CHAPTER TWELVE: The Last Twenty-Four

ONE

Jessica Jung awakens at twelve midnight unexpectedly, hours after she said her final goodbyes to her dearest sister. The last thing she remembers is letting Krystal go to heaven and falling to the ground. Since she was in her bed at the moment, it seemed as if some godly magic managed to bring her home unharmed- that, or she sleep walked all the way from the cemetery to her house, which sounds pretty much impossible, even for a not-so-normal girl like her.

She touches her neck, feeling for the ice princess pendant, just as she always did whenever she woke up. She had forgotten that the necklace was lost in the early hours of yesterday. And she frowns.

Jessica does not know what to do. She turns to her side and looks to the outside world.

She wishes her angel would fly back in.

She closes her eyes and tries to get some sleep.

Somewhere in the universe, a clock starts ticking.

THIRTEEN

She opens her eyes again more than half the day later with a peculiar feeling tapping her in the back. The ice princess felt like she was awake the whole time, like she was never asleep to begin with. She stared at the clock. It read 12:00PM.

She had been asleep for half the damn day.

Jessica stood up, not really know what to do. These days it’s been so hard for her. She had been feeling like she lost direction ever since he flew away to god knows where- and maybe god really does know- and left her to her own devices, which wasn’t a very bright idea, in her opinion.

Maybe she believed too much in fairy tales and meant-to-bes and TV soap operas, though those things rarely ever happened in real life. Maybe she was just too naive. Maybe she was just too soft. Maybe her sister’s death broke her. Maybe she was just plain stupid, or too optimistic. She didn’t know.

And at that hour she kept thinking of what reason he would have to leave her. Jessica knew he wasn’t the type of guy who does one night stands or the love you and disappear and break your heart type of guy.

He was Onew- sweet, loving, caring, genuine.

If there was anything he was, it was genuine.

There’s no way he would leave her because he wanted to. There must’ve been a good reason for him to just up and go like that.

And maybe that’s what drives her not to give up, knowing that he would’ve never wanted to leave her- that he wanted her to find him; that if she got lost or ran away, he would chase her.

She knew that if she had gone missing, he would spend all his days, losing his mind, searching for her.

He would find her.

He would wait for her.

She stands up and heads into the bathroom.

She will find him.

And she had to hurry.

FOURTEEN

Jessica dons a pair of white skinny jeans and a gold knitted long-sleeve top. She wears her brown combat boots and takes out her purse and phone.

Her stomach grumbles and she puffs her cheeks for no matter how much in a hurry she was, she could not deny herself of food.She leaves her things on the kitchen’s countertop and heads to the refrigerator.

She pulls open the door and sees that there is nothing left for her to eat.

“Crap,” she says out loud without meaning too. She needed to eat. She was starving. And now that she remembers yesterday was supposed to be grocery shopping day, she realizes she has to go out. But it’s one in the afternoon and she had to eat right now. After all, she didn’t have breakfast or lunch yet. She had to put off the grocery shopping for later in the afternoon. And she couldn’t think of any other place to go but her friend Junhyung’s coffee shop. Jessica really didn’t know why but she wasn’t feeling like going any other place. Then again, had been meaning to visit him again anyway, but that was before she ‘lost’ her ‘boyfriend.’

“Well, I guess now would be a good time to go.”

She sighs and grabs her keys.

Jessica arrives at Junhyung’s coffee shop half an hour later, which is at 1:30PM and stops in front of the building, checking if her friend was in the shop today. She giggles as she sees him leaning over the take-out counter towards a pretty lady in sweatpants and a jacket. Jessica recognized her immediately.  And she smiles when she sees them laughing together.

It was Hyuna, his fiancée.

She giggles. Jessica was supposed to have a little chat and catch-up time with her old friend, but seeing as he had more important things to do, the ice princess debated on whether to just walk in and make it quick or to just leave the shop altogether.

In the end she decided to walk in. And as she pushed the front door open, the bell that signals the entrance of a new customer coming in chimes, and all the people in the cafe- excluding Junhyung and Hyuna, who seemed to be way too busy doing their own  thing, to be exact- turned their heads to look in her direction. Jessica raised her eyebrows, ignoring the people who are probably back to minding their own business now, and continued to walk to the cashier. She ordered a large iced mocha latte with whipped cream and a large blueberry muffin, to go. She had to sit at the table near the take-out counter so she could pick up her order really fast and get on with her life. Jessica’s goal was to make it out without Junhyung or Hyuna ever seeing she got in, and she was trying to cover her hair with her face so that no one would notice her. Though really, Junhyung seemed pretty much wrapped up in the way Hyuna spoke. You could tell from the way he put the whip cream on his wrist instead of in the coffee. Jessica giggled when she saw this.

‘God, is he a dork or what?’

Then she remembers how much of a dork Onew was and she was thinking about how wrapped up she got in him when he spoke.

He is a dork.

She is a dork as well- with him, at least- and she does not deny it.

For a moment she drowns in her thoughts of the boy who moves a lot, until...

“Mocha Latte and Blueberry Muffin for... Miss Jessica?” A familiar voice calls out. Crap. She totally forgot that the guy calling out the names and making the coffee today was Junhyung. He smiles as Jessica makes her way to the take-out counter. Hyuna waves at her.

“Sica!” Junhyung greets her as she approaches the take-out counter. He puts the paper bag down and slides out through the small opening under that was meant for the employees. He welcomes her with a hug.

“Hey!” he says. “Why didn’t I see you come in?”

And Jessica giggles.

“Well I guess you were too wrapped up in this beautiful lady over here.” Her eyes dart over to Hyuna.

“Whipped cream on your wrist, seriously?” Jessica laughs as she punches him in the chest playfully.

“What kind of spell are you under, Yong Junhyung?” The ice princess says as Hyuna lets out a small chuckle and Junhyung takes the his lady’s hand, pulling her closer to where he and Jessica stood. He wraps her arm around her waist.

“Nice to see you again, Jess!” Hyuna beams.

“You too,” says Jessica as she kisses Hyuna’s cheek. “So I heard you’re getting marriiiied~”

Hyuna raises her right hand, revealing the gold wrapped around her ring finger.

“Congratulations!!!” Jessica squeals, clapping and jumping up and down excitedly. She is truly happy for the both of them, yet sadly she wishes she would find that kind of love someday.

And maybe she will have that, maybe just not with him

“Thanks,” the couple choruses as the man pulls his girl in tighter.

“Oh wait!” says Junhyung. “I almost forgot.”

He reaches over to the other side of the take-out counter, grabbing the paper bag he put down a few minutes ago. He smiles a teasing smile.

“Mocha Latte and Blueberry Muffin for... Miss Jessica.”

The blonde girl rolls her eyes. `

“Thank you, sir,” she says, taking the paper bag from his hand. “You know Jun, you’re really-“ she tries to say, but all three of them look to the right when they see a the familiar face of a man. She knew him- a little short for a dude, brunet, same wide smile, a face she got used to seeing every single school day of her life.

FIFTEEN

“SICA?”

“Jjong!” She stares in surprise as he approaches her. Jonghyun pulls Jessica into a hug.

“Hey man,” Junhyung says, fistbumping Jonghyun who happened to be his friend as well.

“Hey,” he smiles. “Oh,” Jjong looks at Hyuna. “Who’s this lady over here?”

“Oh, yeah,” Junhyung replies. “You guys don’t know each other.”

He takes Hyuna’s hand once more and glances in her direction. She smiles a sweet smile at her fiancé and looks at Jonghyun.

“This is Kim Hyuna,” the barista says. “She’s my fiancée.”

“Nice to meet you!” Hyuna says cheerfully, extending her hand for Jonghyun to shake. The latter seemed to be shocked at meeting her, though his expression returned to normal after he was given a few seconds to take it all in.

Jonghyun takes Hyuna’s hand and shakes it. “Wow, no way man. Congratulations!”

“Thanks, man,” Junhyung says. “So what brings you here? It’s been a really long time since I’ve see you. I mean you and Jess are always so busy or something.” He laughs.

“I’m here with someone actually, a friend.” Jonghyun glances at the door. “He’s probably just out trying to figure out the parking. He’s not from here, and he wanted to have something at the best place I knew. So I came here.”

“Sweet,” Junhyung says. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

The bell by the door chimes, and a blonde man in Ray Ban aviators enters the place. He looks around the room and smiles, then starts to walk towards the group.

“Hey man, you’re here!”

Jessica freezes.

Why does she feel like she knows this guy?

"Sica?” She hears Jonghyun say, but she does not respond.

“Heeeeey.” Junhyung waves his hands in front of her, then he claps his hands. Jessica shakes her head.

“Huh?”

Jonghyun clears his throat. “This is my friend...” he says as he motions over to the man on his right. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts to even catch his name but the guy smiles as he extends his hand forward to shake Jessica’s.

Jessica’s eyes widen in shock. She didn’t notice when Jonghyun’s friend took off his sunglasses, but now that she sees all of him clearly, she feels like she recognizes him.

The image of a blonde man waving two familiar people goodbye as their car leaves a familiar yet unfamiliar driveway.

“You...” she stares.

He blinks, his forehead forming creases, confused.

“You’re that guy!”

She slowly backs away from the new face and her friends, and soon she finds herself running away from the coffee shop on impulse, a paper bag in her hand. From there she leaves the “familiar stranger” with his hand extended forward, staring after her, and three people who have known her forever feeling like they don’t know her at all.

SEVENTEEN

Jessica finds herself on a bench somewhere near the cemetery, which is like an hour away from her house and and hour and a half away from Junhyung’s place. She knew it would take a long time to get where she was on foot, but she didn’t think it would take two hours and she didn't think it would be this tiring.

She leans her head on the park bench, thinking about meeting the man in her dreams- not of her dreams, because that would constitute to a whole different person- and all the weird things that have been happening to her. I mean, people can see ghosts and talk to them but not many people can touch them. Some people can go an entire lifetime without experiencing this. And how often do you dream of a guy you’ve never seen your entire damn life, then meet him like days later and he turns out to be acquainted to one of your closest friends.

How damn often does that happen?

And for the next hour, she does nothing but think. Kill time, and think.

EIGHTEEN

She sighs and sits there for a moment with her head propped up on her hand. Then, she remembers the paper bag that she put down beside her when she got to the bench about an hour ago. She knows that the ice in her mocha latte is probably melted by now, and it probably doesn’t taste like a mocha latte anymore but who cares. She also knows that the muffin may not be as hot as she hoped when she thought about eating it, but who cares. It’s still a muffin. She takes it out and starts on it, taking sips of her coffee while doing so.

She thought about how stupid she looked, alone on a bench eating take-out coffee and a muffin.

And maybe if he was here, he would be eating the muffin with her.

Maybe she would find him if she got her of the bench and started looking again.

But she was tired all week searching everywhere for her friend- or boyfriend, or whatever he was- and now she didn’t know where to look. So she thinks she is entitled to at least a moment, or a day, to herself- though it seemed that even in the moment meant for self time, all she thought about was him and him alone. She really needed to get it together so she could find him. And she realizes it’s five in the afternoon and she thinks about what she’s going to have for dinner.

That’s when she thinks about shopping.

“Crap,” she says for the second time today.

She shoves the muffin in and downs the last of the drink, grabs her purse and runs to the grocery store near her place.

NINETEEN

Jessica gets to the store in time and grabs a shopping cart. She goes through every aisle, taking what she thinks she needs as she goes since she forgot to make a grocery list like she always does. She rushes for some reason and she felt a little more than impatient. She didn’t know why. So she goes through the aisles trying and failing not to look like she was rushing. She finished in less time than she usually would.

TWENTY

Tick Tock

Tick Tock

Tick Tock

 Five more hours, mortal girl.

Please.

I don’t want to punish your angel.

I don’t want him to disappear.

Jessica arrives home at 7:00 PM. She unlocks her door as the taxi cab driver helps carry her groceries up to her doorstep. Then she thanks him and gives him the fare, then walks inside and shuts her door. The ice princess ties her hair up in a high ponytail and rolls the sleeves of her golden knitted top up before arranging her groceries. She takes the paper bags to the kitchen and starts taking out the groceries and stocking them up on her shelves. Jessica looks around, thinking maybe she bought a little too much. Maybe in those moments at the store she had forgotten that she was living alone- that her sister, Krystal, was gone for good. And she lets out a sigh before getting back to work. When she is done stocking up, arranging things and taking out the trash, she decides to clean up- sweep the floor a bit, mop it and bring in the dry clothes that have been rotting on her clothesline for a few days now. And she thinks, ‘Wow,’ when she realizes how much housework she has not done in the past few days. She usually always sets her priorities straight. After everything is, Jessica decides that she is too tired to cook dinner and grabs some instant ramen from the shelves- saves time, and she won’t have to do the dishes.

TWENTY-ONE

The ice princess takes a seat on her dining table- meant for four, set for two, used by one- and eats her ramen alone in silence. She pushes the cup to the end of the table when she is done and crosses her arms in front of her before laying her head down on them.  She falls asleep within seconds.

TWENTY-TWO

Jessica squints, the lighting above her dining table making her eyes hurt. She takes out her phone and checks the time. The clock reads 9:30PM. The ice princess decides to scroll through through her messages, most of which are from Yuri and Tiffany. She never really replied to them, but Jessica knows that her friends are used to her.

Four missed calls from Junhyung, Junhyung, Jonghyun, and Yul.

Eleven messages from other people. She deletes them as she goes on.

The last message she received was a text message from Jonghyun.

04:03 PM

Hey Sica.

Whats up with u?

U rly freaked us out back there.

If u need someone to share with,

U can always call Junhyung, or me.

-J.

Jessica sighs.

She ought to call him back and apologize to him and his innocent friend. He may have just resembled the man in her dreams after all. That may not be him.

‘Way to make a good first impression.’

And she puffs her cheeks. She really really wished she thought she was wrong. But Jessica was completely sure that it was that very man, that blonde man in her dreams. Somehow she could not deny it. Though, she still needed to apologize.

So she sighs and she dials Jjong’s number, anxious at what he might say and not knowing how to try and explain her impulsive- and crazy- actions earlier.

He picks up after the fifth ring.

“Yeoboseyo,” Jessica says, biting her fingernails.

“Yeoboseyo,” Jonghyun replies cheerfully, but his tone of voice changes within seconds. “Hey, are you okay?”

Jessica hesitates, but she replies, “Yeah, I’m fine...sorry.” She clears and shifts from her position on the dining table. “It’s just that the guy you brought in looks like someone from this freaky dream I had so...” The ice princess forces a laugh. “Yeah, you get it...”

“Oh,” Jonghyun chuckles. “I thought something was wrong. I’m glad you’re okay.”

‘I wish,’ Jessica thinks to herself.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Can you do me a favour and say sorry to um-“ she says, looking up at the ceiling trying to remember his name. “Sorry what was his name?”

“Hongki,” Jonghyun laughs. “Lee Hongki.”

That’s when Jessica’s eyes widen and she freezes in her seat.

‘Lee Hongki? Onew’s cousin?’ She thinks to herself. ‘Or maybe I’m overreacting...maybe they just share the same name.’

She forces a laugh, trying to keep her cool over the phone.

“Yeah, Hongki. Say sorry to him for me,” she tells Jonghyun.

“Sure, he’s a nice guy. He won’t mind,” says her friend.

A long, awkward silence ensues.

“Um, so Jess...I gotta go,” Jonghyun says uneasily. “I’m at the hospital with our friend...Hongki’s cousin.”

The ice princess swallows hard as she listen’s to him. “Oh yeah, I heard from your guys that he’s in a coma. I’m so sorry...” Jessica says.

“Yeah, I think Hongki is going to unplug him later today...” Jessica’s eyes widen. “He’s been in a coma for two months I think...It’s time to let go.”

And her curiosity, killing her slowly, gets the better of her.

“What’s his cousin’s name?”

Jonghyun pauses for a moment. She could tell that he was shocked that she seemed to care so much about Hongki’s cousin. But after a moment’s hesitation, Jonghyun answers, “Jinki.”

Jessica thinks her heart is going to stop.

“But we call him Onew.”

Tears stream down her face.

“Onew’s friend that died in the crash is Taeyeon, my cousin. Remember that week I missed school months ago?”

“Yeah,” Jessica replies with a shaky voice. She is crying.

“It was her wake. So yeah, my cousin was Onew’s friend and Onew is Hongki’s cousin...that’s why we know each other...”

Another silence floats around in the air.

“What hospital are you in?”

“Seoul General.”

“What room? What floor?” She demands.

“Why do you wanna-“

“ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION JJONG!” She screams. She doesn’t have time to explain.

“F- fifth floor,” he stammers. “Room 0509.”

“Thanks,” she says.

There is the sound of a door banging.

“Jess? Hello?”

Beep Beep Beep Beep

She was on her way.

Ayo~ How are you all? Wahahaha. I'm sorry- not sorry- to say that I have purposely put this chapter off a few days. *evil laugh* /bricked. Hihihi. Anyway, thanks for reading this. (You creeper, I see you. Leave a comment! haha kidd) The end is near! (Finally lololol) I had the ending written out about three weeks ago. And This is probably one of the longest chapters I've ever written. It's kinda packed. XD The next one will be too. Hihi. Anyways, see you beautiful people next chapters.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

-Author.