Yoona was walking along the famous shopping district in Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, when she noticed the Jimmy Choo store and remembered Jessica.

When she declined going with her sister at the studio to meet the producer, she thought it would be great to go and check Jessica’s apartment but she decided against it. For some reason, she got cold feet and she really didn’t know what to expect going there.

Taeyeon suggested that she go to Rodeo Drive to window shop and pick stuff that she likes and the next day, they’d buy it together. She asked the chauffer that the company hired for them to bring Yoona there.

Before she went inside, she took note of the white bimmer parked in front of the store. BMW 3 Series. It looks nice. She’s always wanted a car but when her sister offered to give her one, she declined saying that she wanted to earn her first car.

She got inside and was in absolute awe. If she could describe the interior of the store using one word, it’d be ‘glamorous.’ Stores like this one right here is like a haven for someone like her. There were quite a few customers inside but she disregarded them all and went straight to the red bag encased in a glass panel. Her eyes twinkled at the sight of it. She wanted to pick it up and hug it but she thought she might look crazy doing so.

She continued staring at the Jimmy Choo Rosalie small moc croc embossed leather tote and she heard a sales person talking.

“I am sure this would fit your lifestyle ma’am.” She picked it up, Yoona’s gaze still locked on it, and handed it over to another customer.

“No,” she whimpered.

“This has been selling like pancakes. It’s actually the last one we have in store.”

She was biting her knuckles to stop another whimper from coming out of . She really wanted that bag and it’s hurting her that another woman would be getting it.

“Yoong?”

She looked up and removed her hand from . “JESSICA?” Yoona broke out on a grin.

The sales person looked back and forth between them and silently walked away, leaving the two.

“What are you doing here?” Jessica wasn’t as amused as Yoona clearly.

“I was walking around.”

“What are you doing here in LA?”

“Oh, um, Taeyeon-unnie and her band, they’re, uh, here to meet some producer so I decided to tag along.”

“Why?”

“I can’t hang out with my older sister in another country?” The older girl arched an eyebrow. “Okay, okay, my main purpose of tagging along was to see you again. I even asked Hyoyeon-unnie for your address. I was supposed to go there earlier, good thing I didn’t because you’re here.”

Jessica wanted to call her best friend and yell at her for giving the kid her address. “Did you have to force it out of her?” Yoona shook her head and it made her grit her teeth more. “That idiot.”

Seeing Jessica wasn’t happy to see her made Yoona feel…heartbroken. “That’s,” she pointed at the bag Jessica was holding, “a nice bag. Are you going to buy it?”

“I think so.”

“W-well, it was nice seeing you again.” She rubbed the back of her neck and headed out.

Jessica wanted to stop her but what was she supposed to say? Hey, I’m happy you’re here because I’ve been missing sleeping with you? Or hey, I’m glad you’re here; do you think you could stay for good so I don’t have to see your sister ever and we’d be able to work on our relationship?

So she let her leave and put out her wallet to pay for the bag.

When she got outside, she saw Yoona standing at the pavement, fiddling with her phone. She got closer to her car and saw a piece of paper stuck on her windshield. “Goddamn, another ticket in one week? You have got to be kidding me.” She removed it and got inside her car. She placed the shopping bags on the passenger’s seat and started the engine. She looked up and saw Yoona staring at her. The same sadness she saw in Yoona’s eyes when she told her about the burden of having a famous sister was there.

God, those doe-eyes, what are they doing to me? She sighed. She stepped out of her car and called the younger girl. “Do you want to go eat lunch with me?”

Just like that, she was back to her ADHD…giddy self.

Jessica moved the shopping bags to the back seat and let Yoona take the passenger’s seat.

“This is your car?”

“No, it’s some old guy’s car. I stole the keys from him. You’re now inside a stolen car.” She fixed the rear view mirror and shifted into drive.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m kidding. Geez! Yes, it is mine.”

“Tss. You’re really loaded, huh?”

“Parents gave this to me. My parents are loaded not me.”

Yoona chuckled remembering Yuri’s nickname for Jessica. “Is that why you always pay for the food when we went out on dates?”

“Hey, I used my money to feed you, not my parents’.” Jessica glared at her but quickly averted her gaze back to the road. “So what do you want to eat?”

“Burger!” the younger girl answered excitedly.

Jessica giggled as she turned right. “Alright, calm down.”

When they got there, Yoona looked for a vacant table and Jessica ordered.

While waiting for their food, Jessica tried starting a conversation with Yoona who was busy staring at the food on other people’s plates.

“How’ve you been?”

“Same old, same old. Although, I did experience a terrible thing a couple of weeks ago at a party.”

The older girl leaned forward, propping her chin on the back of her hand. “Why? What happened?”

“Tiffany and Yuri were being idiots.” She went ahead and told her about the face-eater and the smoker. She still feels violated because of those two. “And then I went outside, sat down and leaned on the railings. Then, I felt someone kissing me again and it was Tiffany.”

“Wow, you really have a good relationship with your ex-girlfriend.”

“I don’t even like calling her that. She’s a friend of mine and that’s it. Anyways, that still didn’t make me feel better even though Tiffany kisses really well.”

“Why not?”

Yoona pursed her lips and held the ketchup bottle in front of her. “It just made me miss your kisses more.”

You really are Kim Taeyeon’s sister. Both of you are such sweet talkers.

“What about you? How have you been?”

“Busying myself with work.”

“I didn’t know you live a boring life here,” she joked but once again Jessica didn’t find it amusing so they ate quietly while Yoona could only steal glances.

---

“Can you find your way back to the hotel or should I give you a ride?”

They just finished their lunch and they were now at the parking lot.

“No, I know my way around. I mean, it’s my first time being here. I can barely speak English. I can’t read the signs and I’ll probably end up in an area where gangsters live and get murdered but sure, I can find my way back to the hotel, Jessica.”

“Is this your way of getting back at the joke that I made about my car being stolen?”

Yoona nodded and ruffled her hair because she can.

“Stop messing up my hair.”

“Fine, fine. I’m just going to wait for the chauffer that unnie’s label provided for us.”

“Okay then. Goodbye.”

Before Jessica could get inside her car, Yoona pulled her and closed the door.

“If you’re going to try and kiss me, don’t.”

“Why?”

Jessica rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Don’t play dumb with me. One kiss from you always leads to another and then we end up in bed.”

“That’s…a bad thing?” Yoona pushed her hair back and sighed. An action that Jessica found y for some reason. “Can I ask for a three-day extension?”

“What?”

“I asked you before back in Seoul to forget whatever it is that you don’t like about me…I asked you to forget about it for a while…so what I’m trying to say is, can I ask for an extension? Just for three days. After that then we could go back to being strangers or whatever you want.”

Jessica was going to make the gap between them bigger but she figured she couldn’t because she was already backed up on the door of her car.

what Taeyeon thinks. She almost freaked out when she heard Krystal’s voice in her head. Maybe her sister was onto something so she massaged her temple and nodded.

“Two days.”

“Come on, make it three.”

“Two.”

“Two and a half.”

“Give me a good reason why I should give you half a d—“

She didn’t have to finish what she was going to say and she really couldn’t because Yoona’s lips were already on hers. She wasn’t aware that she’s missed the girl’s lips this much and it made her kiss back with the same fervour.

Yoona pulled away and leaned her forehead against Jessica’s. “Good enough?” she asked, panting because of the intense kiss.

“Yeah.”

---

Yoona had a huge smile on her face when she got back to the hotel. She saw Taeyeon in the lobby, making her way towards the elevator. She ran so she could catch up her sister and when she did, she hugged her from the back and kissed her cheek. “Hi, unnie.”

Taeyeon smiled and turned around to mess with her sister’s hair. “Someone’s in a very good mood. Did you find anything that you wanted to buy?”

Should I tell her about Jessica?

She decided it would be best not to tell her sister that the main reason she wanted to go to LA was to see Jessica. She wouldn’t want her older sister to think having their bonding time was less important.

“I did. It was a Jimmy Choo bag. Too bad someone already bought it.”

“Oh, don’t worry. There are other prettier bags out there. Listen though,” the two stepped inside the elevator and Taeyeon let her sister push the button to their floor, “I can’t hang out with you tomorrow and the day after that.  The producer wanted to introduce us to his colleagues that are on their way to LA from New York so…”

Yoona thought luck must’ve been on her side because on her way back, she was already formulating an excuse not to go shopping with Taeyeon for the next couple of days but now she didn’t really need to lie to her sister. How fortunate.

“It’s fine. You go do your work and I’ll find things to do here that’ll entertain me. We’re staying here for a week, unnie. We have plenty of time to go around and spend time with each other, right?”

The elevator door opened and the two got out. “I’ll make it up to you after this whole producer thingy deal is over, I promise.”

She smiled at her older sister and put an arm around her. “I’ll hold you to that, unnie. By the way, where are the oppas?”

“They went at some bar downtown. I didn’t want to go because I feel so tired and I feel like I’m going to have a headache soon.” She opened the door to their suite and went straight to the bed.

“Do you want me to give you a massage, Taeyeon-unnie?”

“Like the old times?” Yoona nodded vigorously. “Sure, go ahead.”

Taeyeon lay on her stomach and Yoona got on her back. “Oof! This was better when you were smaller than me.”

“It’s not my fault your growth spurt stopped so abruptly, unnie.” She cracked her knuckles and started doing her magic on Taeyeon’s shoulder, back and her head. “You better not be sick when it’s time for us to go around LA, okay? What did I tell you about taking care of yourself, unnie?”

Taeyeon answered but it was muffled because she’s buried her face on the fluffy pillow.

“What?”

“I said I’m trying. Our schedule’s just so hectic.”

“Have you ever thought of what we’d be like today if you didn’t become a singer?”

“Mmhmm. It honestly scares me. The thought of you not having the things you have today, I mean. If I weren’t doing this then I probably won’t be able to enrol you to a prestigious school which reminds me that you need to stop skipping.” Yoona just chuckled. “The thought of you not having a comfortable place to live in is like a nightmare for me.”

She stopped massaging her for a bit and asked, “You’re doing all of this for me?”

Taeyeon lifted her head up and looked back at her sister. “Of course, because you deserve it.”

“What did I ever do to deserve this?”

“If I didn’t have you as my sister then I would’ve probably killed myself a long time ago. You’re my only family now and so I’m doing this for you to live comfortably.”

Yoona have always known just how much her older sister loves her but to hear her reasons for working hard day and night made her want to cry and just hug her sister so tight she’d have trouble breathing.

“Have you never thought about having your own family? Spouse and kids?”

“I have but I’m…I’m taking my time. Right now, I just want to give what’s best for my little sister.”

Yoona chuckled. “Who’s taller than you.”

Taeyeon nodded. “Who’s taller than me.” She lay her head on the pillow. “My little sister who’s taller than me and serves as my masseuse from time to time.”

Yoona got the hint and continued massaging her sister’s back.

She was genuinely looking forward to spending all day with her sister just like before when Taeyeon was still starting with her music career but she was also looking forward to being with Jessica again.

Life’s being too good to me nowadays.

---

The next day Yoona received a text message from Jessica asking her if she wanted to be picked up, she declined and told the girl to just get more sleep and that she’ll go to the older girl’s place at noon.

She was dropped off by the chauffer once again. When she got in, she didn’t even have to speak to the doorman, the guy let her in and told her which floor to go to.

Ah, Jessica must’ve told him.

She was already inside the elevator when she heard someone yelling but she could only catch the name ‘Bernie’ since her English was very limited.

“Thanks, Bernie,” the girl said when the doorman held up the elevator for her.

“No problem, Krystal,” the old man answered.

Krystal? Is she Jessica’s sister?

She wasn’t aware that she was rudely staring but that was until Krystal spoke. “Is there something on my face?”

She only understood the word ‘face’ so she just shook her head. Luckily it was a yes or no question. She couldn’t believe this girl was intimidating her to no end. She could see the girl’s reflection on the walls of the elevator and she went back to staring at her while the girl was busy texting.

She’s like my love child with Yuri. What the actual ?

The two of them naturally got off the same floor and Krsytal just shrugged that off but when she stopped in front of their unit and Yoona did the same thing, she became highly suspicious of her. “Are you following me? I have a pepper spray inside my bag and I’m not afraid to use it on a girl.”

“Je-Jessica Jung,” she finally muttered.

“What do you want from my sister?” Krystal noticed Yoona’s confused expression and figured she might not have been able to understand what she’s been saying since she spoke in the elevator. She asked again, this time in Korean, “What do you want from my sister and how do you know her?”

Ugh! Of course, she can speak Korean. I’m such an idiot.

“I’m Kim Yoona, a friend of hers.”

“You’re Yoona?” A nod. “You’re my sister’s friend?” Another nod and the girl switched back to speaking English. “Ooh, that’s not what my sister said.”

Yoona tilted her head to the side. I need to learn how to speak English.

“Unnie, Yoona’s here.” She knocked on her sister’s door and winked at Yoona. It made Yoona move her gaze to something else. She looked around the sisters’ pad and was amazed with how sophisticated it looked.

“Hey.” Jessica got out of her room and walked past her grinning sister.

Yoona smiled at her and before she could stop herself, she planted a kiss on Jessica’s lips soon as the latter got close. She misses that pair of lips and she intends for Jessica to know that. It was a short kiss and she wanted more but that could wait.

“Good morning. Hey, are you blushing?”

“This I gotta see,” she heard Krystal said.

“You kissed me in front of my sister, jerk!” Jessica landed a light punch on her shoulder.

“Please don’t mind me. I just forgot something but I’ll be on my way real soon so you,” she pointed at Yoona, “enjoy kissing my sister. Please, she needs to stop living a boring life and maybe date someone named Kim Yoona.” Krystal moved her eyebrows suggestively.

Yoona chuckled and pulled Jessica by the waist.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“You know you like it, unnie.”

“Go back to school, Krys.”

The mentioned girl rolled her eyes and started making her way to her room at the end of the hall. “You better join us for dinner later, Yoona-unnie.”

“I’m a ‘Yoona-unnie’ now?” she silently asked Jessica.

“My sister’s weird. Ignore her but she will throw a fit if you’re not with us for dinner.”

---

After a few more minutes of sister banter, Jessica pulled Yoona with her inside her room while muttering, “I shouldn’t have said anything to that kid.”

She made Yoona sit on her bed while she fixed herself in her bathroom. The younger of the two looked around and found a familiar device. “Hey, Jessica, why do you have phonograph?”

Jessica walked out of the bathroom, clad only in her bra and the track pants she wore when she went to bed, and towards Yoona. “Um, a friend gave it to me.”

“Cool, my sister has one, too.”

Of course she does, we bought it at an antique store downtown. Those two were the only ones left at that store.

Yoona saw the Jimmy Choo bag that she wanted to buy on top of Jessica’s dresser. “I really wanted that bag.”

Jessica smirked. “Too bad I got it first, huh?”

“Nah, I want you more than the bag. Actually, I, uh, I like you. I really like you.”

Their lips were a mere inch apart but when Yoona tried to kiss her, she turned to the side to avoid the kiss. “Yoong, we made a deal. Two days and a half and that’s it. Don’t say stuff like that again.” It didn’t come off as harsh but almost like a plea.

“Alright.” Yoona kissed Jessica’s bare shoulder instead and embraced her. “So what do you plan on doing today? Oh, do you want to maybe visit my sister?”

“NO!” She cleared , hoping Yoona would just shrug the sudden outburst. “I don’t want to disturb her. I know she’s famous and busy so…how about I give you a tour of where I work?”

She barely even goes there. It’s been a year but the only places she’s familiar with are the cafeteria, the washroom on the fifteenth floor and the conference room where they usually hold their weekly meetings.

The two went down the basement parking soon as Jessica finished dressing up.

“Can I drive your car?”

“Do you know how to drive?”

“Yes but I don’t have a license yet.”

Jessica gave her the keys and hopped inside the passenger’s seat of her car. “Don’t you dare crash my car, got it?”

Yoona didn’t do any damage to the car but they did get a ticket because she was driving too slow, trying very hard not to crash it, and for not having a license. They didn’t get into too much trouble when Jessica explained that Yoona was a foreigner and told the officer it was never going to happen again.

When they arrived at the building, Yoona squealed when she saw a familiar actress inside the elevator. She was probably there to sign a contract or something. Jessica elbowed her and told her to stop squealing like a fangirl.

“You have a famous sister for crying out loud. I’m sure you’ve seen other famous people before.”

“Not international actresses. Just local ones,” Yoona reasoned out. “Jessica, I’m hungry.”

“Let’s go to the cafeteria then. I’m starving, too.”

Two hours since they’ve been there and Jessica was already regretting bringing the girl there. She was really like a kid. “Jessica, they’re filming something there. Jessica, look at this. Jessica, what does this one do?” and a thousand other questions.

She decided it was best for them to explore other places in LA where tourists usually go to so Yoona could blend in. They headed for Venice Beach.

They walked along the shore while eating the ice cream that they bought from a stall that Jessica recommended. Yoona was holding Jessica’s hand tightly, half-scared that she’d get lost in the sea of people. The other half because she just felt like it.

“So what is Krystal taking up?”

“Chemical Engineering.”

“Whoa! Seriously?”

Jessica giggled. “Her primary reason for doing that was to get that kind of reaction from other people. It kind of makes sense now because who in the world wouldn’t be shocked to see a stupid-looking girl taking up that course?”

“She’s not stupid-looking.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you’ve seen the stupid things she does every time she’s out in public but she actually is really smart. She’s actually doing real great in school. She just needs to stop sitting on top of trash bins or putting her head inside one.”

“What?”

“Don’t even ask.”

“What do your parents do?”

“They’re drug dealers.”

Yoona came into a halt and pulled back Jessica with her. “Seriously?”

The older girl burst out in a laughing fit. “You are so gullible and you dare make fun of Tiffany when she first got to Korea.”

“Hey, normal people will not joke about their parents being drug dealers!”

“It’s not like I’m not telling the truth. My dad’s a doctor and they own several pharmacies. My mom’s a business major so she makes sure everything runs properly. My parents deal with sick people and drugs.” She grinned as she outsmarted the younger girl once again.

“How come you never ask about my family?” Yoona asked as they sat down on a bench.

Answer was simple. It was because she already knows everything there is about the Kim sisters. Father bailed out on them and their mom lost a battle with cancer when Taeyeon was fifteen and Yoona was twelve. It’s only been the two of them since then. Taeyeon never even finished high school. She quit after realizing that the money she makes on the café gigs with her band was only enough for Yoona’s tuition fee.

It was Yoona’s senior year in high school when Taeyeon and her band finally found a record label that was interested in signing them.

But she can’t tell that to the younger girl without telling her that her older sister was Jessica’s ex-girlfriend and that their split up was not amicable.

“I just don’t want to pry.” She stood up and dusted her pants. “Let’s go shop for things that you would be needing to cook our dinner tonight.”

“I would cook dinner?”

“You’re the guest.”

Yoona creased her eyebrows at Jessica’s weird logic but stood up nonetheless. 

____

I'm not sure if anything fruitful happened here because I just pretty much typed whatever so I apologize for that. No TaengSic yet. It's too early for that. 

Bimmer=slang for a BMW car apparently, Jessica's car

I just realized that it's actually hard to think of a song title that fits every chapter. I dug myself a deeper grave.

Like A Star by Corrine Bailey Rae imagine it playing every time Yoona thinks about Jessica because it's cheesy like that