“Wow, you’re home. That’s new. Is Tiffany here?”

“Nope.”

Krystal didn’t remove her eyes from the screen and continued browsing the airline’s website.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m booking a flight to Boston for me and Tiffany.”

“Why?”

“We’re visiting mom and dad two weeks from now.”

“You’re not going to be seeing neither mom nor dad there. They’ll be coming here for a vacation or something but I bet they’re just going to check up on us.”

“Really? That’s easier.” She closed her laptop and grabbed her phone to tell Tiffany the news.

“Wait, you’re introducing Tiffany to mom and dad?” She was answered with a nod. “But I’ll be introducing Yoong to them. You can’t do the same thing. They’d be overwhelmed. I should go first and you could do your thing after I finish doing my thing.”

“Why’d you have to go first?”

“Because I’m the eldest and they already know I like girls so it wouldn’t be too much of a shock for them. Dad still thinks you’re into guys and that you and your future husband will keep our bloodline alive.”

“Well, it’s better for him to know sooner so I suggest you introduce Yoona-unnie right after I introduce Tiff.”

“We should just introduce them both at the same time.”

Krystal grinned. “Fine by me. Where’s Hyoyeon-unnie’s daughter? Is she still here?”

“She’s in my room with Yoona. They’re both still asleep.”

Krystal sniggered when she realized something.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Imagine getting married to Yoona-unnie and having a kid. You’d forever be ed by a toddler and oh my god, you’ll be a terrible mother.”

“That’s not funny at all!”

“It is to me.”

“I can’t imagine myself being a mom.”

“You’d be a terrible mom.”

“I—“

“Shica.”

The sisters turned around and saw Yerin teetering her way towards them, small hands rubbing her eyes. Jessica stood up and carried her to the couch.

When Yerin saw the unfamiliar face, she grabbed Jessica’s shirt tightly and refused to move away from her lap.

“Stwanger.”

“She’s my sister. The one I told you about yesterday.”

“Hi, Yerin-ah. I’m Krystal. I’m Jessica’s cute younger sister.”

“Cute?”

Krystal nodded and tried to give Yerin a pinch on her cheek but the latter moved away and hid her face.

“I don’t think you’d be a better mom than I am, Krys.”

“She just has to warm up to me, unnie.”

“Where’s the gurfwend?” Yerin asked as she looked up to meet Jessica’s gaze.

“She knows about Tiffany?”

“Yeah. Tiffany’s at her house.”

“Your names…they’re vewy weiwd.”

“Weird?”

Yerin nodded.

“Nothing’s weird about my name though. Jessica’s a common name in the US.”

“US?”

“That’s where we’re from. United States of America. USA.”

Yerin just yawned and leaned her head on Jessica’s collarbone.

“How you could bore out a child, a guide by Jung Jessica. Yerin-ah, do you want to go with Krystal-unnie and make pancakes?”

Yerin looked at Jessica the way she was looking at Yoona yesterday, seeking for permission.

“Go ahead, sweetie.”

Yerin got off of her and ran towards the kitchen. Krystal gushed over her like how her sister and Yoona did. “Why is she so cute? Oh my god!”

“Kwyshtal, pancakes.”

The younger Jung gasped. “Oh god! Can I keep her? Can I?”

“Ask Sunny and Hyo later. Take care of her. I’ll wake Yoona up.”

---

“When did you two get serious?”

“We’ve been serious for a while. You just weren’t paying attention.”

Yuri paused her game and stared at Tiffany. It was a Sunday morning and she was doing what she usually does every Sunday morning, play video games.

“But to introduce you to her parents. That’s…are you sure you want that?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been introduced to parents before.”

“We’re talking about Krystal here. The girl who hated your guts and the girl whose guts you hated and then you turned into lovers but you still sometimes hate each other. Now, you’re going to get introduced to her parents?”

“Pretty much, yes. My brother’s also coming back to Korea to visit me so I’m thinking of introducing them to each other, too.”

“Wow. I kind of envy you now. You and Yoong are making me depressed.”

“You wouldn’t be depressed if you just come out of that closet of yours and go after the girl that you want.”

“Whatever.”

Tiffany put an arm around her and pulled her closer, rubbing her knuckles against Yuri’s forehead.

“You are such an idiot. Did you think we’d judge you about your ual preference? If you haven’t noticed yet, Yoona and I are dating girls right now.”

The girl pushed herself away from her nagging friend. “It’s not that.”

“What is it then?”

“It-it’s the person that I like. This person that I like is—“

“You mean girl? This girl that you like is what?” She received a glare from Yuri but she just shrugged it off.

“This person is not exactly like us. It’s complicated.”

“What do you mean? The girl is of different…race? I didn’t know your parents are racist.”

“They’re not and she’s Korean too!” She covered and immediately regretted her slip of the tongue.

“I knew it! It’s a she. Tell me more.”

Yuri contemplated on telling Tiffany a bit more and came to a decision that it wouldn’t hurt to drop more hurts since Tiffany’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

“Even if I do what you say and go after her, I don’t think she’ll ever notice me.”

“That’s sad. Why?”

“Because she has better things to do.”

“How long have you been crushing on this girl?”

“For as long as I could remember.”

“Like…since when you were a kid?”

“Yeah but back then it was really just a simple crush because she was so cool and all. Now, I just really really like her.”

Tiffany pursed her lips and with creased eyebrows, she thought of who this girl might be. It could be anyone she knows or might not know. She doesn’t know every person in Yuri’s life after all, does she? Just like that, it was as if a light bulb lit up on top of her head.

“Oh my god! It’s Taeyeon-unnie!”

“How the hell—“

“Oh my goodness. You’re good at hiding things, Yul. I mean, Yoona and I didn’t even notice that you—well, we knew you had a crush on her but we didn’t think you like her like that. How could you not tell us?”

“Krys’ intelligence must’ve rubbed off on you. The only reason I dropped those hints is because I thought you were too stupid not to get it.”

“I am too pumped up to even care about your insult. Seriously though, you should go after Taeyeon-unnie. If there’s anyone who know her better than Yoong, that’s you.”

“That does not make any sense. So what if I know that she usually keeps to herself and is very secretive when it comes to people she goes out with. So what if I know that she doesn’t really like drinking alcoholic beverages and prefers to drink milk when she’s stressed out? So what if I knew how stressed out she was that she had to resort to a combat sport? That doesn’t mean I could go after her just like that.”

“That was both creepy and sweet at the same time, Yul. Good for you.”

“Yoong would’ve said something more meaningful than that.”

Tiffany nodded her head in agreement. “But you can’t talk about it with her because it would be too awkward. You like her sister.”

“I’m well aware of that. No need to remind me repeatedly, Fany.”

“So all of us are really into girls. Wow.”

“I’m not. Just for Taeyeon-unnie.”

“Aww, Yuwree-ah, that’s so sweet of you.”

Yuri cringed hearing Tiffany’s foreign pronunciation of her name. “You cannot tell Yoona about this.”

“I thought you guys tell everything and anything.”

“Not this, obviously.”

“Right so I can’t tell anyone about this? Not even Krystal?”

“Spare yourself from being called an idiot. Krystal probably has it all figured out. The kid’s pretty smart.”

“She’s too smart.”

“You’re too dumb.”

Tiffany scoffed and mumbled, “Some friend you are.”

“So are you excited to meet them?”

“I’m kind of nervous. I’m getting stressed out thinking of ways to impress them once they get here. Krys told me they’ll be here for a short vacation.”

“Why do you have to impress them? What makes you think they won’t like you if you just act like your normal self?”

“I don’t know. They might not like me because I’m not as smart as their daughter or they might not like me because I’m a girl. Krys has not exactly informed them yet that she’s dating a girl.”

“I think it’ll be fine. Just show them how much you care about the kid.”

“You really think so?”

Yuri nodded and pushed Tiffany away from her. “Enough with the serious talk. You should at least learn things that Krystal likes doing. Like killing zombies.”

She handed her the game controller she was holding and stood up to get the other one from the shelf.

“Don’t stress out on whether her parents would like you or not. Let’s just give her another reason to like you even more.” Yuri grinned and pressed “Start”, startling Tiffany as she caught sight of the zombie’s horrid face.

---

“Where are you going?” Jessica poured herself some milk as she watched her sister closing her bedroom door.

“I’m going to pick Tiffany up. Where’s Yoona-unnie?”

“Still sleeping in my room.”

Krystal turned around and sat next to her sister. Jessica offered her a glass of milk but she declined.

“D-day. I’m nervous, unnie.”

The older Jung raised both eyebrows, surprised at how her sister was acting. “You’re never nervous. What’s wrong?”

“What if dad doesn’t approve of this and sends me back to LA?”

“He’s not gonna do that. He might get upset but I doubt he’ll do something extreme. You’re the one who said it before. Dad might be against homouals but he doesn’t exactly show it.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so.”

Krystal leaned back on the chair. She had to admit that she felt a little bit better after hearing her sister’s words. “Do you think they’ll like Yoona-unnie?”

“You like her, don’t you? What’s not to like?”

“Yeah but mom and dad aren’t exactly the type of people that you could please so easily. They ask anything and everything. They’re like a couple of inspectors that are always out to get criminals and stuff. They’re not going to be talking to Yoona-unnie and Tiff. They’ll be interrogating them.”

“Well, let’s just hope they answer their questions well.”

Krystal showed a hesitant smile but that quickly disappeared the same time the color on her face changed into a paler one. “Tiffany’s older brother, Leo, would be there too. He’s in town so…we thought it’d be nicer to introduce them to mom and dad as well. I met him the other day and he’s really nice. He looks like Tiff. It was so weird. They have the same smile. I got really freaked out and—“

“Okay, why are you blabbering? You did something wrong, didn’t you?”

“It’s not exactly a wrong thing. Just…IinvitedTaeyeonbecausemomtoldmetodoso.”

“What?” Jessica held onto Krystal’s collar before the younger girl could get away.

“When I told mom that I was going to bring Leo-oppa to meet them as well, she asked me if I could also invite any of Yoona-unnie’s relative and the only relative I know is Taeyeon. By the way, mom is the only one who knows what this meeting is about. Dad still has no idea.”

The older Jung released her from her grip and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why would you do that? Why didn’t you tell me? Does Yoona know about this?”

“I don’t know. Taeyeon might’ve told her…or not. I’m not really sure. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, unnie but the two of you are okay now, right?”

“Yes but imagine the awkwardness of it all. Oh my god!”

“I don’t think it would be that bad. Mom took it very well…I think.”

“Oh god!”

---

Dinner with the parents and siblings wasn’t going as bad as Jessica thought it would be but that was partially because their dad still had no idea that they were going to be introducing their girlfriends.

Their parents were the first ones to arrive at the restaurant that the Jung sisters booked. Krystal and Tiffany came with Tiffany’s brother, Leo and Yoona and Jessica came shortly after. Taeyeon was late for a little over ten minutes because she still had to finish a recording and that didn’t seem to go too well on Mr. Jung. After explaining that Taeyeon was one of Korea’s most famous singer and also one of the busiest, Mr. Jung let it go and they all ordered their food.

While waiting for their orders to arrive, the patriarch of the Jung family asked if Krystal and Tiffany were attending the same university.

“Yes, dad. She’s a Theatre major.”

“A very good one at that,” Leo said proudly and smiled at his baby sister whom he missed so much.

“You have classes together?”

“Not really. She’s a year ahead of me. We met through Yoona-unnie.”

Yoona smiled at the old man he politely returned it.

“How’d you know my other daughter?” he asked Yoona.

“We met at a bar and we just clicked off right away.”

Jessica would’ve laughed at the insinuation but she thought that it would’ve been wildly inappropriate. Yeah, by clicking off right away she actually means we had the moment we met.

“It’s nice to see my two girls making friends here in Korea.”

Their respective girlfriends looked at them the moment the term “friends” was uttered and they knew that that was their cue to come clean.

“Um, dad,” Krystal started, “they’re not exactly our friends.”

“I’m dating Yoona,” Jessica blurted

“I’m going out with Tiffany,” Krystal added quickly.

“They’re our girlfriends.”

“Yes, dad, I’m gay.”

Mrs. Jung showed a motherly smile and caressed her daughters’ hands that were resting on the table while Mr. Jung kept mum.

The siblings of their girlfriends sat there quietly and waited for something to happen while the four girls held their breath.

“I see.”

“That’s it?” Jessica questioned.

“Daddy, are you sure you’re not having a ?”

Mr. Jung stared at her youngest daughter and said in a stern voice, “I’ll talk to you a little later, young lady. Jessica, I see you really haven’t changed your mind about this whole…dating a girl thing.”

“It’s not going to change anytime soon, dad.” She held Yoona’s hand under the table and smiled at the younger girl. “Come to think of it, I don’t think it’ll ever change. Not when I have an amazing and a very understanding girlfriend.” That statement made Yoona blush a little.

“Amazing? What career is she going to take on once she graduates?”

“I’m taking up Fashion Designing, Sir and I’ll be graduating soon. I’m also thinking of interning abroad.”

“Fashion Designing? A little reality check, if you’re not great at what you do, it’s most likely that you won't succeed in that industry.”

Jessica sighed. “Dad—“

“But she is great at what she does. She’s passionate about it and you could be great at stuff but if you’re not passionate at what you do, you’ll grow tired of it and eventually lose your touch. With all due respect, I don’t think that’ll ever happen to my sister. She’s really determined to achieve success in the fashion industry and it might take time but I’m sure she’ll make it.” Taeyeon stared at Mr. Jung. She couldn’t believe how worked up she got.

Yonoa mouthed a “Thank you” and Jessica showed how grateful she was by smiling at her.

“That’s so true, dad. How’d you think she got unnie to accept her as her girlfriend? You know how picky unnie could be. She’s that great. I vote for her to be my sister-in-law.”

Yoona choked on her spit and was coughing real bad. Jessica handed her a glass of water and rubbed her back. “I’m okay,” she mumbled.

“Are you two talking about marriage now? Shouldn’t we be discussing that with your parents if that’s the case?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Sir. Our parents are gone. It’s only Taeyeon-unnie and I. She’s been providing for the both of us ever since our mom died.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Mr. Jung meant it and that was the first time the Kim sisters was finally able to see beyond the scary demeanour of the man. He looked at Taeyeon who was also looking at him. “It’s always nice to see the eldest stepping up to provide for their siblings if they lose their parents early.”

The Jung ladies understood their patriarch’s sentiment. They all knew what Mr. Jung went through when his parents died and at the young age of eleven, he had to be the one to support his two younger siblings. He somehow saw himself in Taeyeon.

“Well, I’m as stubborn as my daughter so I don’t think anything I say would change her mind about you, Yoona. You of all people should know how hard-headed she could get but don’t think for one second that just because you’re a girl, I’ll let you get away with hurting my daughter. Just know that I will hunt you down if she ever comes home to us crying about how you hurt her.”

Yoona showed a confident smile and said, “That’ll never happen. I only want her to be happy and I’ll do anything in my power to make her happy.”

Taeyeon mirrored the smile on Jessica’s face but the reasons for their smiles were astronomically different. One was smiling because she was ecstatic to know that she chose the right person and the other was just glad that someone important to her was getting the happiness she deserves.

“Now, you two—“

“The food’s here! Great!” Krystal exclaimed, thinking that food would be a good diversion.

“Hold on, you three,” talking to the Kims and Jessica, “are free to eat. You three, we’re going to talk right now.”

Jessica stuck her tongue out at her sister and Krystal could only groan, completely missing the fact that Tiffany was sweating bullets beside her.

“When did this even happen?”

“Like I said, I met her through Yoona-unnie because they’re friends and at first, I hated her guts because she could be really annoying at times. No offense, Leo-oppa.”

“None taken.” The older Hwang grinned widely and Krystal and her parents couldn’t help but be freaked out at how much the two siblings looked alike. Tiffany glared at her brother and frowned at Krystal.

“But most of the time, she could be really sweet and I just…one day I hated her and the next, I just wanted to pounce on her and kiss her and touch—“

Tiffany covered before she could say any lewd things in front of the Jungs and her brother.

“That was too much information, Krys,” Mrs. Jung said, her own ears blushing at the image that their daughter just drew for them.

“I was just saying in my own way that…I really like Tiffany a lot…despite her horrible ways and her constant interruption of my video game time.”

“Krys, this could just be a phase.”

“That might be true but just let me…let us find that out for ourselves. Right now I really like her and I would like continue dating her with or without your permission. I care about her, dad. I’ve already told mom about that.”

Mr. Jung looked at his wife for confirmation and all she gave it to him by nodding her head.

“I know you probably think having two daughters that are dating girls meant not having any grandchildren but come on, dad, you’re a doctor. You should be up to date with all the latest technology nowadays. Unnie and I could still continue the Jung bloodline.  You need not to worry.”

Tiffany elbowed her discreetly and whispered, “Why are you talking about giving your dad grandchildren?”

“Shut up. It’s not like I’m telling him that we’ll be getting married and will be having a baby tomorrow, stupid.”

Mr. Jung decided to just give up arguing with his youngest daughter. It was pointless. This was why he sometimes favoured Jessica more. At least she lets her win some arguments.

“Jess, why couldn’t you have told me the same thing when you told me about liking girls more than guys?”

Jessica shrugged and continued eating.

“Well, I guess it’s pointless questioning Tiffany about her career and her plan in life at this point.”

The older Hwang laughed. “I could assure you that I would say the same thing she said about her sister, Mr. Jung,” he said, talking about how Taeyeon stood up for her sister.

The man could only smile and hold his wife’s hand. He couldn’t even eat that much. He was too occupied observing his little girls who were both not so little anymore.

He looked at Jessica and Yoona and took his time noting how much Yoona was doting on his daughter. She was removing the salmon from Jessica’s plate and putting it right inside . Other people who witnessed it might’ve thought Yoona was just being a gross kid with a huge appetite but not him. He knows his daughter didn’t like eating fresh salmon and he appreciates how Yoona’s taking her time to remove those to ensure that Jessica enjoys her meal.

He turned his attention to Krystal and Tiffany and it was the complete opposite. Krystal was taking out the veggies from her plate and putting it on Tiffany’s plate. Tiffany didn’t complain. She was looking at Krystal with such disdain though and it made him rethink about the things Krystal said earlier. But then Tiffany did something that reminded him of when Krystal was still a little girl.

Tiffany held her table napkin and wiped away the sauce that was on the side of Krystal’s lips. “Such a messy eater,” she mumbled.

He saw Krystal smiled at her and he watched as Tiffany’s cheeks turned pink.

He realized that his daughters might be adults who are very much capable to make their own decisions but they’re still the same girls that he held in his arms when they were born. Jessica is still as reserved and the quieter one and Krystal is still the mischievous kid he used to carry on his back.

When they finished their meal, the siblings hugged each other and bid their goodbyes. Leo was going to fly back home and Taeyeon still had to attend a meeting with another producer.

Yoona and Tiffany let the Jungs bid their goodbyes to their parents and opted to wait in their cars but before they could leave, Mr. Jung tapped their backs and held up his hand for a simple hand shake.

“I trust that my daughters have great taste in women just like their dad.”

Mrs. Jung giggled and gently hit her husband’s arm. For the first time that night, Yoona and Tiffany were able to breathe easy as they see Mr. Jung’s gentler side.

Jessica and Krystal hugged their mom and said their I love you’s and when it was time to do the same thing to their dad, the two of them hesitantly walked towards him so he had to meet them halfway.

He hugged both of his girls. The two couldn’t remember the last time their father hugged them that tightly and that long. It felt like it has been years since the last time he hugged them like this.

When they got back to the hotel they were staying at in Seoul, Mr. Jung excused himself and locked himself in the room for about an hour before sitting beside his wife who was currently watching some random TV show.

“They grew up so fast.” He sniffed.

“My, my, you cried again.”

She chuckled and thought about whether she should tell it to their daughters or not.

Before they went to bed, she sent a message to both her daughters saying, “Your father cried again.”

____

again i couldn't bring myself to write a chapter filled with despair so i just had to add that last line. cat's out of the bag now

aff bugged i guess this is not rated m and i did not tick that box