Round Ninety-Two

“Where are. We going?” mumbled Krystal as they hauled her up from the seat.

“Home.”

“No…the party isn’t. Over…”

“It is now.”

“But unnie. Unnie’s presents.”

“My presents? I have presents? Where are they?” Jessica demanded to know.

Tiffany shot the older sister a quelling glare and proceeded to push Krystal into the limousine.

Once everyone was in, she instructed the chauffeur to send them back to the Jung residence.

“Jessi, you really need to watch over your sister properly.”

“She’s old enough.”

“You have more experience.”

“That’s why I know nothing will happen. Relax, you’re blowing things out of proportion.”

“How are you going to take care of your baby if you’re so relaxed about everything?” Tiffany was exasperated with Jessica’s nonchalant take on things.

“Does being relaxed mean that I won’t be a good mother?” Jessica looked alarmed and Tiffany softened her tone immediately.

“I don’t mean it like that. I know that you’ll be a good mother. The fact that you managed to stay off alcohol the entire night proves that point. I’m just trying to say that we shouldn’t wait till something happens before reacting. If we had let Krystal continue, there’s no telling what the guy might have done.”

“But we were all there. The guy knew that. Besides, we know the owner of the club. Nothing can happen to Soojung in there.”

“Jessi.”

“Tif.”

“Alright you two. Cut it out. You’re both right and wrong. But it doesn’t matter at this point.”

Jessica and Tiffany huffed at each other and looked away. This was clearly a case of differing opinions and there wasn’t going to be a compromise on either side. All Amber and Suzy could do were to shrug and focus on taking care of Krystal who was rummaging around the seats for something.

“UN. NIE!” she shrieked suddenly and hurled herself onto Jessica with a bag in her hands. “Your present!”

“Soojung ah, sit down properly. You’re going to fall.”

“Unnie.” Krystal complied and sat on the seat next to Jessica. The younger girl leaned over Jessica’s shoulder and urged her to open it. “Go on, open it. See what’s inside!”

Jessica grinned. “Okay.” She opened the bag and tore the wrapping paper that surrounded the bundle. Then, she gasped. In her hands was the most revealing set of lingerie she had ever seen. It definitely wasn’t meant to cover anything. More like, exposure was its motto. To begin with, it was sheer. So sheer that it might as well not have been there. Secondly, there was barely any of it. Just strips that were sewn together.

“They told me. That you will have. To get a wax to. Look good in it.” Krystal was coherent but halting in her speech. “So…this voucher. Is for you.” Krystal handed her a gift voucher that entitled her to a three hour session at a premier wax and spa. “Do. You like it?”

Jessica’s wide smile was her answer and she nodded her head before giving Krystal a warm hug. Then, she hugged Amber and Suzy too. “Thanks you girls.” And finally, she turned to Tiffany. “Tif.” Her arms were wide open and Tiffany could not help but give in to Jessica’s smile.

“I love you Jessi.”

“I love you too.”

And they hugged tightly, appreciating the many years of close friendship they had shared till this moment.

~~~~~
Meanwhile, the men had made a quick exit from Seventh Heaven and arrived at Cloud Nine. Young in particular, was especially antsy. Yul was relatively calm but he looked worried too. There was no doubt that the men were uneasy about what had gone down at the ladies’ party.

They entered the place and Young made a beeline for the head bartender that had be transferred from Seventh Heaven to help with the new place. Young knew him well and trusted him for information.

“Hey bro, did you see my girlfriend and her girls here?”

“They left just a while ago.”

“They left? Did you see what happened? Who was Krys dancing with?”

“Oh, she was with one of our male dancers.”

“What else did the do?”

“Hey cool it Young. GD would never do anything nasty to girls. She arranged for him and another of our dancers to give her sister a show in their area. Next thing I saw, your girl was dancing with GD.”

“She arranged it? Who allowed it and didn’t tell me? I only got the VIP seats for her, I didn’t agree to male dancers dancing in their box!”

“I did it.” A voice came from behind and they turned to see the owner appearing. “She asked me for help so I helped her. I thought it was cute that she’d think of something like that. Of course, it was just an innocent plan. I think she got the idea from movies and stuff like that.”

“Hyung,” groaned Young, “that’s my girlfriend and Yul’s wife and Taeng’s girl we’re talking about. And that GD guy danced with my girl!”

“How do you know that?”

“Hyung. Look.” Young showed the owner the picture on his phone. “That’s too much.”

The owner glanced at the picture and looked sharply at Young. “Who sent you that picture?”

Young shrugged. “Why is that important?”

“Because if that person works for me, I’m going to fire them.”

“Hyung, chill. Why are you going to fire her?”

“Oh, so it’s a her? Which girl is it? I won’t have a girl like that working for me.”

“Young,” Yul stepped up and placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, “he wants to know because this girl has an ulterior motive for sending you that picture. On top of that, if she’s going to do such things to other people in future, it won’t be good for his business. Think about it.”

Young frowned. “Which girl…?” He thought for a while before coming to a sudden realization. “Ah. It’s the girl whom I showed Krystal’s message to. Oh no. it’s that girl.” He pointed across the room at a girl who was walking out from the washrooms towards a booth. “She was very sticky that night but I didn’t let her get too close to me.”

“Well, she’s gone by tonight,” the owner said with a grim face. “What she did is totally unethical, considering that she works for me.”

“Hyung.”

“Young, go easy on your girl. GD dances y but that’s the way he dances. He’s a nice guy. He won’t do anything rude to your girl.”

“Thanks for the info, hyung.”

“Now get out of my club and stop wasting my time over such a trivial matter.”

~~~~~
The men arrived at the Jung residence and trooped in to find their women. Yul was anxious to know if Jessica was alright and was most relieved to see her sitting on the couch in the living room looking disinterested as Tiffany and Amber tried to get Krystal to drink some water.

Yul almost laughed. Jessica had been so supportive and angelic in recent days that he’d almost forgotten about the icy princess that lay dormant in her. Yes. There she was in her full glory. Jessica Jung, the nonchalant, lazy and dreamy. However, that classic look on her face gave way to a full blown smile when the said princess saw him. She opened her arms wide without getting up and waited for him to walk into her arms.

He gave her a warm hug and kissed her gently, sweeping her hair out of her eyes as he did. “How was your party, baby?”

“It was fun but I’m tired.”

“Tired? Already? Did you dance? Drink?”

“I only drank mocktails. I didn’t dance. But watching them dance made me feel tired.”

“Wow, even the male dancers couldn’t get you to stand up?” Yul joked.

Jessica raised a brow. “How did you know that there were male dancers?”

Yul nodded towards Young and Jessica looked enlightened.

“Ah, him. Anyway, the male dancers were good but they didn’t interest me much. When they showed us their abs, all I could think of was your abs.” Jessica then smiled shyly and added in a whisper, “And your second place.”

Yul laughed out loud and looked at her with affection radiating from his eyes. “Baby, baby, what am I to do with you…?”

“Love me.”

“I love you.”

~~~~~
Over on the other side, Young had picked Krystal up in his arms and brought her up to her room after thanking Tiffany, Amber and Suzy for looking after her. The girls then left to go home in the limousine and he had gone back to Krystal’s side immediately.

He laid her on her bed and sat beside her, studying her delicate features that somehow came together in such a pleasing way. He sighed. It was a lost cause. How was he supposed to be angry with her when she was so innocent? She was probably just having a good time. Besides, Jessica and all the other girls were there with her.

It was time to go. He’d have to make way for one of the attendants to help her out of her clothes and get her ready for bed. He planted a kiss on her forehead and was about to pull away when she flung her arms around him and held on tight.

“Krys,” he whispered. “Krys, I have to go.”

“No…stay…” she mumbled.

He gulped. If there had been any anger in him at all, it would have completed quelled by these whispered words.

“I miss you…” she mumbled again.

His heart stopped. It stopped for a whole second before beating again. That was it. He had lost. He could no longer remember what he was supposed to do. The only thing he knew was that he wanted to lie in her arms like this forever. With her mumbling her drunken sweet nothings in his ear.

“I miss you too, Krys.”

Then, he couldn’t talk anymore. Krystal had latched her lips onto his and was giving him a run for his money. She seemed to be even better at kissing when she was drunk, he thought. But that was the last coherent thought he could manage for his senses were shot by the feeling of her lips on his, nuzzling like a Pooh to a honeypot.

He froze for a split second when the sudden realization that they were, in fact, in her room which meant that they were in the vicinity of Mr. Jung but that thought slipped into oblivion as soon as she pulled his hand onto her chest and pressed it against one of her. His mind was overclocking as it registered her softness in his hand. His hand seemed to know exactly what to do with her. It was what hands were meant to do after all. Squeeze.

She moaned. He moaned. And he detached his lips from hers to kiss a trail along her jaw right to her ear where he nibbled on her earlobe for a while. Meanwhile, he had found and tugged down the strap of her form-fitting dress. He then kissed his way down her neck to her bared shoulder and it was only a matter of time before he found the zipper at the back and pulled it down.

He tugged on the fallen strap and the dress fell to one side, revealing half of her, clad in a deep dark blue brassiere. He could hardly breathe. How could such beauty have descended the earth? She was an angel. An angel who had come down from heaven to save him from the throngs of girls who meant nothing.

Suddenly, the word he least expected emerged in his head. Stop. Stop. Stop. She was drunk. Stop. She wouldn’t remember any of this in the morning. Stop. Stop! He stopped. She whined. He almost gave in again but he managed to shut his eyes and stop. He lay down on his back and looked up at the ceiling. Cool down, he thought. Cool down. He was raging down below but that call couldn’t be answered just yet. Not tonight. Not yet. Argh.

~~~~~
“Did you have fun Taetae?” Tiffany asked Taeng as he drove them to her place in her car that she had parked on the Jung grounds.

“Yes. We drank beer and did our male bonding thing. It was fun.”

Tiffany laughed. “You’re so cute. When did you start being so cute Taetae?”

Taeng blushed. “I don’t know.”

~~~~~
“Come to bed, Taetae. We’ll fix the seating arrangements together tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Taeng replied and clicked to save the document before shutting down the computer. He then made his way to her bed and climbed onto it. Tiffany snuggled up to him as soon as he lay down and rested her hand on his chest.

“Taetae,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes.

“Should I…”

She could hear him saying softly but the question was left hanging so she opened her eyes and prodded him. “Should you…?”

“Oh. Nothing.”

“No, there isn’t nothing. There’s something. What is it, Taetae?”

“I’m going to the gym tomorrow, Fany ah.”

“Why?” Tiffany was surprised. Taeng wasn’t the sort who worked out a lot. He didn’t have the clearly defined six-pack abs but she adored his unique brand of one equal ab. Taeng’s ab. She loved it just as it was.

“I’m going to be Yul’s best man. I think I should…work out like he does.”

Tiffany giggled. Taeng was insanely cute. She couldn’t even handle it any more. “Taetae, I don’t think working out for one day is going to turn you into a Yul.”

“But—”

“Yul didn’t choose you to be his best man because of your ab or abs. The two of you have been sticking together for years now. It’s more than just an ab or two.”

“But—”

“Or are you working out to attract the ladies?”

Taeng’s eyes widened in shock. “What? No! I’m not! I only want you!” He calmed down when she started to giggle and added, “I’ll get abs if you want me to get them.”

Tiffany smiled and shook her head. “I don’t want my Taetae to become a hunk. I don’t want my Taetae to turn into something else. I just want you the way you are. You and your one equal ab.”

Taeng blushed. “Okay. I won’t work out like Yul.”

“Goodnight, Taetae.”

“Goodnight, Fany ah.”

~~~~~
“How did the night go, Hyunnie?” ask Hyoyeon on the other end of the line.

“It ended earlier than planned because Young saw a picture of Krystal dancing with another man.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

“Nothing happened. It turned out to be a male dancer and when we got to the Jungs, it turned out that Krystal was quite drunk.”

“I see. So what did you guys do for the party?”

“Nothing much. All we did was drink beer and talk.”

“It’s the company that matters.”

“I had a good time. But they were teasing me.”

“Why?”

“Because…”

“Because…?”

“Because…we…haven’t…”

“What haven’t we done?”

Hyun coughed violently. “We haven’t had .”

“What?”

“We haven’t had .”

“Oh. Er…”

There was a period of awkward silence until Hyun tried to break the ice. “We don’t have to just because.”

“Do you want to?”

“I like what we have. I think we’re doing fine. I don’t need any more right now.”

“Me too. I like how I can share what I like with you and how you share your stuff with me too.”

Hyun laughed. “Like my gogumas and your coloured pens and stickers?”

“Yeah! And I think it’s time you learnt another dance move!”

Hyun nodded vigorously even though Hyoyeon couldn’t see him nod. “Yes! Yes. I think it’s time to learn a less straining move. My hips always ache after doing that move.”

“That’s because you your hips too much. You should learn something else to add some variety.”

“Okay!”

~~~~~
“Was it fun?” Sunny asked as she embraced him in her pajamas. Yoong had not gone back home, instead, opting to head to her home instead.

“It was great. We haven’t had that kind of party since we got our girlfriends. It’s cool to gather like this again, with new friends.”

“You can arrange it more often if you miss hanging out with them.”

“I think I will.” Yoong smiled and patted Sunny’s head. “Good idea, bunny.”

“Now, come to bed. I’m sleepy.”

“Can we do something else other than sleep?”

“No. Sleep. Now.”

~~~~~
Young stared and gulped. Krystal was a picture of invitation and his body was screaming yes while his mind was whimpering no. But he tore his eyes from her and headed to her chest of drawers in search of some clothes for her.

He had decided that getting an attendant wasn’t a good idea since it was now too obvious that they’d been making out. Hell. He was burning. She was writhing on the bed, calling for him. Hearing his name in her voice turned his insides gooey. Hell.

He found a large t-shirt and decided that it was long enough to cover the essentials. Then, he headed back to her and tried to remove her dress. It wasn’t easy. It was so fitting that it hugged every curve of hers and his heart constantly reminded him of how fragile it was and how susceptible to stopping it was.

Finally, the dress was off and she rolled over with her legs splayed across the bed. He gulped again. Was she trying to do him in? If she was, she was certainly succeeding. He shook his head to clear it and climbed back onto the bed. He hoisted her into a sitting position and tried to put the t-shirt over her head. Her head went through and all he had left to do was to get her arms through. It wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be and he was in the middle of pushing her arm through one sleeve when the door opened suddenly.

He jumped in his skin, completely startled and tensed even more when Jessica stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

“What are you doing?” she asked in an icy tone.

“H-Helping Krys-tal to change.”

“Why didn’t you get one of our helpers to do it.” Jessica gestured for him to get up as she walked towards him.

“I-I…I…”

“You weren’t thinking, were you. Well, thanks for trying to take care of her. I’ll take over this. You can go now.”

“Okay. I’ll leave.” Young handed Krystal over to Jessica and stood up to leave.

“Hold on a sec. I’m curious.”

“Curious?”

“How did you know that there were male dancers?”

“I asked my friend who is the owner of the place.”

“So…you would know.”

“What would I know?”

“Soojung. Dancing.”

“I know.”

Jessica gave him the once over. Slowly. Deliberately. “Maybe you’re cooler than I thought.”

“I’m sorry? What do you mean by that?”

“Most guys would probably get angry and I don’t know…do something stupid if they knew that their girlfriend was dancing with a male dancer. They were dancing really close too, I’m sure the owner told you that.”

Young nodded. “He told me.”

Jessica nodded and smiled. “You’re cooler than I thought. You like Soojung a lot huh.”

“I love her.”

“And I’m beginning to believe that you do. Goodnight, Young.”

“Goodnight, Jessica. I’ll see you the day after. Your wedding will be fantastic, I’m sure.”

“Yes, it will.”

~~~~~