A/N: I MISS JESSICA SO MUCH. LIKE HELL. I REALLY WISH I COULD SEE MORE OF HER, WATCH HER PERFORM AGAIN. T__________T But I'm really happy for her now. She's become really confident, and she’s doing an amazing job of being creative director AND model of her own brand so far so *STANDING OVATION FOR OUR PRINCESS*

The last chapter to this story (before this update) was written almost a year ago so I recommend rereading for long-time subscribers. I’m so sorry it’s taking me years to finish this story. Life happens so…

***

You Picked Me [8/?]

run away with me

let me be your ride out of town

let me be the place that you hide

***

Jinki still couldn’t wrap his head around this situation.

He got a C-.

A C-.

On his paper in English.

About music.

It wasn’t the most difficult of assignments; Ms. Lee, the English Communications teacher, gave them exactly a month to write a paper about a topic randomly assigned to each student in the class. Jinki felt like he hit the jackpot when the teacher gave him the strip of paper containing the question, “Why do people listen to music?”

Music was something he was so passionate about, something he was proud he was good at, something he understood and connected to by heart. He had spent half the previous month doing solid research for the paper―he even went as far as touching a bit of neurochemistry, trying to explain how listening to music affected the levels and reactions of the chemicals in the brain. All of his research would go to waste if his English wasn't impeccable of course, so Jinki had a handy Korean-American dictionary in case some terms confused him.  Besides, his beloved girlfriend was American-born and fluent in the language, and she was there for every paper revision, helping him check for any lapses in grammar and sentence construction. The final product was nothing short of remarkable, and if he were to judge it as objectively as possible, he would give it at least a B+.

But then yesterday, right before the soccer game, Kim Kibum gave out strips of paper with their grades for the assignment, and when he got his, a C- in red ink glared at him from beside his name.

Lee Jinki ― C-.

He and Jessica (she had insisted to come with him) had skipped watching soccer and spent the rest of the afternoon looking for Ms. Lee, the subject teacher, to make an appeal for his grade, only to find out two hours later that she had already left school and gone home for the weekend. Jessica dragged him to eat crepes afterwards to cheer him up, but even his favorite Nutella-banana flavored crepes couldn't seem to lift his spirits.

It was now Saturday, the start of the weekend, but Jinki was far from rejoicing. He was intent on skipping breakfast and wallowing some more over his C- when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

“Jinki,” his mother’s voice sounded from the other side of the door, “Jessica’s here. You might want to get up now.”

Jinki managed an exasperated sigh. It was typical of his mom to use Jessica as bait. "You can't use Jessica to fool me into eating, Mom. I told you, I'm not hungry."

A younger, much higher voice replied, "Yah, Lee Jinki! Open the door!"

So his mother wasn't lying after all.

Jinki let out another sigh, rubbed the sleep off his eyes and rolled off the bed, pulling the door open to reveal his girlfriend smiling up at him expectantly.

“Hey,” she greeted him. She looked rather cute in a pink cardigan over a floral blouse, her hair in a high ponytail. “You ready for today?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, slightly baffled. “I don’t remember us making plans for today,” he said, his smile rather tentative in his confusion.

“Can’t a girl surprise his boyfriend sometimes?” Jessica said, giving him her patented I’m-adorable-and-you-can’t-say-no-to-me pout and pleading eyes. “Come on, I brought the car with me today. I’ll drive you around, make you forget about your grade on that English paper that you can’t seem to move on from.”

His face fell at the mention of the damn paper. “Oh, right…”

Jessica shook her head, reaching out to interlace their fingers. “Look, we’re gonna enjoy today, okay? It was just one paper, Jinki. One C- wouldn’t bring you down from the top of the class. Come on.” She stood on her tiptoes to reach out and pinch his cheek. “Why are you so grumpy? Can you at least smile for me?” He was trying his best not to give in, and when she saw that he was trying so hard to hide a smile, both of her hands went up to pinch both his cheeks. "Hey, it'll be okay. First thing we'll do on Monday is find Ms. Lee and make the appeal. Does that sound good to you?"

There was no use fighting off his girlfriend’s charms. Jinki smiled at her and nodded, finally relenting. "Okay."

"Good. No more moping around, alright?"

Another nod and a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

"So go take a shower and meet me outside when you're ready. Your mom already packed your breakfast so you can eat on the road," Jessica said before pinching his cheeks one last time and shoving him to the direction of the bathroom.

***

"So where exactly are you taking me?" Jinki asked, hitting the play button on the stereo of his girlfriend's car. He fastened his seatbelt and reached out to do the same for Jessica as soon as she settled herself on the driver’s seat beside him. "You sure you can drive this thing without any problems? You even forgot to wear your own seatbelt."

Jessica let out a huff of indignation. "That’s because you did it for me before I could do it for myself. I’m not a child you know." She looked alternately between the front and rear of the car to slowly back out of the Lee house’s parking space. “I’m in charge of today and you’re not allowed to complain.”

"Okay, boss." Jinki turned his attention to the view outside as the first notes of Super Junior’s No Other filled the car. He started bobbing his head back and forth to the beat of the music as the car gained speed and passed by his neighborhood. “I really like this song,” he commented after a while, before narrowing his eyes shrewdly at Jessica. “I thought you hated this song.”

“I don’t hate it. I just don’t like it.”

“Isn’t that kind of the same thing?”

“Why are you complaining? You just said you like the song.”

“So you’re playing this for me then?”

There was a playful twinkle in Jessica’s eyes when she answered, “Maybe.”

Jinki unwrapped the parcel his mom had brought for him. He smiled as he realized it was chicken sandwich, his favorite. He took his first bite of the still warm sandwich as f(x)’s Rum Pum Pum, another song he knew Jessica didn’t particularly like, started playing from the stereo. He turned to look at her, his eyebrows knotted in confusion.    

Jessica’s eyes were still focused on the road.

He pressed the next button on the stereo, listening to the first few seconds of every song before pressing next again, despite Jessica’s protests (“Hey, are you trying to damage my stereo?!”). The order of the songs was definitely familiar to him, and when it all dawned on him, he couldn’t keep the triumphant grin of his face. 

“Jessica?”

“Yes?”

“Is this the―”

“―the mix that you gave me for my sixteenth birthday. Yes, it is.”

She still wouldn’t look at him.

“You kept it?”

“I did.”

“But I thought you lost―whoa, this is SHINee, right?” He looked at her in blatant disbelief as the track changed to yet another of his favorite songs―songs he compiled on a CD and shared with Jessica two years ago on her sixteenth birthday, her first birthday they spent together as a couple.

“Very good deduction, Sherlock.”

"Wow, you kept this. I never thought... given how much you said you hated most of these songs…"

"I said I'm not very fond of them, Jinki. That doesn't necessarily mean I hate them.”

“Was it a bad birthday gift?”

“Hmmmm…” Jessica hesitated, her fingers drumming on the dashboard to the beat of the SHINee track in the background. “You’ve given worse gifts.”

“Worse gifts? Like what?” Jinki asked, genuinely curious.

“Like that weird wooden doll you got me from one of your trips to the countryside.”

Jinki laughed, relishing the memory. “That was quite expensive, you know.”

“Yeah, well, it was completely useless.”

“Did you… throw it away?” Jinki asked, willing himself to not be offended at the answer he knew was coming.

“I have yet to throw away any of your gifts, you know, no matter how weird or stupid they seem to be,” Jessica replied, finally looking at him, a smile on her face. “Except the flowers. They die after a while.”

***

A box, red wrapping paper, a card and a white bough; Krystal had everything she needed to wrap the damn Hello Kitty alarm clock. Suddenly she was regretting her insistence that she and Taemin bring a birthday gift to Naeun’s party. Hell, she was regretting ever agreeing to go with Taemin to Naeun’s party in the first place. It was early in the morning, her sister had headed out for the day, leaving her alone at the apartment, and she was already about to lose her mind. She fumbled for her cellphone on the bed and dialed the only person she could talk to about her current situation.

“Sulli…I think I’m in trouble,” she whined into the receiver. 

“Why, what’s wrong?” Sulli let out a yawn. She was never really a morning person.

“It’s Taemin…”

“Well, he seems to be your only problem these days.”

“Shut up, Choi,” Krystal chuckled before turning serious again. “It’s…” she stumbled, trying to find the right words to describe the situation. “…something happened to us last night.”

“What?!”

“No, not like that!” She flopped on her bed and pressed her cheek into her pillow. “Something happened, and I’m scared it’s gonna change everything.”

“Now I’m really confused. Will you please just tell me what happened?”

“He… kissed me.”

Sulli gasped. “Taemin?”

“Or maybe I kissed him. I’m not sure what happened.”

“Oh my God, really?”

“Yeah,” Krystal covered her face in silent embarrassment. “But he was drunk and he passed out right after it happened so I’m not sure he’ll remember everything today. I’m hoping he won’t.”

“But, Krystal,” Sulli murmured, “you’ve been wanting this to happen for months! Maybe even years.”

“Hey,” Krystal protested. She rubbed her face with a sigh. “I like him. I really like him. It’s just…We’ve known each other for years. We’ve been friends for years. And I’m not sure I can throw years of friendship just because of some weird feelings I’ve been having for him recently.”

“You really think you can do that?”

“Do what?”

“Be ‘just friends’ with him?”

“That’s what I’ve been doing this whole time!”

“And you’re actually okay with it?”

Krystal fell silent. She glanced at the wrapping materials strewn all over the floor, and suddenly images of the birthday party she’s about to attend with Taemin filled her mind―Naeun welcoming Taemin into her party and giving him a tight hug, Naeun talking to Taemin all night, her arm wrapped gingerly around his as they mingled with other guests, Naeun laughing at Taemin’s jokes, swatting her hand at his arm. And Krystal sitting in a corner alone, not able to do anything about it because she and Taemin were ‘just friends.’

She had the sudden urge to tear the wrapping paper into bits and pieces.

“Hey, Krystal, you still there?” Sulli’s voice managed to shake her from her reverie. “And by the way, what happened with you and Myungsoo? Finally got around to turning him down?”

Oh right, Myungsoo. Krystal smacked a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. Myungsoo was just with her yesterday. He smiled at lot and was extremely charming, a complete and utterly perfect gentleman. He was more than anything she could ever ask for in a boyfriend.

She had forgotten all about him.

“Actually, Sulli…” she started, already dreading the scolding she was about to receive. “Myungsoo is kind of my boyfriend now.”

Sulli was quiet. “Krystal… you’re a mess.”

“I know.”

“You have to make up your mind,” Sulli pressed, her voice rising by the syllable. “Stop using other people just so you can get over whatever you feel for Taemin. Your continuous streak of boyfriends, it’s got to stop! Just go tell Taemin how you feel!”

“But, Sulli…” Krystal groaned as she pushed herself up on her feet. “I don’t think I can.”

“But you need to. And you’re not talking to me until you’ve told Taemin the truth, or else I’m telling him myself!”

“Sulli―”

She hung up.

Krystal stared at the screen in shock and promptly threw the damn phone on her bed in frustration. How dare you, Choi Jinri! Urgh! It was frustrating that Sulli hung up on her, yes, but Krystal couldn’t deny that she was right. She deserved to be hung up on; she was a girlfriend who’s always been dishonest, always emotionally cheating―

Her phone was ringing again.

She picked it up from the bed hastily and accepted the call immediately, a million apologies poised on her lips, “Sulli, I’m really really sorry―”

“Hey, it’s Taemin.”

Krystal almost dropped her phone.

“My head feels like it’s gonna split open.” Taemin started grumbling, oblivious to her panic. “It’s a struggle to get up from my bed. I don’t remember feeling as horrible as I’m feeling right now.”

“You deserve it,” Krystal said, praying he wouldn’t pick up on how shaky her voice was. “Getting drunk like that. What were you even thinking?”

“There was just a lot on my mind, I think.” He sighed deeply. “I called because… I just… wanted to be sure you got home safe last night, you know? I couldn’t even see you out the door.”

Krystal’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest any moment now. “I’m okay,” she said slowly, painfully struggling to be coherent. “I wouldn’t be talking to you right now if I weren’t.”

“Great.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I hope I didn’t do anything embarrassing last night.”

Like kiss me? “Like stripping down to your boxers in front of me?” She managed a nervous chuckle.

“Sorry about that.” Taemin sounded sheepish; it made her heart flutter. “Won’t happen again.”

“It better not.”

“So are we still on for tonight? Naeun’s party?” he asked haltingly, after a moment's pause. “I promise we’ll get out of there as soon as it gets annoying. Or boring. Or both. I’ll be by your side all night.”

He sounded like a defeated puppy, and she wasn’t strong enough to refuse. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’ll pick you up at 6?”

“Sure.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” Beep.

So Taemin had forgotten all about last night.

Krystal didn’t know how to process that information.

This was what she wanted, right? For them to stay friends, to stay normal. She didn’t what to ruin what they had right now.

But that kiss. It had meant something to her, no matter how much she convinced herself of otherwise―it was her only thread of hope that maybe, just maybe, Taemin feels the same way about her. And his words, they’ve been replaying in her head all morning―

I love you, d’you know that?

And now he’d gone and forgotten all about everything.

***

A/N: Do you think Taemin really had forgotten that kiss?