A/N: Double update!

 

Jessica, much to her chagrin, found herself staring at the laughing face of Won Joo upon her descent from the stairs. The dining table had been mostly cleared, save for the plate of breakfast waiting for her. Won Joo turned his head, his lips quickly turning up to a bright grin while a hand flew into the air to wave at her enthusiastically. Jessica gave a curt nod of her head in acknowledgement, wearily making her way to the table.

 

“Morning.” He chirped. Jessica resisted grimacing at his tone. It was way past 8 in the morning, but mornings were never her thing. She moved to slide into the seat when the clanging of ceramics reached her ears. Instinctively, she looked over to the kitchen to find Yuri, hands deep in water. She wouldn’t be surprised if aunty Kwon had nagged at her to do the dishes. Yuri didn’t seem like the type to do so without being told.

 

“You look positively radiant today Jessica-ssi.” Won Joo wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes were looking off to the side, trying to look cool Jessica guessed. If he really looked at her he probably would take back the compliment. Her eyes were a bit red and puffy from the sleepless night of tossing and turning. Sleep avoided her like the plague while guilt drowned her conscience, her eyes continuously glancing over Yuri’s steady figure while she slept soundly, tucked away in a sleeping bag on the floor.

 

 “But I guess that’s just how you normally look. I’m beginning to wonder how you would look in a nice dress.” She gave him a quick look of disdain before stuffing a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her awaiting mouth.

 

“Oppa, you sound like a total sleazebag.” Yuri’s voiced out. Jessica looked up from spooning in her second bit of the egg.

 

Even though they were in the same room for the whole of the evening it was only then Jessica noticed the outfit Yuri wore. She was in loose navy blue sweat pants and sported men’s sleeveless top that showcased her biceps. And Jessica had thought she was all skin and bones. Their eyes met, and Yuri cracked a gummy smile. Jessica tore her eyes away, smiling down at her plate of eggs, cheeks burning.

 

“I told you yesterday and I’ll tell you again, Sica isn’t interested in you.” She cocked her hand back, curling her fingers into a tight fist, and then sent it flying towards Won Joo’s shoulder. The impact made a slight thumping sound and Won Joo flinched. “So get your mind out of lalaland and help me dry the dishes.”

 

Won Joo shoved back, a little harder than necessary, sending Yuri to stagger back.

 

“Oppa!” Yuri shrilled dramatically, eyes wide.

 

“Yuri-yah!” Won Joo copied, even widening his eyes mockingly.

 

Jessica narrowed her eyes at Won Joo, before catching herself and moved to roll them instead.

 

“Yah! Oppa you-” Jessica closed her heavy eyes, savouring her breakfast while listening to the grunts and yelps from the two friends.

 

Yes, friends. That was all that they were.

 

 

 

Once again, Jessica had taken the backseat while Yuri sat shotgun. Jessica managed to squash down her annoyance at the seating arrangement, and at the feeling of being left out of the loop while the two happily gossiped, throwing her attention to the scenery flashing past her window. With the sound of Yuri’s energetic ramblings and the steady rumblings of the car, it didn’t take long for Jessica’s eyes to begin dropping. She always did love car rides. She didn’t remember it, but her mother told her stories about her first few years on earth, of how she would cry non-stop for reasons unknown. Then one day, her father took her and her mother on a car ride without a destination in mind. Her crying diminished as the car rumbled on, eventually calming her down and putting her to sleep. It calmed her, even to that day.

 

She snuggled into the warm cotton jacket Yuri lent her. It was an identical jacket to the one Yuri was wearing, except that while Yuri’s was white whereas Jessica’s was a soft baby blue colour, her favourite. Staring out the window she contented herself to listening to the laughs shared by the two, thankful for the happy atmosphere. To Jessica, Yuri was mostly placid, sending Jessica a few of her smiles once in a while but kept her distance. Jessica didn’t know whether to feel thankful or bad. There was a bit of regret, especially during the times her eyes would follow Yuri’s hands. They were warm and comfortable to hold onto.

 

A flash of green caught her blurring vision, her eyes snapping to alertness and she craned her neck, just missing the white words printed on the board as the car zoomed by. How long had she been zoning out? One look out the window and she was certain they weren’t in town anymore. The forage around them was thickening and the on-coming traffic becoming significantly less. Won Joo and Yuri were in the middle of a debate between which country should have the first pick for travel (Netherlands or New Zealand) and the GPS system mounted at the middle console was switched off. The sight consoled her a little.

 

“Admit it, Oppa. You just want to go there because then it’ll be a train ride away from Amsterdam.”

 

“Don’t you get it, Yuri-yah? Pot is legal, and the babes are hot!” Jessica resisted the deep urge to groan at the stereotypical male response. Of course, the reasons were going to be about stupid things and hot girls. There was nothing quite like getting into trouble, which could have been avoided if they had taken the time to use their brain to think it through and do actual research, and doing stupid acts for the thrill.

 

“Oh, what do you know? Anyway, you got that from Eurotrip. A film! How can you believe what you saw in a movie? You know they’re all misconceptions.”

 

“I did my research, okay. Pot is legal. They even have those brownies.”

 

“Brown – Pot-brownies? Seriously, oppa?”

 

Won Joo made a tutting noise, both his index fingers waggling at every sound over the steering wheel. “Don’t knock it till you try it, Yuri-yah.”

 

Yuri crosses her arms over her chest, leaning on her side against the car door. “You talk as if you’ve tried them.”

 

“And if I have?”

 

“Then I call bull.”

 

“Aish, you little rascal. No respect for your seniors.” Won Joo grumbled lowly as he made a right turn to what looked to be a side café parking lot. The car slowed to a stop, finding a spot in the middle of a truck and an RV.

 

“Well then,” Won Joo said, turning the ignition off. He exchanged glances with Yuri before turning to Jessica, his features bright. In fact, it looks too bright, more than what’s considered to be normal. Jessica briefly wonders if he was right in the head. “I don’t know about you, but the coffee here is fantastic! You drink coffee, don’t you, Jessica-yah?”

 

Yuri scoffed, unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car. Jessica briefly looks out of the window for her, hoping for a rescue, but Yuri seems too busy stretching out her back to look back.

 

“uh-“ before Jessica could give out an answer Won Joo was already out of the door, rounding the front of the car, pushing Yuri out of the way in the process, and finally stopping to her side to open the door for her. Holding onto the car door with one hand he gave her a 90-degree bow, gesturing with his other hand for her to exit. She quickly unbuckles her seatbelt and steps out, feeling the overwhelming embarrassment creeping up her face.

 

“T-thank you, Won Joo-ssi. C-could you-” she stops trying to formulate sentences with her stuttering when she spies a mischievous looking Yuri fixing herself beside Won Joo. Lifting her leg, she plants it firmly at Won Joo’s derriere and gives a strong nudge. It sends the poor guy rocketing over the back seat into an uncomfortable position. She grins, sending a wink at Jessica as she shut the car door to muffle the stings of curses flying out of Won Joo’s mouth.

 

With a laugh, Yuri gives Jessica an inviting hand. Jessica’s hand twitches, itching to reach out and grab on. But then the hand drops. Yuri’s smile falters for a split second and she stuffs her hands into her pockets.

 

“Um.. the coffee here is pretty good. We’ll stop by to stretch our legs a little before we continue on.” She turns on her heels, pushing the opening car door back shut and makes a mad sprint to the café doors.

 

The car door swings open for the third time and Won Joo staggers to his feet. He shoots a dark glare at the café doors while muttering explicit words under his breath. Jessica’s gaze briefly runs over his slightly rumpled clothes and her lips twitch to a small satisfied grin.

 

Won Joo’s dark feature vanishes when his eyes fall on Jessica. He puts on a charming smile, offering his arm to her. “Well, shall we?”

 

"Let's go." Jessica doesn’t look his way and makes her way to the door. The widening grin behind her goes unnoticed.

 

The interior was warm, with the few heaters about working to keep the decently crowded place at a tolerable temperature. They found Yuri seated at a table a good few feet away from one of the mounted heaters, already focused on the selection of the menu. Jessica and Won Joo began shedding off their jackets, hanging them over their respective chairs as they took their seat.

 

Going through the menu Jessica felt salivating at the multiple, scrumptious meals on the list. She swallowed it down, hand going to her tummy. She wasn’t really hungry and it was not a very good idea to stuff herself early in the morning when she didn’t even know where they were going and how long they were staying there. Plus, she was on a diet anyway. She flipped to the beverage section, her eyes settling to the hot drinks.

 

When the waitress comes by to take their order Jessica groans when the duo opposite her orders a meal plus drinks. When the waitress asks her again if she wanted to add anything Jessica refuses, already feeling the heat crawling up her face.

 

Just as the waitress was leaving Yuri moved to stand. “Gonna take a break. You know what I mean.” She pointed with one, using the other as if to cover where she was pointing at. Jessica scrunches her face in disgust while Won Joo shifts to get into a better slouching position on his seat.

 

“Take your time.” Won Joo calls out to her retreating back.

 

His eyes lazily trail back to Jessica and a smile pulls at his lips. Jessica mentally sighs and prepares herself for the next few minutes of drowning in awkwardness.

 

“Sooo…” he drawled. Jessica felt her brow twitch in annoyance. “How did someone as cute as Jessica became friends- no, actually, how did you even get to know that brat?”

 

Jessica forced a smile. “What do you mean,” she gritted her teeth, pushing out the word from . “oppa?” she groaned internally, especially when she saw the all too wide smile on Won Joo’s face. No doubt he was enjoying it.

 

“You just don’t seem like the girl Yuri would be friends with. I mean, no offense, but have you seen her friends? They’re all troublemakers.” Jessica raised both brows at this. She thought back to the day she met Yuri’s friends.

 

“I see your point.” She murmured. She wondered just how well he knew those other troublemakers, but decided she didn’t need to know to press on.

 

“Oh, well.. I got lost one day…” Jessica softly starts off. She could still vividly remember stumbling upon the almost empty classroom, coming face to face with the cheeky grin of one Kwon Yuri, who also happened to coerce her to skip class and create art. It was hard to forget when her art work still hung proudly on the wall of that classroom.  “And Yuri extended a helping hand, dragged me all over the school instead of pointing me to the right direction.” Won Joo flung his head back and let out a round of laughter. Jessica jolts up from the loudness but quickly shrinks back down at the curious glances from the table beside them.

 

Won Joo straightens back up once he got his chuckles under control.

 

“I can’t say I didn’t expect that from her. Always full of energy that one, to the point of troublesome. So, how did you become friends? Or should I say best friends?” He smiles knowingly. Jessica somehow couldn’t help the smile forming on her face and attempts to hide it behind her hair.

 

“My roommate is best friends with Taeyeon.”

 

“Taeyeon? Yuri’s cousin, Kim Taeyeon?” He asked. Jessica raises a critical brow. Why else would she confidently bring the name up?  “That little runt. I haven’t seen her in years. Not since the day she dropped her ice cream cone and tried to eat it off the floor.”

 

Jessica caught the laugh that was about to explode from her chest. She squashed it down and settled for a look of amusement. “Well, she does love her ice cream.”

 

“I bet. Does she still go around with a pack of gummies?” Jessica’s smirk answers his question and Won Joo shakes his head.

 

“You know, to be honest, I’m surprised Yuri brought you here instead of Taeyeon. Their families are pretty close, but Taeyeon’s family lives on the other side of the country. Going to that school was actually the families’ idea to keep the kids close. Their way of meeting half way.” Jessica makes a noncommittal hum and nods her head at the information. It wasn’t something she deemed important, but Won Joo seemed to want to share it with her. Never the less, the information is stored at the back of her mind for future references.

 

“You must really mean a lot to her.” Jessica pauses, her head titled up in the beginnings of another disinterested nod. She blinks at the smiling man at the opposite side of the table. She starts feeling hot under her shirt and turns her head to the side while letting out a subtle long breath to cool down.

 

“And I see she means a lot to you too.” At this point, Jessica wishes she could pry all the windows open and let the cool autumn air in. Her hands fidgeted over her lap, wanting to fan her face badly or hide her face, whichever could lessen her feeling of embarrassment.

 

“Speaking of families, do you have any siblings? No offense, but you kinda give me a single-child vibe.” Jessica carefully looked back, slightly taken aback by the sudden change of topic. She could still feel the heat on her cheeks so she settled her eyes on the table.

 

“… I have a younger sister.” She divulged after a few seconds of silence. She looked at his face carefully, checking for any signs of yearning, or worse discomfort.

 

“Younger sister? Is she one of those annoying siblings?” Won Joo continued. Jessica diverted her gaze down to her fidgeting fingers. How was Won Joo so nonchalant about this while Jessica was feeling immensely uncomfortable by the second.

 

“She.. acts like every other sister, I guess. She.. she means the world to me, even though we bicker a lot and push each other’s buttons…” Jessica trailed off. She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes now straying to the direction Yuri went. She glanced at the clock hanging right over the counter, wondering how long Yuri was going to take in the bathroom.

 

“Yeah? That’s good, means you both have a good relationship with each other.” Jessica grunted her response, chewing at her bottom lip.

 

“My brother used to be a pain in the . Back then, there was never a time at home where I wouldn’t hear our parents yelling his name for doing something stupid with Yuri’s brother, Ji Yong. Those two goofballs would terrorise the streets, pretending to be pulling at invisible ropes right as someone passes by, tripping over air, scaring a few tourist with convincing acts of gang-related violence. They were brought home by the police once, because of that gang violence prank. I’ve never seen our mother so livid.” He laughed, his hands coming together in a loud enthusiastic clap. And Jessica realised there was no hurt in his tone, but rather held a proud tone to his voice. Like an older brother bragging about his younger sibling. She relaxed, sitting back and giving him her undivided attention.

 

“Then, when they got older, they manage to get Yuri in on their pranks, mostly to do small things. They made her angry most of the time, feeling like a henchmen they could dispose of at the snap of a finger. She would come running to me to tattle on them, red chubby cheeks and this fire in her eyes.” A small smile pulls at Jessica’s lips at the image of a baby Yuri stomping down the streets, feeling under appreciated. Thanks to a few photo’s auntie Kwon managed to show her before Yuri confiscated the photobook, imagining a young Yuri was not that hard a task.

 

Won Joo leans over the table, wearing a fond kind of smile with his eyes looking soft. “You want to hear a few of the troubles the three got into? They even managed to persuade Yuri into staying in an old abandoned house for a whole day. Even got the police involved at some point.”

 

Jessica raises both her brows. She leans forwards, clasping her hands over the table. “I’m listening.”

 

A few stories later and Jessica was holding her hand over to stifle her laughter. Tears sprung from her eyelids to stream down her rosy cheeks while Won Joo had his face buried in his hands. He was trying to control his chortles when a plate of food was presented in front of him.

 

Jessica reaches for her now lukewarm cup of cappuccino, taking a sip from it to help calm her some. Her gaze wandered from Won Joo to his plate of food, then to the clock. the foam sticking to the top of her lips she turned to check the doors leading to the toilet.

 

“Shouldn’t Yuri be back by now?”

 

Won Joo sniffs, checking his wrist watch. The smile on his face diminishes. “Well, must be a heavy number 2.”

 

Disgust briefly runs across Jessica’s face and she pushes off her chair.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“I’m going to go get her before her food gets cold.” Jessica responds equally, shrugging her shoulders.

 

The first thing she notes as she pushes past the door was that the room was small, just big enough for a max of three people to squeeze in. There was another door which led to the toilet and she was in the small waiting room. She scrunched her nose at the coral coloured porcelain sink that contrasted with the dulling aqua green tiles. She could see that they were trying to go for a sea theme for the bathroom, but to her, it was just a nauseating clash of colour. They would have been better off going for an earthy colour than putting on a theme. It was the bathroom, not a bedroom.

 

The small notice on the door read ‘occupied’ in bold red letters.

 

Jessica sighed, leaning against the sink. She checked her reflection, thanking God that her bags weren’t as pronounced as she thought. She never thought she would ever go two nights with improper amounts of sleep.

 

And it was all thanks to Yuri.

 

An audible click rings through the empty space and Jessica’s mind instantly reacts. It does a few things in a matter of nanoseconds. Panic is the first to take over and it sends Jessica lurching into action. Then reason questions her panic, which is quick to diffuse the epinephrine coursing through her being. Embarrassment soon joins the fray and she was mentally berating herself for reacting like that. At the end of it all, Jessica had somehow turned the tap on, stuck one hand under the steaming hot water, and was biting back a yelp of mixed pain and surprise.

 

She took her pink hand out, waving it around to cool while turning the tap water off. Great, she had just made a fool of herself right in front of…

 

Not Yuri.

 

She squeezed her eyes shut, then stared at the reflection of the person that had just stepped out of the door. Blond hair, aviator glasses perched on top of the yellow spikes, five o’clock shadow that enhanced the dark bags under his gray eyes. The person did not look anything like her best friend.

 

“Uh…” she her heels, hand reaching to catch the male's attention. “So-sorry. Did you happen to come across a girl, my age, come out of there? Brunette, a few inches taller than I am, smiles a lot.”

 

“No. Sorry. There was nobody here when I came in.” Jessica notes the way his eyes roam from her face down south. She grits her teeth, hands itching to swing and punch the living day lights out of the ert.

 

“Oh. Um, thanks. Excuse me.” The words tumbled out of as she managed to send a forced crooked smile at the guy and step out of the small space. She lets out a breath of relief, moving briskly away from the doorway to avoid any more unnecessary contact with the stranger. Her eyes snap to their table where Won Joo, still at his seat, had his phone pressed against his ears. She let her gaze roam through the multitudes of faces dining, chatting and laughing. There was a painful constriction in her chest twisting tighter the longer she stood searching for a familiar face in the crowd, her gut mimics the pain in her chest when her gaze reaches the last table.

 

Nothing.

 

Her feet bring her back to their table. She notices the confused look Won Joo gives his phone, too preoccupied to notice her rapid advance. It was when he sees her and a crooked grin replaces the momentary look of shock that cues Jessica in on his involvement.

 

“Jessica-”

 

“Where is she?” she growls. Her fingers curl at her side, fingers itching to grab at his collars and shake the answer out of him. “I swear if this is a practical joke I am going to scoop out both your eyes with a spoon and force it down your throat.”

 

She could see his Adam's apple bob down and up as he swallowed thickly, his eyes perceptibly widening in fear. She felt a slight satisfaction at this, but not enough to dissuade the irritation or the deep worry she had for Yuri.

 

“It’s not a prank.” He squeaked, back pressed against the wall. “And it was all her idea.”

 

Jessica narrowed her eyes at Won Joo, gritting her teeth.

 

“You know where she is.” It was not a question.

 

Won Joo jerked his head in affirmative.

 

“Where?”

 

“I can take you to her. It’s-it’s not that far. Just round the curve, out of sight.” Jessica takes a calming breath in, taking a step back to give Won Joo enough space to recollect himself. She waits for a second. The bottom of her right eye twitch in annoyance when Won Joo takes too long to take a breath and she hastily grabs her jacket off the chair she marches her way to the front door, leaving Won Joo to scramble after her.

 

“Jessica, wait!”

 

“Did she go this way?” She asked him but not bothered to look at him or wait for his answer. Her steps we brisk, totally unlike her normal self. She had promised never to exert too much effort in anything that she did, but this was not just anything.The worry was long gone from her mind, now it was all a thunderous whirlwind of anger, irritation, hurt, and maybe a little jealousy. Why was Yuri being so secretive over whatever it was? Why did she bother bringing her if she would end up sneaking behind her back anyway?

 

“Just-” Won Joo breaks into a short jog, pointing to the yellow safety railings before the dip down the mountain side. “she’s just over there.”

 

Jessica’s sends him a dark glare. “Where?” anger drips in her voice and Won Joo visibly winces.

 

“Over the railing. Probably.”

 

“What?!” She breaks into a run. Screw her motto.

 

Her arms reach out, fingers curling over the railing as she searches the wide expanse of nature’s creation in front of her. She breathes a sigh of relief, spotting Yuri’s gangly form not too far down, her stiff shoulders slumping.

 

“See, told you she was there. She’s fine.” Won Joo says calmly, stoping an arm’s length away from her. He sends her a grin, a twinkle in his eyes. Raising a hand he called out to Yuri loudly. “Hey, Yuri!”

 

Yuri swiveled around at the call, looking for the source of the voice.

 

That was one of her mistakes.

 

Her first mistake was to go over the railing. The second was standing too close to the edge, peering down to try and spot anything that remained to remind her of that fateful day. The rocky edge couldn’t bare her weight, giving way to the laws of gravity, and taking Yuri along with it.

 

Her eyes widened as her left foot sank. She tried to reorient her footing, but the sudden motion had tilted her sense of balance too far back. A scream pierces the otherwise stillness of her surroundings.