pulled out another smaller gun for herself, and finally gave the smallest pistol to Seohyun. The three girls were now standing across from the two confused pranksters; grinning widely.

“W-What is this?” Yuri was dumbfounded. “B-Betrayal?”

“D-Did Doctor Hwang brainwashed you too?” The tanned girl panicked. “How did you know, Sica?”

“Seohyun told me about your evil plan, Yuri.” The blonde said calmly. “And Sooyoung suggested that we should teach you a lesson so you would stop pulling pranks on me and Tiffany.”

“Traitor!” Yoona shouted at the tallest girl. “How could you this, Seohyunnie?”

“And you too Sooyoung unnie?”

“Run, private!” Yuri quickly headed for the back door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Through the glass the tanned girl could see Krystal was holding the keys, smiling widely.

“Oh, no…” Yuri gasped and turned around once more. “… Please stop…”

“We can’t, captain.” Sooyoung grinned. “Not until we exact our revenge.”

“B-But you already had your revenge!” The tanned girl shouted. She remembered it well; on her birthday, December 5^th, when they were hanging out at their favorite café to celebrate her birthday, the girls poured a ridiculously large amount of flour on her head and buried her face into her birthday cake. Yoona received the same treatment that day, as she was her partner in crime.

“You guys ruined my 16^th birthday!” Yuri pleaded.

“Y-Yes, unnie!” The deer eyed girl begged. “Wasn’t that enough?”

“Well, clearly it wasn’t,” Sooyoung continued. “Because you two obviously planned another prank on her.”

“And wasn’t it your 15^th birthday?” Jessica looked confused.

“It was her 16^th, unnie.” Seohyun corrected her. “You forgot that we’re one year older in Korean year...”

“Oh, yeah…” The blonde girl realized her mistake. “I always forget about that…”

“Well, then let’s start the show, shall we?” She cocked her water gun.

“Sica-yah!” Yuri begged as she kneeled on both knees and rubbed her palms together. “I’m sorry; I won’t prank you ever again!”

“I-I’ll even promote you to captain!”

“Okay, then.” Jessica smiled and nodded.

“R-Really?” Yuri’s eyes were shining with hope.

“Make sure you film the whole thing, dad!” The blonde suddenly shouted to her father, who was watching from behind the glass door, holding a handy cam and grinning like a teenage boy. He waved to his daughter and made an OK sign with his free hand.

“Oh, God…” Yuri realized she could not escape this.

Yoona took the older prankster’s hand and saluted. “It’s been an honor serving with you, captain.”

“Likewise, private.” The tanned girl saluted back.

“Mercy…!” The two pranksters yelled as the other girls started shooting at them with their powerful water guns.

“Aw, look at them having so much fun…” Lauren stood next to her husband with a cup of coffee in her hand.

“Such a beautiful friendship…” She said as she stared at the girls having fun together in their backyard.

“Yeah,” The father smiled as he kept filming their water war. “That looks like fun.”

“Do you think I could join them for a while?”

“Oh! I want to play too!” Krystal giggled.

“No, no…” But the mother disapproved. “Let them have their fun.”

“And I don’t want you two to get wet and sick…”

“Aww…” The father and the youngest daughter whined as they stared at the girls in the backyard having so much fun shrieking and yelling and getting wet.

One hour later and Jessica, Seohyun and Sooyoung were in the kitchen, enjoying their cups of tea. Krystal took her position at her sister’s lap as usual, playing with her new handheld gaming console. Meanwhile Yuri and Yoona were still punished and stood in the backyard with their drenched clothes.

“Where did you get that, Krystal?” Sooyoung stared at her having fun with her PSP.

“Unnie gave it to me as Christmas present.” She said without turning her head from the small screen.

“Oh, how lucky for you to have Jessica as your unnie…” The tall girl muttered.

Krystal did not hear the comment and was busy bashing the buttons of her handheld. Seohyun stared at the younger Jung and sighed.

“Don’t you think it’s about time we let those two in, Sica?” Sooyoung turned to the older Jung.

“Hmm, I think so…” The blonde said.

“They’ve only been there for 15 minutes, unnie.” Krystal shook her head. “I think we should let them enjoy being wet for another hour, at least.”

Sooyoung and Seohyun stared at each other with a hint of fear in their eyes; how could a pretty, cute girl like Krystal say a cruel thing like that?

“It’s okay,” Jessica said. “Let them in, Sooyoung.”

“I think they’ve learned their lessons now.” She gently petted Krystal’s hair.

“We’re sorry.” Yuri stood in front of the victors, still in her wet pink T-shirt. “We promise we’d never prank you again.”

“Just me?” Jessica smiled.

“And Tiffany unnie,” Yoona said as she clenched her wet denim overalls. “And all the other unnies…”

“Yes,” Yuri stared at her feet. “We will not prank any of you guys anymore.”

“Very good.” The blonde girl smiled. “Now go take a shower and change your clothes.”

“Yes, ma’am…” The two girls walked slowly towards the bathroom.

“Did you mean it, unnie?” Yoona asked the older girl when they were preparing their pajamas. “We won’t prank them anymore?”

“Of course not.” Yuri smiled evilly. “I had my fingers crossed behind my back all the time.”

“Me too.” Yoona grinned widely and both girls giggled as they entered the bathroom.

The girls then joined the Jungs for a wonderful Christmas dinner, chatting and joking and sharing stories about their training and school lives. Jonathan was about to talk about his eldest daughter marriage again but was immediately cut off by his loving but scary wife. He then decided to talk about how perfect his own marriage life was to appease his upset wife.

They then spent hours in the living room chatting and playing console games. Time flew and without them knowing the night was getting late and Jessica carried the sleeping Krystal to her bedroom and tucked her in. The parents also decided to go to their room and rest for the night. The girls then went to Jessica’s bedroom and decided to watch some DVDs.

The blonde girl had just returned from her younger sister’s room when her phone rang. Sooyoung took a peek before handing the phone to her.

“It’s Tiffany.” She said as she passed the phone to its owner.

“Oh, okay.” Jessica smiled and took the phone. “Thanks.”

“Where are you going?” The tall girl asked when she saw the blue eyed girl chose to leave the room to take the call.

Jessica smiled and closed the door behind her, leaving the girls to resume their movie.

“Why couldn’t she just take the call here?” Sooyoung was curious, but nobody replied her comment, as they were busy watching Seohyun’s movie choice for the night; another fun animation movie called Shrek. And soon the tall girl had her full attention at the movie too.

“Look at that Princess Fiona!” She laughed out loud. “What a pig!”

Almost one hour later Jessica slipped back into her room with a huge smile on her face and sat on her thick white wool carpet next to Sooyoung.

“You look happy.” The tallest girl said to her, while the other girls were busy watching the animation.

“Well it’s Christmas, and I get to spend the whole day with my beloved friends,” The blonde giggled. “Of course I’m happy.”

“Oh?” Sooyoung looked curious. “Beloved friends, huh?”

“And here I thought you didn’t want us here…”

“Don’t be silly, Sooyoung-ah…” Jessica smiled her sweetest. “… I honestly want Seohyun to visit me and have a sleepover.”

“Oh! So you only want Seohyun?” The tall girl shouted, and Juhyun flushed and covered her smiling face with one of Jessica’s pillows.

“What about me, Sica unnie?” Yoona pleaded with her deer eyes.

“Of course I’m happy that you’re here, Yoona-yah…” The blonde girl laughed. “I just thought that it would be better if it was just the three of us…”

“Ugh, that’s it!” Sooyoung shouted again as she stood up. “I’m going home!”

“Don’t you dare stop me!” The tall girl said as she opened the door.

“But nobody’s stopping you, Sooyoung…” The blue eyed girl played with her nails.

“I said nobody stop me!” The tall girl shouted again, but the other girls ignored her.

“Just get back here, Sooyoung,” Yuri sighed. “You know Sica is only kidding…”

“Ugh!” Sooyoung stomped her feet and sat back next to the blonde. “Stupid Sica…”

“What’s that?” Jessica threw her icy glare.

“I-I mean pretty Sica unnie…” The tall girl quickly changed her words, and the girls laughed at her.

It was almost 2 am when the girls finally decided to go to sleep after watching a few movies and joked around. Yoona and Yuri slept on Jessica’s bed since the blonde girl insisted, because she felt sorry for them for being drenched earlier in the afternoon. The rest of the girls slept on futons, and even though Jessica could simply sleep with her little sister in her bedroom right across from hers, she preferred to sleep with her friends.

“Today was fun, right Sica unnie?” Seohyun said as she lied on her futon next to the blonde girl. All the other girls were already sleeping and the room was filled with their snoring.

“Yes, it is.” The blue eyed girl smiled and nodded.

“Thank you, Juhyun.” Jessica continued as she turned to her left to face the youngest girl in the room.

“N-No, unnie…” Seohyun flushed and squeezed her cute rag doll in her arms. “… Thank you for having us…”

“You’re welcome.” The blonde girl giggled.

“So you really like that doll, huh?” She smiled when she noticed Seohyun always carried the rag doll around.

“Yes, unnie,” The youngest girl smiled. “It’s a very special gift from Yoona unnie…”

“B-But you’re still my favorite unnie!” Seohyun quickly said and hid the rag doll under her blanket.

“It’s okay, Juhyun-ah,” Jessica laughed. “I know I haven’t been a good unnie and give you anything special like that.”

“But you don’t have to, unnie!” Juhyun looked sad. “You don’t have to give me gifts to be my favorite unnie…”

“Okay…” The blonde girl stared at her younger friend. “… Thank you, Seohyun…”

“You know…” Jessica said after a while. “… I never did ask you why I was your favorite unnie…”

“I… I don’t know…” Seohyun looked very shy. “… You just are…”

“Oh?” The blonde was curious.

“Do I need a reason to like you?” Juhyun blurted out.

“O-Oh…” The blue eyed girl was surprised by her comment. “I-I guess not…”

“You’re my favorite unnie no matter what.” And somehow her hand found a way under their blankets to hold Jessica’s hand.

“T-Thank you, Juhyun…” The blonde said as Seohyun scooted closer to her until their faces were only inches apart.

“Stop saying thanks, unnie…” The younger girl said as she smiled and put her arms around her waist.

“S-Seohyun…” Jessica was surprised by her sudden move.

“I-Is it okay if I hug you, unnie?” Her face was bright red and her eyes were filled with hope. “I-I always wanted to hug an older sister like this…”

“I-I guess it’s okay…” The blue eyed girl noticed Seohyun’s eyes were teary and she didn’t want to disappoint her. “… S-Soojung used to hug me every time we sleep together…”

“This is the best Christmas gift ever…” The innocent younger girl whispered as she closed her eyes. “… Thank you, Sica unnie…”

And Seohyun fell asleep. Jessica thought it would be best if she didn’t pull away as she did not want to wake the younger girl up. The blonde then decided to close her own eyes and quickly drifted to the dream world. And as she was about to fell into deep sleep, she thought she heard a shutter clicked.