“I’m fine, Hyo, thanks” she said as Hyoyeon offered her a beverage.

“Alright. So tell me again how you ended up sleeping with your ex’s sister?”

“It was a mistake, I know.”

Hyoyeon took Jessica’s arm and pointed her finger at the digits written on it. “The kid wrote this?”

“Yes. Ugh! She said she knew the drill. She said we could go our separate ways and that all would be forgotten after eating lunch but that’s not the case. Goddammit why does it have to be Taeyeon’s sister?”

“Are you going to call her?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

She didn’t know if she should be pulling on her hair or strangling her best friend to death. She’s been talking about how Yoona is Taeyeon’s little sister ever since she got there but apparently, Hyoyeon didn’t seem to get it.

“I cannot be involved with Taeyeon’s sister, Hyo.”

“Would it really hurt for you to spend two weeks of your time here in Seoul with someone other than your friends?”

Jessica crossed her arms and scowled. “If you don’t like to hang out with me just say so. I have a cousin who lives here and I could spend my time with her instead.”

Hyoyeon laughed sat next to her. “Alright, you caught me but can you really blame me if I want you to meet someone else so you’d stop thinking about your ex? Come on, Sica, how long has it been since she dumped you? I don’t have any problems with Sooyoung being your date on my wedding—“

“Yes, you do. You complain so much about her huge appetite.”

“I just want you to get to know other people.”

Jessica still thinks Hyoyeon just doesn’t like the idea of having her cousin at her wedding but she did have a point. She couldn’t just let herself be consumed with sadness for the rest of her life. It’s time for her to meet someone again. Someone who’s not in any way related to her ex.

“I agree with what you’re saying but no. Not with Yoona.”

“So you won’t call the kid?”

“I won’t and you calling her a ‘kid’ is not helping. I feel like a pedobear.”

“How old is she?”

“Twenty-one.”

“You speak like you’re thirty-five. Sica, you’re twenty-four years old. I had a fifty-year old uncle who got married to his twenty-five year old secretary.”

“Are we talking about your uncle Gura?” Her best friend nodded. “That uncle of yours would marry a teenager if he could.”

“True.”

Jessica stood up and grabbed her bag, rummaged through it and found her hand sanitizer. She was hoping it was enough to erase the ink on her arm. She took out a tissue and moistened it with the sanitizer. It took her quite a few applications before she finally removed the whole thing.

“You could’ve just taken a bath, you know?” Hyoyeon smirked knowingly. “Unless you did it because you wanted to memorize the number as you erase it.”

“I did no such thing!” she replied defensively.

And she wasn’t lying. She’s been working as a TV producer for a year now but before that, she’s worked as an assistant for a snobby, big-shot actress who shall remain nameless. It was part of her job description to remember things for the celebrity she’s working for. She’s acquired the skill of memorizing even the most trivial things.

“Sunny’s cousin, Joon, and his girlfriend are together because of you. If it weren’t for you Joon wouldn’t have been able to call her back. You memorized the number effortlessly. He’s eternally grateful for that, by the way.”

She groaned. “I know. Yesterday he kept saying thank you to me. I wanted to staple his lips.”

“Please tell me you’re going to call her.”

“No.”

“Why?”

There it was again, the urge to hurt her best friend. Her comprehension skills must’ve left her this morning, she thought.

“I want to forget Taengoo! By associating myself with Yoona, her little sister, I’m just going to make the task of forgetting everything about her impossible!”

“For starters, you shouldn’t be using your term of endearment for her anymore.” Hyoyeon shrugged when she saw Jessica’s glare directed at her. “You know what’s funny though. The other day Joon was yapping about some band that he liked and he told me that if he found out about them sooner, he would’ve stayed single until he musters up the courage to ask their vocalist out on a date. I’m not going to be surprised if he’s the president of her fan club or something. He knows so much about her. It was so creepy. He went on and on about him being willing to be the second most important person in her life because he knows that there’s no one in this world this Kim Taeyeon loves more than her sister Yoona. Total coincidence, right? What were the chances that the Kim Taeyeon you dated and Kim Taeyeon the vocalist of a band have sisters that are both named Yoona?”

She looked at Jessica and expected at least a small smile but when she saw no trace of that, she couldn’t stop herself from giving her best friend a slap on the shoulder. “Oh my god, you dated a celebrity! I don’t know her but couldn’t you have at least told me?”

“Krystal doesn’t even know,” she said as she rubbed the spot that the other girl slapped seconds ago.

“She told you not to tell anyone?” A nod followed by a sigh. Jessica looked so sad so she did what she was good at and cheered her up by making fun of her. “You can’t move on because your ex is hot as hell and you can’t find anyone that could compare to her. I know because creepy Joon showed me a folder full of Kim Taeyeon’s photos.”

“I’m not going to call Yoona and that’s final.”

But fate had a funny way of saying that you’re its and the sappy movies that she’s watched and, as much as she hated to admit it, enjoyed were a testament of how fate can be so cruel.

She was taking a sip of her coffee and occasionally jutting down ideas that pop up in her head. Being a TV producer meant that she to constantly come up with things that would make the TV show better. It involves things that the general public has yet to see, something that would make them anticipate each episode.

“Hi there, stalker.”

She looked up and saw the girl that she was wishing not to see every again. Tall nose, doe eyes and a radiant, kid-like, grin. Yup, it’s her.

“I was getting worried that you’re never going to call,” she said as she sat down at the seat across Jessica.

“I really wasn’t planning to and sitting down without an invitation is rude. How did you even know I was here?” She put her pen down and stared at the younger girl.

“I’m rude then. Big deal. You went to a café near the university that I go to. We’re bound to meet each other.  Can I ask you out on a date?” She picked up Jessica’s pen and tried pen-spinning but failed.

“I don’t think you understand at all what a one-night stand is, kid.”

“I understand it clearly. I’m not asking you to have with me. I’m asking you to eat dinner with me or lunch…or both.”

The older girl massaged her temples and sighed. It was too early for her to deal with this kind of crap. “You slept with a random stranger. You wake up the next day and pretend nothing happened. You move on and never speak of it again. That’s how it works. You said it yourself yesterday!”

“You’ve piqued my interest, okay?”

“How is that even possible?”

Yoona shrugged. “You just seem interesting.”

“Look, what I did last night, I really don’t usually do that. That was actually my first time sleeping with a random person and now I’m worried that I’ll get chlamydia and die so—“

“And there you go doing it again.”

Jessica just wanted to have a nice breakfast at a café nearby but no, she just had to see this kid and be burdened by her presence.

“What did I do now? Please tell me so I could stop doing it.”

“Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by Jessica,” she raised her hand and chuckled at Jessica’s expression when the latter finally figured out what the younger girl was talking about. “So now that we’ve both used a ‘Mean Girls’ reference, can I ask you to go out for lunch?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re whining like a little kid and I don’t like grown-ups acting like a five-year old.”

Lying to yourself once in a while wouldn’t hurt, right? Because what she said was a lie. She liked it when Taeyeon acted like a little kid asking for ice cream but then again maybe she only liked it because Taeyeon is the one doing the whining.

“I just want to get to know you more so can you just please accept my invitation. I promise I won’t be annoying…I’ll try very hard not to be annoying.”

“I’ll go back home right after my best friend’s wedding which is barely two weeks from now so there’s really no use doing this.”

“That’s funny because living in the 21^st century meant you could communicate with people with the press of a button. Just go out with me thrice and I’ll stop bothering you if you don’t enjoy it.”

Jessica scoffed and side-eyed the persistent girl. “I don’t want to go with you on one date. What makes you think I’ll agree on going out with you thrice?”

“Okay then. Twice. That’s my last offer.”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to do that and I’m not up for bargaining.”

“You’re being too difficult.” Yoona sighed and thought of another plan to convince the girl to go out on a date with her. “Do you know who you’re rejecting? Do you know that I’m Kim Yoona. The famous Kim Taeyeon’s one and only sister?”

She knows Jessica’s been residing in the states but there’s still a possibility that she knows who Kim Taeyeon is and her band.

The younger girl is right. Jessica knew Taeyeon. She was just not aware that the girl in front of her is her sister’s ex-girlfriend.

Jessica’s not surprised her ex’s name was finally brought up. Not even a bit. “I don’t care if you’re related to the Queen. I still won’t go out with you and that’s final.”

She stood up and walked out of the café but Yoona was still following her. “You don’t know who Kim Taeyeon is, do you?”

“I know her.”

“You don’t want to be friends with me even though I’m her sister and I could be your only way to get closer to her?”

Jessica turned around and jabbed a finger on Yoona’s shoulder. She’s had enough of it. “First of all, I could get closer to your sister through the people in the entertainment industry that I happen to be close to and secondly, you can’t use your sister’s name to convince someone to go out with you! Have you no shame?”

Yoona admits that it was her intention at first but a part of her was hoping that Jessica was different and she’s ecstatic that she is. She grinned and grabbed the finger that the older girl used to poke her roughly. “You want to know why I wanted to ask you out, right? Well, you just gave me another reason. You’re different and I like it. I like you. Most people would be crowding around me once they hear my sister’s name but you didn’t.”

Jessica noticed the sad smile on the younger girl’s face and somehow understood where she was coming from. After all she does have a sister too and although Krystal was younger than her, the girl would always get the attention on family gatherings and she couldn’t help but feel less important. It wasn’t the best feeling in the world.

“You should consider taking up Marketing instead. You could sell a bag of poop if you wanted to. That’s some skill you got there.”

Yoona laughed. “So that’s a yes, then?”

“Yes.”

“Here’s my number because I’m sure you’ve erased it without saving.” She handed over a blue post-it note with her number written on it but Jessica just shrugged, not wanting to take it.

“You’re not the only one who has extraordinarily skills, you know? I didn’t save your number but it doesn’t mean I don’t remember it.”

The younger girl smiled in amusement. “You were just playing hard-to-get, weren’t you? I can’t believe I fell for that. Here I was thinking that you didn’t like me only to find out that you like me so much that you made an effort to memorize my number.”

“That’s not it! I didn’t even intend to memorize it!”

“Whatever you say.” Just like yesterday, she flagged down a cab for the older girl and bid farewell. “I’m looking forward to knowing you more, Jessica.”

“Hey, I’m older than you. You better start calling me unnie.”

Yoona threw a playful smile and shook her head. “I don’t want to call you unnie.”

“Why not?”

“Just because.”

She released an exasperated sigh and got inside the cab, staring at Yoona’s retreating figure. After telling the cab driver where to go, she dialled a number on her phone. She wasn’t even surprised that she didn’t have to wait that long for the person to pick up.

“Who’s this?” said the person on the other line. To Jessica it sounded like the girl already knew who was calling her.

“Oh,don’t lie. You know it’s me.” She smiled a bit when she heard Yoona’s cute giggle from the other line.

“You’ve finally decided to call me, huh? Miss me already?”

“I called you so you could save my number, idiot. I’m going to hang up now.”

“Wait! Can we talk just ‘til my class start?”

“No.” She smiled to herself when she caught Yoona’s whining and hung up. For a second, she felt sad for both Taeyeon and Yoona. Taeyeon because she doesn’t know her little sister that she loves more than anyone in this world feels burdened that she’s famous. She felt bad for Yoona because she has a slight idea of how the girl feels every time someone would befriend her just to get closer to her famous older sister.

Right now, she’s wishing she’d never have to encounter Taeyeon and just get over with the date with Yoona.

---

It was two days after their unexpected meeting in the café that she received a call from Yoona asking her if she wanted to grab dinner. Jessica said yes and now they’re at a restaurant near Hyoyeon’s place.

She was staying as quiet as possible so as to not blurt things that she knew about Yoona through Taeyeon. It was a good thing Yoona didn’t bring her up that much.

Dinner wasn’t that bad, she told herself and before she knew it, she was in front of Hyoyeon’s apartment with Yoona in tow. The younger girl insisted on walking her home.

“Food was nice,” Yoona said absentmindedly.

“It was.”

“One more date to go.”

“What?”

“You agreed on going out with me twice.”

Jessica tried to recall their conversation but she really doesn’t remember agreeing to that. “I did not.”

“Yes, you did!”

“N—“

“Let me make it up to you.” Jessica stared at her and wondered if her bored expression wasn’t masked by her…well, she didn’t really try to hide it from the younger girl. She felt bad because she knew that the girl tried to keep their conversation going but she was unintentionally letting it die.

She kept on reminding herself that the girl in front of her was supposed to be off-limits but how can she possibly say no to her when she’s not even doing anything, she was just being her charming self. “You’ve sold me another bag of crap.”

---

After that semi-horrible dinner date with Yoona two days ago, I’m here in front of the cinema complex inside COEX mall waiting for her to arrive. I checked my wristwatch for the nth time and I’m starting to get really impatient. I don’t like waiting. I don’t like it when there’s a huge possibility that people walking past me are thinking that I’ve been stood up. Most of all, I hate having the time to think about people and events that I didn’t want to think about.

Yoona’s late. That’s just great. Just when I was about to walk away to maybe buy something to snack on, I heard her calling me in a very loud manner. Cherry on top. Everyone in the vicinity knows my name now.

“Jessica, I am so sorry I’m late! Please don’t go. I really didn’t want to make you wait.”

She was panting real hard and sweat was dripping on the side of her face.

“It’s fine. I was just going to buy a snack.”

“Yah, Yoongie!”

I tilted my head to the side and saw a girl that was equally as attractive as Taeyeon’s sister with another girl in tow who was also very pretty. Birds of the same feather do flock together, huh?

“You bumped into a child while you were running and you didn’t even bother helping him up,” the taller one who oddly enough looked sort of like Yoona said.

“I can tell that you’re already on the kid’s mom’s hit list,” the shorter of the three stated. The same girl then looked at me and smiled. “You must be Jessica. I’m Tiffany,” she spoke in English.

Soon as I heard her name I didn’t even bother asking where she’s originally from or how she could speak English so well. I know it’s wrong to assume but how many Korean girls would have an English name if they’re naturally from Korea?

“Yah! No speaking in a language that we’re not familiar with!” Yoona’s other friend bellowed before I can even speak. Yoona agreed. Nothing surprising there. I’ve tried talking to her in English just because I knew Taeyeon spoke a little of it but it was wrong to assume that her sister also did because Yoona cannot use that language to save herself.

“Fine!” the girl named Tiffany shouted as she switched back to using Korean.

“Good. I am Yuri.”

“These two are the main reason why I’m late.” She put her arm over both of them and ruffled their hair. “This is Unicorn—oof!” Yuri elbowed her but she just ended up laughing about it. “What I meant to say was this is Kwon Yuri. Yuri Kwon. Depends on what language you’re going to use, you know? She’s my best friend but this little booger right here likes my sister more than she likes me.”

I searched for any sadness behind her eyes but unlike yesterday, I didn’t see any.

“That is not true! Maybe I do have a crush on your sister but that doesn’t mean I like you less. Don’t believe this little liar.”

Yuri threw a playful punch on Yoona’s shoulder and the latter gave her a headlock in return. I can’t believe she’s twenty-one years old.

“This one right here is Tiffany Hwang.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her failed attempt to pronounce the ‘f’ in Tiffany. She tried frowning but even I know she’s not going to be affected by me laughing at her ‘Engrish’.

“Tiffany moved here four years ago.”

“This kid tricked me twice when we first met.” I can see Yoona willing herself not to laugh. I could only guess she was reminiscing her childish ways. “She told me our PE class was going to be in room ‘B1’. Of course, it turned out to be the basement. She also told me—“

“That one was Yuri’s idea.”

“Uh-uh. Regardless, Kim Yoona. You’re the one who told me I had to take my shoes off when I enter the cafeteria. When I asked you why you didn’t do it, you told me only the kids who haven’t stayed in Korea for more than 5 years are required to do it.”

“You’re so gullible. I couldn’t help myself.”

“Meanie. You said it with a straight face!”

“That wasn’t very nice,” I commented even though I shouldn’t be the one to talk. I remember making fun of my cousin, Sooyoung, the first time she stepped foot in America.

“That was a long time ago though,” she reasoned out like a kid. Krystal’s younger than her and she doesn’t even act like this.

“Good thing I’ve forgiven you. So what are you guys planning to watch?”

“There’s this horror—“

“Not going to happen,” I quickly cut her off because I’m not willing to sit there for two hours max just to scare the daylights out of me. I didn’t really care what we watch but I am never going to watch a horror movie so I let the kids argue and decide on it.

Kids. Pfft! I feel really, really old now.

I’m like a baby sitter. FML.

_____

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