As the week passed by, the pressure of school and the Economics project became even greater for Jessica. It also didn’t help that she was fighting with her mother even more often than usual. Mrs. Jung couldn’t accept the fact that her daughter was defying her on many occasions and she tried even harder to control her. Jessica was just counting down the days until they leave for L.A. and get everything over with. She was so fed up with the constant worrying at all times during the day about what is going to happen at school, with her mother at home and during the competition that she felt as if she would go crazy. The girl often found herself lying in bed curled up in a ball and crying because everything was too overwhelming. The only times she wasn’t feeling that way were when she was either with Taeyeon or her best friend Sooyoung. They both somehow managed to just make her forget about her problems, so she decided to spend as much time with them as she could. Mostly with Taeyeon because she always had this constant urge to see her and talk to her.  

“So, did you replace me?” Sooyoung asked her best friend with a serious tone in her voice as they were walking home from school. She didn’t look the girl in the eyes as she spoke but instead just stared straight ahead.

“What? What do you mean by that?” Jessica was very confused and didn’t know where this question Sooyoung asked her came from at all.

“Well, you’ve been hanging out with Kim Taeyeon a lot lately, so I was just wondering if she’s your new best friend now or something…” the taller girl voiced her concern and Jessica laughed out loud because everything she was hearing sounded so ridiculous.

“Are you kidding me? Dude, you know I’d never do that. Only you are entitled to be called my best friend. No one else,” Jessica explained while still laughing. “Now stop thinking bull and put some music on. It’s too quiet here.”

Sooyoung smiled because she was satisfied with her best friend’s answer and quickly took out her phone. After plugging her headphones in and giving one to Jessica, she then opened Spotify and searched for some song that she knew both her and Jessica liked a lot. A few seconds later, both of them could hear Block B’s song “Nillili Mambo” begin playing, making each of them smile.

As they then continued walking, Sooyoung sang along to the song without caring if the people that passed them on the street thought she was insane. Jessica just shook her head at the taller girl’s action, but the smile never left her face. You’re one crazy girl, Choi Sooyoung. But you’re my best friend and I love you no matter what…

When Jessica got home about two hours later that day, she walked inside the apartment while still grinning like an idiot. She had spent about an hour and a half talking with Sooyoung at their usual spot because they didn’t want to part ways yet. The place wasn’t anything special really. It was at a bench near some building where they’d usually sit down and talk before they’d have to go their separate ways because they live in different parts of the neighborhood – Sooyoung in the far west side while Jessica at the other end. It wasn’t that far if you were to look at it on Google Maps. They live about 20 minutes away from each other if they walk.

Jessica placed her shoes in a small cupboard in the corridor and then walked straight inside her bedroom, greeting only her sister Krystal and not her mother when she passed through the living-room. She didn’t even look at Mrs. Jung at all, as if she didn’t exist. This made the older woman angry and she obviously wouldn’t let it slide. So Mrs. Jung then made her way to Jessica’s room right after her daughter and said with an annoyed tone, “Can you be a little more respectful towards me?”

“Why should I? You don’t show any respect for me. You always tell me what to do without giving a damn what I want,” Jessica yelled at her mother, her mood now completely different than the one from before. Mrs. Jung just stood there and stared at her daughter’s tear-filled eyes without saying anything. “I understand that you have this future laid out for me and you want to do everything you can to help me turn it into reality, but you’re just making things worse with always meddling in. Can you please just let me do things myself for once?”

“I’m just trying to help you, honey, you know that…” Mrs. Jung said a few seconds later, her voice now completely different than the one from a minute ago when she had stormed into the room. You could actually say that it’s gentle, like a mother’s voice is supposed to sound. The woman then sat down on Jessica’s bed next to her daughter and wrapped her arms around her child’s body, embracing the girl. “I’m sorry if I went overboard. I just want you to succeed in everything you do.”

Jessica then began crying while her face was buried in her mother’s neck. Mrs. Jung was gently her daughter’s back in order to comfort her. She really felt like she went overboard this time, so she’d try to back off a little and trust that Jessica would be fine.

This was the first time in a long while that they’ve had a moment like this and it was nice. Jessica had missed this, having a kind and caring mother and not a control freak. But she knew that this wouldn’t last long. In a day or two, her mother would be back to her usual ways. That’s how it always has been between them. Still, she’d enjoy this for as long as it lasted anyway.

A couple of minutes later, Mrs. Jung left Jessica alone in her bedroom to have some time to herself. The girl changed her clothes and washed up quickly, then went to lie down on her bed. Afterwards, she grabbed her phone because she needed to check Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. She was completely and utterly obsessed with Social Media. Also, she wanted to see if she had a text message from a certain someone. When she unlocked it, she noticed that she indeed did have some unread messages from the person she wanted them to be the most – Taeyeon. There were also some in the group chat for the Economics project and from her best friend but she ignored them for now because she really wanted to see those from Taeyeon.

Kim Taeyeon: Hey cutie! <3 Did you get home safe? ^^

Kim Taeyeon: I’m just checking because I want to make sure nothing bad happened to you after school.  You know there are all kinds of psychos out there.

Kim Taeyeon: So yeah…

Kim Taeyeon: I’m texting too much again. Sorry about that… I’ll just wait for you to reply. :D :D

A huge grin appeared on Jessica’s face as soon as she saw what Taeyeon had written. She found it rather adorable that the girl was checking up on her, even though she was worrying for nothing because nothing could really happen in broad daylight, but still. She’s such a dork…

Jessica Jung: I got home safe. Don’t worry, haha :D :D I was walking with my best friend, so the psychos couldn’t have done anything.

Jessica Jung: Well, unless they’re really mentally unstable and don’t care. :D

Jessica Jung: Anyway, don’t worry about flooding the chat with many messages. I don’t mind. ^-^ It’s kinda adorable actually.

Jessica sent three messages to the other girl in about less than a minute and received an immediate reply from her.

Kim Taeyeon: That’s good. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you, you know? :D hahah..

Jessica read that and her smile grew even wider, especially when Taeyeon sent some really cute puppy sticker afterwards. She then began typing her next message.

Jessica Jung: Everything’s fine. I’m not going anywhere. I promise! ;) <3  

After she sent it, she continued typing and was about to send another one, but was interrupted unfortunately by Hara who was calling her on the phone.

“Hey! What’s up?” Jessica said as soon as she answered the call.

“Hey, Jess. Are you free rig