Chapter 36

Jessica gathered her belongings that could fit into one luggage. She can’t bring them all. There were too many.

She snuck in their house after visiting Yuri. Leaving Yuri wasn’t easy. Leaving Yuri with Tiffany was… excruciating. She wished Tiffany hadn’t come back though. She was always threatened of the other girl’s presence even if she didn’t want to admit it. Who wouldn’t really? Tiffany was a walking icon. But she had no choice. She had to leave because at the state that she was in, staying with all of them, pretending everything were okay, was not an option.  She just hoped Yuri would read her letter and wait for her… no matter how selfish she was being.

She hopped on a bus without knowing where she was going. The decision was made all too fast and she cannot stall time more so now or else her parents would do all they can to stop her. Hopefully she ends up somewhere far and peaceful. Maybe somewhere with a beach. Everytime she thinks of beach, she thinks of Yuri. Yuri and Jessica.

Firstly she put her luggage on the baggage bin and finally sat on a seat by the window.

That was by far the most rebellious thing Jessica had done in her life. Go somewhere without everyone knowing. She felt liberated. The first time Jessica felt like she was truly freed. After an hour of admiring the view, she felt all the fatigue and emotions creep up in her system. Her eyelids felt heavy and not a second later, she fell asleep.

~******~

Jessica was having a good dream. That day on the beach with Yuri was replaying but then suddenly Joohyun appeared and broke them apart. She took Yuri with her and harshly pushed Jessica into the water. She was drowning and no one was gonna save her. She screamed Yuri’s name but Yuri was nowhere to be seen. She felt her body sank to the water and when she was about to close her eyes, someone grabbed her up. She felt hope. She thought it was Yuri… but it wasn’t. It was Joohyun.

“Stay away from my daughter!” Joohyun roared and pushed her down... deeper in the water.

 She abruptly woke up with sweat and tears on her face.

“Miss. This is the last stop. Are you okay?” The driver asked once he saw her pale and crying.

“A-ah. Yes. I’m okay. I’m sorry for troubling you ahjussi.” Jessica wiped her face and stood up.

She looked at her watch. Already 9pm. It was dark and she doesn’t even know where she was.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Do you even know where this is?” The driver followed her exiting the bus and it made Jessica scared.

“O-of course! I have a relative here. She must be waiting somewhere here.” Jessica lied.

Calming herself, Jessica walked to the side of the bus to get her luggage.

“Ahjussi can you open the bin?” Jessica asked the driver.

“Ah yes.”

The moment the driver opened the baggage bin, Jessica creased her brows. The baggage bin is empty. Nope. Definitely no limited edition Chanel luggage in sight.

“Ahjussi! Where is my luggage??” Jessica unconsciously yelled at the driver.

“How would I know??” The driver said defensively.

“What do you mean you don’t know?? You’re the one who opens the bin right??”

“Look miss. Whoever fault it is, what’s done is done. Some passenger might have mistaken your luggage as theirs. I certainly have no idea who took it.” The driver started to walk back inside the bus which Jessica was quick to follow suit.

“You should have checked-“ Jessica was cut by the door of the bus closing.

“YAH! AHJUSSI!!” Jessica banged on the door.

But her pleads were of no use as the driver clearly didn’t want anything to do with her dilemma nor did he want to apologize for his mistake.  The bus drove off with Jessica running after it.

“Ahjussi!!!!!” Jessica screamed at the top of her lungs as her tears fell again.

Her knees fell to the ground as one of her heels broke off.

“Ah jinjja!!!” she harshly took off her shoes and threw it on the ground.

She was at lost both literally and emotionally. What was she going to do now? No clothes. No money. No everything. Her luggage had everything she packed except her cellphone whom she had in her pocket. She had no idea that someone would steal it. Her parents took care of everything for her all her life. Now that she left, she realized how stupid and naïve she was facing the real world.

She thought of going back. She thought of calling her dad. She had all thoughts of regretting her decision but she prevented herself. She was a failure all her life. Going back would just solidify that theory. She made up her mind. She wasn’t going back until she could live by herself. Until she could stand up by herself.  Until she wasn’t weak anymore. Until she could defend herself from the people who hurt her.

~******~

Present

Jessica tore her eyes open. She sat up and wiped the sweat on her face only to find that it wasn’t only sweat, there were also tears. It was that dream again. No. Nightmare. The one at the beach with Joohyun breaking Yuri and Jessica and Joohyun pushing her to drown.

She hadn’t had that dream for a long time. It was terrifying on her first year of independence though. She was haunted by the same dream for almost everyday to the point that she was preventing herself to sleep. It was so horrifying. She battled her inner problems and she battled through insomnia caused by the dream.

Through the years, as Jessica was slowly getting up on her feet again, the dreams also diminished in count until it completely disappeared and she was left dreamless.

Jessica got up from her bed and walked to the kitchen of the condo she was renting. She took a bottle of water and drank it until nothing was left.

In the dream, she and Yuri were separated. In real life, Yuri left her and gave up on her. It’s been awhile since she had that dream but now it wasn’t as terrifying as before. It has now become a reminder that she wasn’t the weak Jessica she used to be. It only fueled up her purpose.

“I won't let anyone hurt me anymore. Hurt me and I’ll do the same.”

~******~

Yuri looked at herself in the mirror with a big smile. Finally… she’s gonna see Jessica. She couldn’t wait to see the girl. The girl she’s been waiting for.

Little did she know, she and Jessica both have a different kind of reunion in mind.