Wish

 

Part 1

 

 

“Jessica? Can you please come out and help me? I’m trying to cook here and Krystal is crying in our bedroom! My hands are full and I can’t leave the pan or the food will burn! Can you please go check on Krystal for just a sec? I promise I’ll be there right after!” Taeyeon yelled from the kitchen.

 

 

Jessica, cooped up in her pseudo-office and too immersed in her work, didn’t even hear her wife calling for help. She just continued typing on her laptop as she had been doing since late last night.

 

 

“Yeobo!”

 

 

Jessica’s fingers slipped and accidentally pressed the wrong keys on the keyboard.

 

 

“Aish!”

 

 

She jabbed the backspace button violently with her finger and deleted the mistakes that she just created. She resumed her typing, still ignoring Taeyeon’s calls for help.

 

 

“Sica-ah!” Taeyeon called out even louder.

 

 

Again, Jessica’s fingers slipped across the wrong keys. Irritated, she stood up from her leather seat and slammed the door shut eliminating the ruckus from the outside.

 

 

“Finally, some peace and quiet.” She mumbled as she plopped back down on her seat and continued her work.

 

 

While Jessica locked herself in her office, Taeyeon on the other hand was wondering where her wife has gone to. She has been calling her name for the past five minutes and she has yet to receive any help, or any form of response for that matter from the latter.

 

 

“Omma!”

 

 

Taeyeon heard Krystal’s faint cry from her room.

 

 

“Yes, sweetie! I’m coming!”

 

 

Taeyeon quickly finished up what she was doing and lowered the flame on the stove. After washing her hands and drying them, she untied her apron that hung snugly around her waist and tossed it on one of the chairs haphazardly. She hurriedly jogged over to the master bedroom where she found her little angel standing by the wall of her crib, tears sprouting nonstop from her eyes like an open faucet, cheeks reddened, and lips quivering unsteadily.

 

 

“Omma!” Krystal sobbed. Seeing her mom rush into the room, she shot her arms up in the air, begging her mother to pick her up.

 

 

“Yes, sweetie, mommy’s here.”

 

 

Taeyeon scooped her little girl up from her crib and gently cradled her in her arms.

 

 

Krystal’s short arms wound themselves instinctively around her mother’s neck while her legs clung tightly around her mother’s waist. Her face buried itself in the safe confine of her mother’s neck and wept her little eyes out.

 

 

“Ssh, don’t cry sweetie. Mommy will change your diaper, okay?” Taeyeon cooed as she rubbed soothing circles around her daughter’s back to comfort her.

 

 

Taeyeon prepared the counter and gently laid Krystal on top of it. She changed her daughter’s diaper expertly and with ease for she has been doing this for two years already since they adopted Krystal when she was just an infant.

 

 

Though Jessica was against the adoption at first, she knows Jessica loves the girl more than Taeyeon herself does. She’s seen the way Jessica showered the little girl with the utmost care and love, and she has seen the way Jessica watches her from afar with such maternal affection. It’s quite a sight really, and she only does that whenever she thinks Taeyeon isn’t looking, but of course, Taeyeon still manages to catch her on the act.

 

 

Taeyeon smiled at her little girl whose cries have subsided tremendously as she was changing her diaper.

 

 

After she was done, she scooped Krystal back in her arms and took a quick peek in the kitchen to see if anything was burning. Thankfully, everything was still in one piece. She started heading back to the room to put Krystal back in her crib.

 

 

“I’ll put you back to bed, okay sweetie?”

 

 

Krystal shook her head side to side.

 

 

“Eh? But mommy still needs to cook for your party.”

 

 

Krystal shook her head again.

 

 

Taeyeon knew she can’t win against Krystal. Especially with her pouting adorably like that, she knew her daughter has defeated her. Smiling and sighing some, she walked back into the kitchen with Krystal still in her arms.

 

 

She tried putting Krystal on her booster seat, but the young girl wouldn’t let go.

 

 

“Krystal, you have to let go. Mommy needs to cook for your birthday party. You don’t want your guests to starve do you?”

 

 

Krystal gave no response of adhering to her mother’s request and instead tightened her hold around her mother’s neck.

 

 

Taeyeon shoulders slumped.

 

 

Once again, her daughter has defeated her.

 

 

With one arm, she rocked Krystal up and down hoping to put her back to sleep while her free hand stirred the contents of the frying pan.

 

 

Without long, Krystal fell back asleep. She slept soundly, drool dripping from the side of , head tilted to the side and resting on her mother’s shoulder, and her legs and arms dangling loosely around her mother’s form.

 

 

Taeyeon’s arm was starting to get sore from carrying Krystal. She can’t hold on to her much longer. She tried prying Krystal’s arms off her neck, but when she did, the grip around her neck tightened instinctively, almost choking her. When she stopped trying to pry them off, the arm loosened.

 

 

Taeyeon sighed.

 

 

Clearly, Krystal isn’t going to let go soon. Hoping that her wife will finally come out and help, she seeks her out once more.

 

 

“Yeobo!”

 

 

Taeyeon waited a few seconds.

 

 

And then a minute.

 

 

But she didn’t come.

 

 

Taeyeon shook her head in frustration.

 

 

Instead of trying her luck again with her wife or with her daughter, Taeyeon just continued cooking so she could finish quickly and put Krystal back in her crib.

 

 

In the middle of her pouring oil into the new pan, Krystal squirmed in her grasp, causing her to loosen her hold on her daughter and almost dropping her. On instinct, she let go of the plastic container containing the vegetable oil and wrapped both her arms around her daughter, catching her just in the nick of time before she could fully drop her. The container fell on the tiled floor with aloud thud, its content spilling all over the floor and all over Taeyeon’s foot.

 

 

Taeyeon grimaced at the mess.

 

 

Afraid that she might slip and hurt both herself and her daughter in the process, she crouched down on her knees and crawled out of the kitchen towards the bedroom.

 

 

After she has placed Krystal back in bed, she went back to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess she has created. Then she went back to her cooking.

 

 

Two hours later and she was finished.

 

 

She looked up at the wall clock.

 

 

One more hour until the guests start arriving. She noted.

 

 

She took her apron off and tossed it into the hamper in the bathroom.

 

 

She strolled over to Jessica’s office and knocked on the door lightly before opening it.

 

 

“Yeobo.” Taeyeon called out.

 

 

Jessica didn’t tear her eyes away from the monitor and replied a soft, “Hm?”

 

 

“You should get ready. The guests will be arriving soon.”

 

 

“Hm.” Jessica nodded robotically.

 

 

Taeyeon stayed rooted in her place thinking that Jessica was going to get up from her chair soon.

 

 

Jessica, however, didn’t even budge from her seat. Taeyeon shook her head and decided to just get ready for the party first then come back and haul Jessica into the bathroom.

 

 

======

 

 

“Yo Taeng!” Sooyoung greeted as she gives Taeyeon quick hug. “How are you and my cousin doing?”

 

 

“Hey Soo.” Taeyeon greeted back as she patted Sooyoung’s back. “We’re doing well. Jessica’s been busy with work lately and I’ve been busy taking care of the little munchkin.”

 

 

“Ah, I hope Jessica’s not neglecting the two of you or anything.”

 

 

“No. She still spends time with us.” Taeyeon lied. In truth, Jessica barely spends time with them nowadays because of work. She didn’t feel the need to tell Jessica’s cousin about such trivial things.

 

 

“That’s good to hear. Anyway, where’s the birthday girl?” Sooyoung’s eyes drifted to the pink bundle sitting on a walker making its way towards them. A wide grin made it to Sooyoung’s face. “Ah! There she is! Come here and give Aunt Sooyoung a kiss! Mwah!” Sooyoung gave Krystal a big sloppy kiss on her right cheek. Krystal face scrunched up in discomfort and immediately rubbed her cheek with her little fingers.

 

 

“Haha! She doesn’t like your kisses! She hates you!” Yuri taunted from behind.

 

 

Sooyoung scoffed in response. “She does like my kisses! She just didn’t like…the lipstick I wore today.”

 

 

“Nuh, uh. She just doesn’t like you in general. See, little Krystal here likes Aunt Yuri better. Right baby girl?”

 

 

Yuri crouched down and attempted to kiss Krystal’s left cheek. Before her lips could touch the girl’s cheek, however, two small palms pushed her face away in the other direction.

 

Sooyoung hollered like a hyena.

 

 

“And who does Krystal doesn’t like now?” She jibed. “At least she let me kiss her.”

 

 

“Hmph. She’s just cranky that’s why.” Yuri reasoned.

 

 

“Yah! You two! Stop suffocating my baby!” Taeyeon scolded her friends. She picked her little angel up in her arms and brought her towards door where her other daughter’s aunts were busy taking their heels off. “Look who came to visit you sweetie. It’s Aunt Sunny and Aunt Tiffany! Say hi baby girl.”

 

 

Krystal opened and closed her fist in an attempt to wave at the visitors.

 

 

“Aw! Hi Krystal! Happy third birthday! Aunt Tiffany bought you a very cute present that I’m sure you’ll adore!”

 

 

“If I have to guess the color of the gift, it’s probably pink.” This remark earned Sunny a smack on the arm followed by an obnoxious scolding from the raven-haired girl.

 

 

“Yah! Krystal likes pink just like me! Right Krystal?”

 

 

Krystal turned away from her, completely ignoring her, and hugged her mother instead, eliciting a chuckle from both Taeyeon and Sunny while Tiffany sulked from the blunt rejection she received from the birthday girl.

 

 

“Anyway, where’s your other half?” Tiffany asked, diverting the topic.

 

 

“Ah. She’s probably still getting ready.”

 

 

Actually, Taeyeon wasn’t really sure where her wife was at the moment. She hauled Jessica’s into the bathroom after showering. She should be done by now, if she did get ready like she was supposed to. Taeyeon prayed hard and hoped in the back of her mind that Jessica was finishing up getting ready for the party and not cooped up in her office still doing her work.  

 

 

“Here, take Krystal and I’ll go get her so she could say hi to everyone.”

 

 

Taeyeon handed Tiffany the child in which Tiffany excitedly welcomed in her arms.

 

 

Taeyeon checked their bedroom first.

 

 

Jessica wasn’t there.

 

 

She wasn’t in the bathroom either.

 

 

She was about to go back out into the living room to entertain the girls seated on the couch when she stopped mid-step and turned her body towards the direction of the door at the end of the hall. She just realized she hasn’t checked Jessica’s office yet.

 

 

Slowly, she strolled over to Jessica’s office.

 

 

Her footsteps became heavier and heavier as she neared the door.

 

 

She gulped.

 

 

Placing her hand on top of the door handle, she gave it a twist and a gentle push, opening the door to Jessica’s office. And there, inside the office she found her wife still sitting in front of her laptop, nose buried in the screen, and her fingers typing away seamlessly as she had left her an hour ago.

 

 

Taeyeon frowned.

 

 

“Sica-ah, I thought I told you to get ready an hour ago?” Taeyeon questioned.

 

 

“I’ll get ready soon.” Jessica answered absentmindedly.

 

 

This ticked Taeyeon.

 

 

“No. Stop whatever you are doing on your laptop now and go get ready. Some of the girls are here already. They want to say hi to you.”

 

 

“Soon, baby. But I need to finish this first.”

 

 

Jessica received a heavy workload from her boss the day before. It was tax season, hence her office was bustling with work. She was forced to take home loads of work in order for her team to hit the fast approaching deadline, which was tomorrow, unfortunately. She has been working nonstop since she came home last night and she has only gotten a few hours of sleep. As of now, she is extremely exhausted and all she wants to do is finish her d*mn work so she can start her long awaited rest.

 

 

“But Sica, the party has already started. Everyone’s looking for you and Krystal—”

 

 

“Just go entertain them for me. I need to finish this up by tonight.”

 

 

Something hit Taeyeon when she realized what Jessica had just said.

 

 

“Wait. Are you planning on ditching the party—your daughter’s party—to finish up your work? Are you out of your mind?”

 

 

Jessica didn’t respond, though she heard Taeyeon’s accusations loud and clear. She didn’t bother to respond because she knew if she did, it will only lead into a fight and she doesn’t want that. She has better use of her energy than waste it on unnecessary fights.

 

 

It’s not that she wants to sacrifice Krystal’s birthday for her work, but she has no choice. Right now, the economy is shaky and she can get fired from her job any moment. People have been dropped left and right from the company. Just one mistake and her head is next to be chopped. She can’t jeopardize that, especially because she’s the only one bringing the money home. She needs to do this for their welfare.

 

 

Jessica’s indifference and disregard towards her aggravated Taeyeon’s anger even more, pushing it to the limit.

 

 

Taeyeon gritted her teeth before she finally exploded on Jessica.

 

 

“Yah, Kim Jessica! Are you listening to me?!”

 

 

Jessica’s fingers halted midair.

 

 

She swirled around and faced Taeyeon with an exasperated expression on her face.

 

 

“Yes! I heard you!” Jessica yelled back.

 

 

She didn’t mean to snap but she was tired and vulnerable. Taeyeon’s explosion just tipped her off towards the edge.

 

 

“If you heard me then why weren’t you responding to my question!?”

 

 

“What the hell do you want me to do, huh? You know how important my work is for me! It’s not like you contribute anything to our finance! You don’t even have a job!”

 

 

“I do contribute to our finance! And FYI, I do have a job!”

 

 

Jessica scoffed. “Taeyeon, you’ve been unemployed for almost a year! All you do is doodle all day! Your drawings don’t even bring a cent home! You’re just a stay at home mom who laze around in the house all day doodling in a sketchbook! You do nothing Taeyeon!”

 

 

This hurt Taeyeon’s pride. There were some truths in what Jessica had said. It’s true that her job as a freelance artist doesn’t really bring much money home but it doesn’t mean that she does nothing to contribute to the finance. She has looked. Looked everywhere for a job. She even took on random temporary jobs just to contribute to their finance. And when she doesn’t have work, she still helps out in the house. She does the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking, and taking care of Krystal! She’s not lazy!

 

 

“Just because you bring more money home, doesn’t give you the right to be a jerk to me and to your own daughter! You bury yourself with work and barely spend time with us. Whenever I ask you to spend time with us, you always shrug us off with your excuses! It’s tiring hearing you slur the same excuses! Quite frankly, I’ve had enough of it!”

 

 

Jessica scoffed. “And you think I haven’t had enough of this stupid work? It’s not like I’m doing this on purpose! You know our situation! Can’t you just be a little more understanding?”

 

 

“No! I’ve had enough of your stupid work!”

 

 

Now Jessica was getting even more aggravated by Taeyeon’s ungratefulness. She knew she shouldn’t say it, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to retaliate, get back at Taeyeon somehow. Through gritted teeth, Jessica spoke, “That’s too bad then, because I can’t just disregard my work for some party that comes around every year! This!” She pointed to her laptop. “Is far more important than that stupid party! You know why? Because this gives us food! This gives us a roof over our heads! And this keeps this family afloat! I keep this family afloat!”

 

 

“Jessica! Do you even hear yourself!? You just said that your work is more important than your daughter’s birthday! Jessica, this isn’t just some irrelevant day that comes around every year! And this isn’t just some party! This is the celebration of the day your daughter was born! Your daughter Jessica!”

 

 

“Adopted daughter! She’s not my child! I didn’t give birth to her!”

 

 

That was it. That was enough to push Taeyeon of the ledge of her sanity.

 

 

A palm flew across Jessica’s face and a loud snap echoed throughout the house.

 

 

Everything went eerily silent from there.

 

 

Taeyeon’s strings finally snapped. She didn’t even have enough time to comprehend what she had done and Jessica didn’t even have time to react. Everything happened so quickly.

 

 

Feet shuffled across the wooden floorboards, the sound of it getting louder and louder by the second as the girls neared the office.

 

 

The girls rushed inside the room upon hearing the loud snap. When they first heard the commotion, they decided not to interfere because it wasn’t their place to intervene between the couple’s problems. But after hearing that last sound, they knew they had to step in.

 

 

The four girls could only gasp at the scene before them; Jessica’s head was tilted to the side, her hair a mess and her cheek reddened from the impact. Taeyeon on the other hand had her palm still hanging in the air. It slowly fell down to her side.

 

 

This wasn’t what everyone expected to happen during the special occasion. Of all the days that it could have happened, it had to happen today. They had to have an argument on their little girl’s birthday. What a shame.

 

 

Tiffany turned her body to the side, hindering Krystal’s view of the mess in the office.

 

 

Jessica’s left cheek burned, like a thousand needles were prickling her skin, piercing every pore on her cheek like a knife. It hurt, but the physical pain doesn’t compare to the pain she’s feeling inside. The pain inside her chest burned even more.

 

 

She was mortified to say the least.

 

 

Taeyeon has never laid a hand on her…ever. They’ve had arguments and fights, but it has never escalated to anything like this. This was the first time Taeyeon has ever lost her temper to the point that she actually hurt her.

 

 

The action was uncalled for, for the both of them.

 

 

Taeyeon’s mouth hung open in shock as it painfully dawned to her what she had just done to her wife. She—she didn’t mean it. She didn’t mean to lay a hand on her wife…on Jessica. It was just the spur of the moment—she was just—just enraged of what came out of Jessica’s mouth and something ugly took over her body. She swears she didn’t mean to hit her! She really didn’t! She wouldn’t hurt Jessica, ever! She promised her!

 

 

Regret flooded the entirety of Taeyeon’s body, it plummeted heavily to the pit of her heart. Her hand that had hit Jessica on the cheek lay limp to her side as it continues to shake. She could still feel the lingering wringing from the impact of her slap and it’s making her heart feel unsettled. Oh how she regrets it.

 

 

“Y-yeobo…I—I didn’t mean to…I…”

 

 

A tear slid down Jessica’s cheek causing Taeyeon’s mouth to clamp shut automatically.

 

 

Something painful just pierced through her chest.

 

 

“J-Jessica I—”

 

 

Before she could say anything, Jessica dashed past her, past the other girls, and out the front door without hesitation, not daring to look back.

 

 

======

 

 

Jessica’s eyes blurred with tears that swiftly formed in her eyes.

 

 

She didn’t bother wiping them away as they poured down her eyes like bomb shells.

 

 

She pumped her legs faster across the concrete sidewalk.

 

 

She doesn’t even know where she was going but she kept running. She just kept running to nowhere in particular, just running away from the cause of her heartache; her family.

 

 

She just wishes she could be in an alternate universe where she has never met Taeyeon. Ever since she married her, everything went downhill from there. It was fun at first being in a relationship with an artist; life was so carefree, so exhilarating, and so fascinating. But now, now that she was married to one...she was having second thoughts about it.

 

 

Taeyeon has been unemployed for months. They had to move out from their larger apartment to a smaller one because they couldn’t keep up with the rent, especially after they adopted Krystal.

 

 

She’s not saying she didn’t want to adopt the girl, she did, but it just wasn’t the right time. She didn’t want to adopt her around the time when they’re barely making money and keeping themselves afloat. They were a new couple for God’s sake! It wasn’t the right time to start a family!

 

 

But of course Taeyeon insisted for the adoption. And so they did.

 

 

And now they’re here; in shambles and on the verge of breaking. Reality wasn’t what she expected it to be. It was so bitter…so harsh.

 

 

I hate you Taeyeon! You promised me a good life! You promised to make me happy! And you promised to never hurt me! Where are those promises now, huh?!

 

 

More tears poured down her face.

 

 

Liar!

 

 

 

I wish I never met you!

 

 

 

======

 

 

After running for quite some time, her legs finally came to a halt. She doubled over and placed her palms on top of her knees panting heavily from the strenuous run.

 

 

She brought her fingers up to her face to brush the tears away, but they have already gone dry during the run. All she could feel now is the sultry perspiration on her face. She was sweating profusely.

 

 

Craning her neck around, she surveyed her surrounding to determine where her legs had brought her.

 

 

The pier?

 

 

Wow, she covered a pretty good distance from her running without even realizing it. How long has she been running for then?

 

 

She straightened back up and began walking backwards, not realizing that there was someone walking behind her.

 

 

She accidentally bumped into the person, causing the both of them to fall.

 

 

“Aish! Watch where you’re going grandma!” Jessica grumbled.

 

 

When Jessica got back to her feet, the old woman was still on the ground having difficulties getting up.

 

 

Jessica glanced back at the woman. She felt bad for bumping into her and yelling at her unnecessarily but she was still infuriated from the whole fiasco in her home. She couldn’t help herself. She contemplated whether to help her up or not. In the end she decided against it.

 

 

She began walking away.

 

 

“Young lady!”

 

 

Jessica stopped upon hearing the old lady’s raspy voice call out to her. She turned around and gave the old lady a perplexed look.

 

 

“You have been a very naughty girl.” The old lady said as if she knew of Jessica’s strife.

 

 

Jessica scoffed.

 

 

The old woman sat up and clicked her tongue in a disapproving manner while she shook her head.

 

 

“Be careful what you wish for in that head of yours young lady,” The old woman warned. “Or you might just get your wish.”

 

 

Jessica rolled her eyes not believing the nonsensical talk the old lady was blabbering about.

 

 

She turned back around and started walking away.

 

 

Hah! Be careful what I wish for? What garbage is she talking about?

 

 

 

When she took a step forward, a bolt of lightning surged down from the sky and pierced through the ocean, causing a sudden torrent of explosion in the middle of the ocean.

 

 

Jessica ducked and covered her face with her arms.

 

 

Water splashed over her form, drenching her entire body with the ocean’s water.

 

 

She waited a few seconds more for everything to subside before rising from her spot to check the damage that the lightening had inflicted.

 

 

Oddly enough, everything seemed fine except for the amount of water spread throughout the pier.

 

 

What the—

 

 

“When did it get dark?” Jessica wondered.

 

 

It was just day light not too long ago and now it’s evening all of a sudden?

 

 

What…happened?

 

 

Jessica turned back around to check on the old lady and to her surprise, the woman was gone.

 

 

End of Part 1

 

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A/N: So...um, first of all I want to apologize to those that have been waiting for the part 2 of One Kiss. Unfortunately, there won't be a part 2. After I wrote that first part I got busy and I totally forgot how I wanted the fic to go on. I lost motivation. So I'm just going to keep it as a one shot. If I think of a sequel or something I'll update it.

 

If you're wondering if this fic will be left unfinished like One Kiss, I swear it won't. Rest assured that this fic has an ending! It's a three shot and I'm half way done with part 3. So yeah. Tell me what you think!

 

Comments are very much appreciated! Thank you for reading and subscribing! =]