Chapter 27

Yuri’s POV

I was suddenly cut off by Jessica. She leaned forward and pressed her soft lips on my right cheek.

“There.” She said with a playful smile, folding her arms.

“What’s going on?!” A voice shouted at us. Sunny was standing at the doorway with her hands on her hips.

“S-sunny!” I almost fell backwards in surprise.

“Why are you still here?” Jessica asked, undisturbed by the short girl’s sudden appearance. But her eyes flittered towards me, showing slight nervousness.

“Sica, you have a girlfriend!” Sunny told the ice princess, ignoring her question.

“Thanks for informing me about my own relationship status.” She answered sarcastically.

Sunny narrowed her eyes.

“What’s wrong with you? It’s just a friendly kiss.” Jessica said annoyed, and walked out of the toilet.

I was left alone with the scary bunny.

“So Yuri…” Sunny started towards me. I gulped.

Taeyeon’s POV

“Fany-ah! Tiffany! Tiffany Hwang!” I shouted as I ran after my cousin who was blindly running in front of me.

“Hwang Miyoung!” She finally stopped when I called her Korean name, or maybe because she ran into a wall. I quickly ran to her and grabbed her by the shoulders before she can take off again.

“Stop running away.” I commanded.

“I’m not running away.” She said angrily.

“You should talk with Jessica.”

“We have nothing to talk about. She can talk with Yuri for all she wants. I don’t care.” She shook her head stubbornly. But her frown and pouting lips said otherwise.

“Yes you do care. You’re feeling jealous, aren’t you?” I asked with a smile, happy that my cousin finally admits that she loves Jessica. “It’s just a friendly kiss on the cheek Fany. They’re best friends, nothing more. Yuri won’t allow them to be more.”

Tiffany bit her bottom lip, deep in thought.

“You know, couz? You’re such chicken!” I said teasingly and made clucking noises. “You love her, and this is not the time for being prideful. You brought this on, so you should put an end to this. Knowing Sica, she won’t take the initiative to come back to you. We’re all tired of worrying for the both of you. Go talk to Jessica and apologize.”

“But Yuri…”

“Go ask her if you don’t believe me. You’re just jealous. Friends kiss all the time. Sunny and I always kiss each other on the cheeks all the time, so does Krystal and Sulli.”

“Well, you guys do act like couples.” Tiffany replied with a smile.

“WE DO NOT!!” She chuckled and I felt myself blushing. Do we? “Anyways that’s not the case here. Cluckfany! You’re just scared.”

“I’m not scared. I’m just…” Tiffany sighed. “Is this love?”

Krystal’s POV

All eyes were on us as Minho oppa and I exited the school hand in hand. I glanced back to see Sulli walking back home by herself, all alone. This is not how it’s supposed to be…

“Krystal?” Oppa broke me away from my thoughts. “Thank you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“For giving me a chance.” He said sincerely and smiled warmly at me.

“You’re a good person, oppa.” My heart felt heavy with guilt as I said those words. Yes, he is a good person, and I’m bad for using him like this. Am I being too selfish? Is this a good idea?

“Krys, what are you thinking about?” He asked again.

“Nothing.” I smiled reassuringly at him. “Nothing important.”

I faced him when we stopped in front of my house and held both of his hands. They were warm and comforting, but they weren’t soft and slender like Sulli’s. His eyes were round and shiny, but they didn’t form pretty eyesmiles like Sulli’s does. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheeks. He wrapped his arms around my shoulder as I pulled him closer by the waist and rested my head on his shoulder. My mouth curved up into a smirk when I saw Jessica stop when she saw us.

“Pick me up tomorrow?” I whispered into his ear and backed away until I reached the door. He smiled and waved.

“Promise.” Minho formed a fist with his right hand and thumped it softly twice over his heart. I nodded and looked at my sister before going into the house.

Just like I predicted, Jessica walked into my room a few minutes later and sat down on my bed uninvited.

“Don’t you know how to knock?” I said coldly, changing out of my uniform.

“You’re dating Minho.” She ignored my question as usual and went straight to the point.

“Thanks for enlightening me that you can see.” I laid down next to her and smiled back at her when she glared.

“What about Sulli?”

“What about her?” I shot back, standing back up so that she won’t be able to see my expression. She knows?

“You love her.” She knows. I unwillingly froze at the statement, my heart and body not paying attention to the messages my brain was sending out.

“I’m dating Minho.” I replied weakly.

“You shouldn’t be doing this.” She came up behind me and held my shoulders. Don’t you think I already know that? Don’t you think I have gone through many sleepless nights wondering what to do? Do you think this was an easy decision to make?

“You should be solving your own love problems first!” I turned around and screamed at her.

“What are you talking about?” She replied and looked away.

“Don’t you think I can hear you crying every night? Our rooms are right next to each other. You have no right to tell me what to do when you can’t even sort out your own relationship problems!”

“I have every right and it is my responsibility as your sister.” Jessica looked at me, her eyes filled with hurt. “I’m telling you because I love you and I don’t want you to be making decisions that will hurt you.”

My anger vanished when our eyes met. I quickly grabbed her arm to prevent her from storming out of my room. “Unnie, you love me?”

Jessica seemed surprised at my question. “Of course I do Krys. You’re my sister after all.”

“Unnie…” The door bell rang, interrupting me before I can say anything. Three quick knocks and two slow ones followed, Sulli’s here.

“Soojung, I’m always here if you need someone to talk to ok?” Jessica kissed my forehead and opened the door for me. “I believe someone’s waiting for you downstairs.”

I nodded and hurriedly descended the stairs.

“Hey.” I greeted with a smile as I opened the door.

Sulli smiled back nervously at me. “Hey Krys.”

“Come in. Let’s go grab some snacks before we go upstairs.” I walked into the kitchen with her following behind me. She stood by the dining table while I looked around for some chips.

“Why are you acting like a stranger in the house? Don’t you always attack the refrigerator whenever you come over?” Sulli stood up straight at the question and quickly grabbed the soda cans in my hand.

“No I’m not. I’m just… not very hungry today.” She began walking towards the stairs, her shoulders relaxing a little.

I felt sad. I felt guilty for turning our friendship into whatever this is. Where did our sister-like closeness go? Does she really feel uncomfortable with me now? Why did we become so distant? Whose fault is it?

“Krys, there’s a note on your door.” Sulli leaned forward to see the written words better. “It’s from your sister.”

I plucked the yellow post-it off the wood and read my sister’s unmistakable cursive calligraphy. “Follow your heart. <3”

~~

The door opened and closed quietly as Sulli reentered my bedroom. She climbed onto the bed beside me and peeked over to see the book I was reading.

“What are you reading?” She said after a few minutes of silence.

“Twilight.” I answered, not looking up from my book.

“Read later. I’m bored.” She pushed the book away from me.

I finally looked up and scrunched my face when I saw her cute pout. I smiled. “No.”

“Come on!” She whined and continued pouting.

I turned her back to me and pretended to continue reading.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to part from my Edward Cullen.” I answered.

“Stupid vampire love story.” She muttered and grabbed the book away from me again.

“Hey, give it back!” I tried to grab it back.

“No.” She flipped through the book, reading random parts of it. “Why do you even like this?”

“Edward Cullen.” I said dreamily. “My perfect boyfriend.”

“Eww.” She said, scrunching up my nose.

“What? You don’t have a dream boy?”

“…”

 “Can you imagine? There is someone out there in the world. My soul mate, my one and only who is destined for me.” I continued with that dreamy look. “I just can’t wait to fall in love with him.”

“Not Minho?”

“Uhh... no. I don’t think so.” I answered, unsure and flustered.

“I’ve already found mine.” She told me.

My eyes grew wide in surprise. “Who? Who?” Taemin?

“You.” she answered seriously.

“M-me?” I asked, blushing. Did she really mean that?

“Haha! Of course not! Soojung-ah, you’re my bestest friend. I was just kidding. No need to look that surprised.” She started laughing at me.

“Oh, heh, of course.” I faked a laugh but I felt my heart drop again.

It was silent again after that. I put the book down with a sigh and pulled on Sulli’s shirt sleeve slightly to grab her attention.

“Hey didn’t you say you wanted to talk to me?” I turned around so that I was facing her.

“It’s not really important anymore.” She answered quietly and leaned forward to hug me. “As long as we’re best friends again. Just remember Krys, you can tell me anything.”

I nodded and rested my chin on her shoulder. “Actually Ssul? I have something to tell you.”

“Hmm?”

Before I could continue, there was a knock on the door and Jess poked her head in.

“Sup?” She asked us. “Mom and I are going out to buy dinner. Do you want anything?”

Her eyes became big and she smiled when she saw that we were hugging each other. Sulli and I shook our heads in unison. Jessica backed away, muttering something that sounded like ‘twins’.

“Oh unnie!” I called her back. “You should follow your heart too.”

“I’ll listen to it.” She answered with a warm smile. “Sulli, you’re staying for dinner.”

Jessica left the two of us with Sulli looking at me in confusion.

 “So, what?” She asked me, continuing with our talk. “What’s with all this ‘follow your heart’ stuff? And what were you saying?”

“I…”