Chapter 29

Too much cheese

As soon as Jessica and the cat made their exit, Yuri immediately stood up and dashed towards the door, locking the doorknob and the additional locks above it. Still not satisfied, she looked at the room searching for a movable object. “Bingo!”, she pushed an antique Oakwood cabinet and blocked the pet door.

Yuri sighed a relief and sat down on the floor, she rubbed her chin while closing her eyes, trying to remember the events that happened last night. She blushed when she remembered the “dream” she just had, “Aish, it’s just a dream, get a grip Yuri…”, she shook her head and tried to rewind yesterday’s activities.

“We practiced for the play.”, he nodded, “Jessica kept on harassing me.”, she nodded furiously while creasing her brows, “then there’s Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Sunny, and…”

Yuri ruffled her hair and stopped when she felt some bump on the back of her head, memories then came flashing back.

“That’s right…I lost my balance and out when I bumped my head at the kitchen counter…stupid cat…”

She lightly hit the side of her head with her fist, she cursed for her stupidity and lack of control on yesterday’s situation, she usually keeps her cool and ignores the felines when she sees one out so close.

“But not this ugly Mcgonagall or whatever you call that thing.”

“Damn it.”, he cursed some more when she remembered other important things she should deal with, this time with a human being.  It was not just being a boy that keeps her hormones go haywire…being a girl is too.

“I’m originally a girl…and I’m not that before! I was so innocent like a newborn baby and now what happened!?!” , she did a kneeling position and laced his fingers together, “Oh dear lord almighty, please forgive me and lead me back to the right path!”

‘Is it pure attraction she feels for this person?’, she thought and it made her even more confused.

“Taeyeon”

Or is it just lust? But then she thought of Tiffany and it made her question more on her own feelings for the girl. More so, she remembered the ‘almost ruining Sooyoung’ incident. She really felt guilty about what happened but is relieved for the fact that she didn’t penetrate her best friend’s opening.

“I’m such a ert!”, she whispered in an annoyed tone, indeed she was. “I dreamt of doing it with Jessica for pete’s sake!” 

She stood up and started to walk towards the bedside table where she saw her flip phone. Heaving a sigh, she placed her hand on her chest feeling her heart beat getting faster as she slowly reaches for the item. Yuri felt dry and painfully gulped. With shaky hands, she opened his flip phone and started dialing.

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Taeyeon woke up from her deep slumber when she felt her phone ringing, she groaned when she looked at the alarm clock. It was too early for someone to call her and is even irritated when classes are suspended, “This better not be school-related matters.”

She rubbed her eyes and tried to read the caller ID flashed on the screen.

“Unknown number.”

She contemplated on whether she should pick up or ignore the call. Not too long ago, she received a lot of calls from anonymous people. Their objective, mainly, hitting on the short goddess. She sighed when she remembered all those proposals over the phone.

‘You’re pretty…I’m pretty…so why not go to my place and stare at each other?’ and

‘I’m thirsty, baby, and you smell like my Gatorade’ and

‘If you were a booger I'd pick you first.’ and

‘You remind me of Pokemon. I just wanna piccachu.’

She snickered while remembering many of her suitor’s lame pick up lines. The ringing stopped which made Taeyeon snap out from her thoughts. After a few seconds later, the phone rang again. She sighed and lazily received the call to get it over with.

“Hello?”

“Hey, I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes but listened attentively to the familiar husky voice, “Stranger, thanks to you.. the bags under my eyes will get worse—“

 “Taeyeon…it really hurts that you deleted my number in your contacts.”, the person on the other line said in a sad voice but then gave a playful giggle.

“Who is this?”

A long sigh, “And you didn’t even recognize my voice…”

______________________________________________________________________________________

“Great, my phone’s dead”. She stood up and stretched her aching body, she surveyed her room once again, still unsure of why she stayed at the Jung’s mansion. “They could’ve just dropped me off my house. It was just a bump on the head anyway.”

Another hit of realization, “More importantly, why was Jessica so close to me this morning?”, she gasped when she thought of the possibility that the dream could be true. “Naaah, it can’t be…it’s impossible.”, she chuckled and decided to go and wash up in the bathroom.

But as soon as she saw her face in the mirror, she slowly touched the square band-aid on her cheek, a red mark almost visible on the plaster. “No way…”, her face suddenly went pale  considering the possibility of having a human slash cat breed in this world. In her case, she wouldn’t be surprised if she grows a tail. Fantasy is already a reality for her. Her own transformations served as proof.

He looked at her wrists and there she saw hand marks.

“Oh-my-g—“

______________________________________________________________________________________

“Tell me why I’m here again.”, said Sunny with an irritated tone. She missed her mom, and she wasn’t able to get enough sleep last night.

After Taeyeon was dropped off in her house, the girl’s next destination turned out to be their last. Sunny, Hyoyeon, and Mr. Han were stuck in Sooyoung’s house. Apparently, Mr. Han wasn’t able to resist not accompanying the girls to go their respective homes, so he did the most thoughtful thing and offered to be their chauffer.

But he didn’t expect the snowstorm to come early and block the roads immediately. He cursed at the local weatherman’s lack of expertise in distinguishing the time of disaster; they were expecting it to come at midnight. But all his disappointment went away when he saw a beautiful woman standing worriedly at them by the door.

“It’s because you insisted on tasting my mom’s delicious cooking and it took you a lot of time to finish a meal!”, said Sooyoung, her hands occupied with plates.

“Yes, Mrs. Choi is indeed an amazing cook. No one can resist her dishes.”, said Mr. Han with a glint of excitement, he harbored a little crush on the woman for a short span of time. He talked a little with Mrs. Choi and he was amazed on how she handles things by herself.

Sooyoung finished preparing for breakfast and smiled at Mr. Han for his enthusiasm, “Yep, my mom’s the best! But Mr. Han, I would like to remind you that my dad’s just there in Japan.”, she patted his shoulder’s and uttered sympathetically, “You’re a good man but flirting with a married woman is not cool.”

Hyoyeon spewed out her drink which hit Mr. Han directly on the face. “You what?! Ohohoho! Mr. Han’s a dangerous man.”

“Oh…I thought we have the same situation.”, Sunny whispered to herself but Sooyoung heard it.

Sooyoung started laughing and tried to push away the topic. She remembered one of the things they talked about last night which included Sunny's strong relationship with her mom. The girls bonded and talked about personal stuff because of boredom. They lacked entertainment since the power was down and the phone lines went dead. All they could do was stare at each other and play board games to pass the time, but it was all worth it since they formed a new bond of friendship.

Mr. Han chuckled nervously, “You misunderstood my actions, I’m not that kind of person that you’re thinking of.”

Sooyoung laughed at Mr. Han’s stoned face, “I was just kidding Mr. Han.”, she winked and sat down between Sunny and Hyoyeon.

“Let’s just eat and enjoy these scrumptious foods.” said Sooyoung as she held Sunny’s hand and squeezed it a little.

Sunny looked at Sooyoung’s pleading eyes, she smiled a little which earned her a smack on the shoulder from the latter.

Hyoyeon smiled at the sight, this could be a beginning of something new.

“I wonder how Yuri’s doing in Jessica’s care…”, said Hyoyeon absentmindedly.

The room went silent.

______________________________________________________________________________________

[12:30 pm at the Jung’s Mansion]

“Stupid..haa...

“Kwon..nggh…. “

“mphh…Yuri…”

Loud noises filled the corridors, the continuous pounding got louder when Yuri neared a door. “Sounds like her…”,  She was content that she has finally located the girl she’s been looking for, first reason mainly to clear things and ask her on whether they have shared a passionate night together. Second was that she heard the maid’s gossiping that Jessica hasn’t eaten her breakfast and refuses to eat lunch.

 “If it’s true…then I have to take responsibility!”, guilt again ruled her mind. Yuri was Jessica’s first, and the memories were so vivid when she took her innocence.

She carefully opened the door and saw a sweating Jessica, her hair in a pony tail and body clad in a sports bra and cycling shorts. The blonde girl looked so y in her outfit and the wet look didn’t help Yuri to stop gawking at the sight.

Jessica stopped with her boxing practice and stared at Yuri blankly, waiting for the tanned girl to say something.

“What do you want? You want me to stay away from you remember?”

Yuri shook her head and looked away, “I'm sorry...I didn't mean what I said this morning...but I was just wondering if…”, she stopped, still scared of hearing the answer from the blonde girl.

“If I did something to you last night.”

Jessica chuckled and came closer to Yuri. The tanned girl’s eyes started to look back at Jessica’s y neck and caught a red mark at the side, which looked somewhat like a hickey.

“Oh you did something to me alright and you need to take responsibility for it.”

“”

“And it really hurt a lot—“

“No”

“I felt hot liquid—“

“Gaaah!”

“Inside—“

“Pregnant?!”

“Aaaaahhhh!!!”, she kneeled down in front of Jessica and lowered her head in shame, she clasped her hands together in a prayer position and looked at the blonde with pleading eyes.

“I know! I know! I’ll take responsibility for it! Just tell me what to do and I swear I’ll do them all!”

Jessica stood still and was amused by the seriousness in her voice. “You promise you’ll do anything for me?”

Yuri stood up and clasped Jessica’s hands tightly, “I’ll do everything! Just state anything you want and I’ll give them to you ASAP!”

Jessica raised a brow and took her hands away from Yuri’s grip, “Why are you doing this?”

Yuri stared at her and honestly answered, “Because I care about you.”

The blonde girl blushed a little and looked away, “Well, you can start by bringing Daniel Henney in this house.“

“EEEEHHHH?!?”

Jessica glared at the tanned girl, “What? I thought you’ll do everything for me, I want Daniel Henney and I want him now.”, She walked towards a table and retrieved a pen and paper inside its compartment, she scribbled on a piece of paper and swiftly gave it to Yuri.

“This is the list that I want to happen by tonight.”

Yuri creased her brows and pouted upon reading the thing-to-do written in the paper.

“Are you serious? Have you even met him?”

“Of course I did, we chatted a little during a party. I’m sure he was hitting on me at that time. I kind of miss him but he’s an idiot for not getting my number.”, the blonde girl looked at the now gaping Yuri.

“You met the most handsome man in Korea, how could you not pounce on him and drain the life out of the man—“

Jessica showed a disgusted face to Yuri as if saying ‘are you for real’ expression. Yuri nervously laughed, “I’m sorry, anyway, do you have his number at least?”

“No.”, Jessica shrugged and crossed her arms, she stared at Yuri with a taunting face, “Figure it out for yourself.”

 “How the hell will I get him here?! I don’t even know how to reach him.”, she looked back at Jessica’s smirking face.  But Yuri just nodded at Jessica’s request, she did promise she’ll do everything for her.

“Give me more time, I’ll give you your Daniel Henney today at night.”, said Yuri, she gave Jessica a thumbs up and dashed out of the room.

The blonde girl sighed, she never thought of Yuri to agree on something like that. She was confused in Yuri’s recent behavior and now her being nice to the ice princess is a bit suspicious.

“What game are you playing now Kwon Yuri?”

______________________________________________________________________________________

“WHAT!?” Yuri shouted at the maid which made the rest of the maids cower in fear.

Yuri regretted what she did and apologized sincerely to the helpers, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that there was a snowstorm that blocked the roads.”, she learned from the maids that the other girls went home yesterday and she stayed for the reason that she was sick and will be well-taken care of in this mansion.

“But darn it, Jessica knew I can’t go out and searching for Daniel Henney.”

“What did you say miss?” said the maid, they started squealing when they heard the actor’s name.

“Daniel Henney, I need him in this house by night time, Jessica kinda ordered me to get him.”

“Oh dear, I’m afraid it’s impossible to do that now.”, the maids started to whisper to each other and thought of possible ways, “you can try giving her things related to him, if you want, we have a stack of Daniel Henney merchandise in our rooms.”

Yuri tilted her head to the side, “Like posters and stuff?”

“Everything.”, the maids grinned widely and it creeped the out of her.

Yuri nervously laughed, “Then can you please show them to me?”

The maids grabbed Yuri and hurriedly pushed her to their room. Yuri stumbled inside a small room that looked like a worshipping place. There she saw a life size wax statue of Daniel Henney shining brightly at the center, filled with flowers on and around it.

She surveyed the room and it is indeed filled with Daniel Henney miniature statues, posters, framed pictures, dvds, shirts, bobbing heads, and even wigs.

She continued to search for the best thing next to Daniel Henney but there was none. Suddenly, she hit the light bulb literally and thought of a better idea.

“Hey…can I borrow that for the night?”

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Play: Utada Hikaru- First Love (Piano instrumental)

“What is she up to? Tell me already.” Jessica waited for hours while patiently reading her novel at the library, she looked forward on what Yuri will do on her challenge to bring the actor in her mansion. And it was already night time, but there’s still no surprise and Yuri in sight.

The maid creased her brows and bowed apologetically, “I’m afraid I don’t have any knowledge on how she’ll bring the handsome actor here. But she asked me to give this to you."

Jessica received a box decorated with hearts and stars and stickers all over. Inside the box, she found a letter addressed to her from Daniel Henney. The letter contained the ‘great memories’ with their faithful encounter, or the things he liked about her, the reasons for his attraction towards her or even the things he wants to plan with her for the future.

“When you receive this magic box and whenever you feel lonely like me when I am not with you, or think of what I am thinking about throughout the day, you can open this box and be reminded that you are all I am thinking about.”

The maids started to squeal when they took a peek at the letter. Jessica on the other hand was not convinced with what was happening,“This is impossible, he wouldn’t do something like this for me.”

“He can’t come in here, the roads are closed remember.”

“But Miss Jessica, he could land in here with his helicopter and romantically sweep you off your feet just like in the movies!”

At the end of the letter was a post script, “I’ll see you later at dinner.”

Loud whispers and squeals filled the large living room as the maids huddled and jumped in excitement. Jessica still couldn’t believe what was happening, “This is a fake.”, she muttered and decided to go back to her room.

But upon arrival in front of the door, she noticed a bag of Hershey hugs hanging on the door knob. Confused, she took it anyway and decided to ask the helpers about it later. As soon as she entered her room, her jaw dropped by the sight of rose petals mixed with Hershey kisses scattered on the floor. With the lights off, Jessica took careful steps inside with only the candle lights illuminating the place, it lined up all the way to the bathroom.

A dozen of roses lined all over the bathtub with a card in plain view, and on the card wrote, “Now that I have hugged you before you walked in the door, kissed the ground that you walked on, and showered you with roses. Will you be mine forever?”

Jessica chuckled; she figured that Yuri’s been playing with her all this time but there’s no harm done savoring all this for the mean time.“This will be interesting.”, she undressed and indulged herself in the hot bath prepared for her.

The scented candles soothed her senses, and the elegant display of roses around the bathtub made her smile. She counted the roses, twelve and one is fake.

The fake rose had a note saying, “I will love you until the last rose dies…”

Jessica let out a frustrated squeal and dipped her head in the water, when there’s no more oxygen left, her head immediately resurfaced as she took a deep breath. She sighed and ate a chocolate.

“This is annoyingly sweet.”

 ✡✩✰☆✫✡✩✰☆✫

Jessica stood in front of the large door leading inside the ballroom where most of the parties they organized were held. She never really liked entering this room because it triggered most of her memories that dealt with conversing with business people. But tonight’s an exception; she received another letter on her vanity desk, saying to meet ‘Daniel Henney’ in the ballroom area.

She was all giddy inside but still placed a cool exterior. As soon as she opened the large doors, she was greeted by darkness; she squinted when a spotlight hit her. Jessica wore an elegant strapless white dress that complimented her blonde hair in fixed in a bun The frills and sequins on her dreass sparkled which made the girl more alluring.

As she took a step forward, music filters out softly from below. Like a princess, she went down the marbled steps with elegance, all the while eyeing the player behind the piano, she couldn’t see the face clearly because of the dimmed lights. She noticed the figure wearing a suit, guessing that it was a man. Every descent, she felt her heart race and the sweet melody that the piano produced wasn’t helping her to calm down.

Feet at the same ground as the man’s and realizing that they were the only the ones in the room, she questioned, “Daniel Henney, is that you?”

The man stopped playing and finally stood up to meet Jessica. Every step that the man took made it clear for Jessica to see his physique and the face that she eagerly wants to see. The blonde girl let out a giggle.

 “I knew it, Hello Daniel Henney, long time no see.”

The figure bowed like a prince, “You look very lovely tonight.” said Yuri with a muffled voice; she wore a Daniel Henney mask and a boy wig to make it look realistic.

Yuri offered her hand and Jessica nonchalantly took it. The spotlight suddenly went off and is replaced by cheery shades of Christmas lights all over the room. Yuri pulled the stunned girl towards a circular dinner table adorned by rose petals on the middle and scented candles as the center piece. Like a gentleman, she pulled a chair for Jessica to sit on.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Yuri said cheerfully. Jessica didn’t notice someone playing a violin nearby. She could only see the person right in front of her illuminated with a dim shade of yellow. She was itching to remove the mask out from Yuri but then she decided not to, afraid that would do something stupid in front of her if she sees her face again.

“But darn it, I can see her eyes.” those mesmerizing eyes that made her knees weak every time you stare at it for so long.

“Anyway, I hope you don’t mind the dishes I cooked for you.”, Yuri opened a food tray, revealing a mouth watering delicacy.

“I might not be a professional cook, but I cooked them all with tender loving care.”, Yuri laughed and ordered Jessica to eat some.

Jessica tried some and was amazed at Yuri’s talent for cooking. She made a good presentation with her dishes and the aroma didn’t fail her taste buds to function in savouring the food. Yuri smiled, satisfied that the girl’s enjoying her dishes.

Almost half way done with what her eating, Yuri caught Jessica staring at her. As Yuri’s eyes met hers, Jessica quickly looked away and made herself busy by playing with her pasta. Yuri continued to stare at her and waited for Jessica to say something.

But the blonde girl continued to play her part of being an ice princess; no words were uttered as she reached for her wide brimmed cocktail glass and brought her little straw to her lips. 

Yuri watched as those full red lips of hers locked down on the straw as she started to slowly . As she did, she looked back at Yuri from the corner of her eye, as if she was checking to see if Yuri had really caught her. 

Yuri smiled though not evident because of the mask, she raised her wine glass to her in a gesture that showed that "yes, I saw you looking at me" at the same time showing that she was happy. 

She could see Jessica becoming embarrassed as she seemed to blush and continued to clumsily drink her beverage. 

Yuri stood up and whispered something to the violinist. With a nod, the player made an exit, and few seconds later, music filled the room once again. 

“Can I have this dance?”, Yuri said in a hopeful tone, she was standing in front Jessica like a nervous teenage boy asking someone out to dance for prom night. Her hands stretched for Jessica to reach.

Jessica half-smiled and took Yuri’s sweaty hand, but she didn’t mind it, in fact, she found it cute for Yuri to be nervous too. 

As the music softly played its sweet melody, Yuri took a breath and pulled Jessica closer her. The latter was a bit stiff but a soon Yuri muttered, “Don’t worry, I will take the lead.”, and Jessica relaxed just by the assuring voice, making her feel safe in Yuri’s arms.

They let the music as their guide and they swayed with their bodies so close.Jessica leaned in pressed her body on Yuri’s and laid her head on her shoulder, trying to avoid Yuri’s mesmerizing eyes. If she continued to stare at them, then she wouldn’t be able to control herself anymore.

The tanned girl chuckled and whispered in Jessica’s ear, “Are enjoying our little date?”

Jessica pulled away a little and kept her eyes locked on Yuri’s.

”Kwon Yuri, you are full of surprises.”

 

“I know, I’m so clever huh. I checked everything in your list. Just imagine me being Daniel Henney and all is good. I am the closest thing next to Daniel Henney in your wet dream.”, Yuri said as she wiggled her brows.

See Daniel Henney. Check.

Recieve a memorable gift. Check.

Do something sweet by showering her with chocolates and roses. Double check.

Play a piano piece for her. Check.

Dinner date. Check.

Dance. Check

“No, you missed something in the list.”

"Make my heart race like crazy. Check."

“What! No way, I checked everything—“

Jessica glared at Yuri as she squeezed the tanned girl’s shoulders.

“I…fine…though I’m not sure how magical it would feel if you kiss a plastic mask—“

Jessica stopped her from talking as she slowly took off the mask on her face and carresed her closed wound on her cheek. Jessica tiptoed to kiss it.

Yuri started to blush at the sensation and it triggered some weird feelings at the pit of her stomach, she found Jessica’s face so close to her, the girl’s pink lips so inviting and the alluring almond eyes glistening like stars.

“Kiss me.”

Yuri didn’t have to move as Jessica couldn’t take it any longer and planted a soft chaste kiss on Yuri’s lips.