"And someday… If we still didn't end up with the ones we love, maybe we can try to hook up."

"Alright. Count me in."

"Now, why am I even more excited for that to happen instead?"

(ref: Chapter 186)

and now... (the longest and one of my favorite chaps so far *wink-wink*)

Yuri POV

"Poor boy, George Nicholas Yuri Kwon. Did I just kill your chance to hit on Jessica Sooyeon Jung?" Taeyeon snapped in whisper at me. He's been trying to annoy me with his meaningful and teasing looks since moments ago.

"Shut the up, Taeyeon."

The three of us are now in the parking lot along with Jessica walking a little faster than us so we sort of left behind a bit. We're about to leave for my mom's place for her so-called emergency intervention.

He went to catch up on Sica's pace. "Admit it, Jessica. You're disappointed in him, aren't you?"

And he didn't get a response from her again. Well, apparently after she found out about my uhhmm- habit, she just went into silence and afterwards, just shrugged it off. It was really like a 'meh' reaction from her. I feel thankful, though. She didn't really give a damn about it.

"Wow. You sure look disappointed now. You can't even answer me."

"I am not, Kim Taeyeon."

"Ehh? So, now what? You're just going to tolerate him?"

She finally looked at him, "He's already an adult. He can do whatever he wants. Besides, didn't you, Yoong, and Sooyoung were all stupid boys back then too?"

"Yah! I was not worse as he is now. He's now far worse than the three of us combined."

"Worse or not, the four of you are all the same. If anyone should be blamed on his resolve of satisfying his ual desires, that will be you three. And I'm sure you don't want me to start on reminding you all of the crazy things you three have been doing just to influence this guy." she said and pointed at me.

"Yes. They fed me so many ideas." I faked a cry. "I was just brainwashed by them." She chuckled and so was I. Taeyeon just groaned in defeat.

When we arrived at where our cars were parked, Taeyeon suddenly received a notification from his phone. Then, after he read it, he snapped, "I guess you have to ride with Yuri again, Jessica. I still have to err--- fetch Seohyun."

Sica and I looked at him quizzically. I then asked, "Why?"

"Why not?" He asked back. Then, he snapped, "Anyway, I gotta go. See ya later." He rode his car and drove off right away.

Jessica looked at me in full of question, "So, he's dating Seohyun now?"

"Err-- I don't know? He told me, though, that he's been single ever since you two broke up." I went to ride on the driver's seat. Jessica followed along and occupied the passenger's seat beside me.

She continued to ask, "And do you think he's telling you the truth?"

"Yup. I pretty much know when Taeyeon's lying."

"Hmm. I see..." and she immersed into her own thoughts again. She seemed to be smiling a bit, though.

I started to drive for my mom's place. She seemed to be back on her usual quiet self again. "Hey." I snapped.

"Yeah?"

"Does it affect you that much if Taeyeon's somewhat dating Seohyun?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"Then, why are you like that?"

She smiled, "I just thought I could never read his thoughts well. He's too much of a weird man."

"So, he's kind of immune from your mind reading prowess?"

"Yup. He's the only one, actually. It must have been really because he's weird in the first place. But yeah, judging from what he answered earlier, his relationship with Seo seems to be for physical intimacy alone." She chuckled as she looked at me, "How ironic, isn't it? He's totally scolding you for being a boy when he's freaking doing the same thing."

"Why was I not aware of that?"

"Oh come on. Taeyeon might be single but, he's still damn hell of a ert. He'll never allow himself not satisfied with that aspect."

"But why Seohyun agreed...?" I mumbled.

She chuckled again, "I think the more appropriate question is how he got to convince her?"

"Right. How did he get to do it when Yoong could not?" I glanced at her for a bit, "Don't you remember Yoong and Seo broke up because of the latter not agreeing to level up their 'physical intimacy'?"

"Hmmm... Yes, yes, I remember. He told me how much of a jerk he was back then and cheated on Seo throughout their whole relationship. Poor girl."

"Wow. This seems to be a surprise. You're actually open to talking about Yoong casually now?"

"I've always been open, Yuri, even at the very next day when we broke up." Then, she started to be occupied by her own thoughts again. It's more like she's still wondering why Seohyun agreed. A few moments later, she finally snapped, "Aha! I got it."

"What?"

"I know why she agreed."

"Uhuh. Why?"

"It's a payback against Yoong. I bet she's thinking that agreeing on Taeyeon instead on him will really infuriate her ex-boyfriend. And you know what? I guess I think so too."

"Right. Or she could be targeting you."

"Right." She smirked, "But, she'll never win against me. In fact..." She looked at me. "If she really did mean that, I might just try to annoy her even more too."

"Huh? I'm lost. What do you mean?"

She looked back on the road. "Let's just say... I always get what I want, Yuri. I always do. And this time, I won't even need to make an effort for it."

And that statement really sounded hazy and very, very intriguing. What is she planning this time?

---

After few minutes, we arrived at my mom's place. Taeyeon's car was already parked in front of the house. "Is this the place where you stayed when you were still in comatose condition?" Jessica asked as we got out of the car.

"Nope. We previously stayed in San Francisco. A year after, we moved here. That was where umma actually stayed ever since fourteen years ago."

"Oh, I see."

Before I could even use my key to unlock the front door of the house, I heard my mom ranting over my best friend. "Didn't I specifically order you, Kim Taeyeon, to drag him here by yourself?!" she shouted.

Jessica and I exchanged looks. I sent out an awkward laugh. "Sorry about that."

She giggled, "Gosh. I miss your mom's rants."

"Seriously?"

I opened the door and we went inside. Mom was still too occupied from ranting over Taeyeon at the living room. Taeng and Seohyun are currently sitting on the couch a little farther away from each away while mom was there standing in front of them with her hands on her waist.

"Please, believe me, Ms. Shin. He will really come."

"Oh. You freaking said the same thing before! Don't you remember he ditched us on last year's intervention and that is because you freaking believed him he'll come on his own?!"

"He has a reason to come now, Ms. Shin. Trust me, he---"

She suddenly groaned, "Arrghhh-- I swear, I'm gonna kill that assho---"

"Hi, umma." I greeted and went near them.

Mom froze for a bit then turned gracefully and now wearing a quite satisfied smile on her face. "George Nicholas! My most favorite son of all~" She went near and embraced me tightly. "Gosh, I missed you so much~"

I chuckled, "Wasn't it only a few seconds ago you wanted to kill me?"

She broke away and looked at me innocently, "Kill you with my tender, love, and care." She pecked my cheek then, sighed, "Give me a break. Umma was just stre----" She suddenly paused as she noticed someone else was behind me. She stared first, looking confused, then, looked back at me. "I didn't know you got company."

"Well, err, yeah." I looked back to Jessica and it seemed she hid her face from my mom.

"Now, this is uhhm-- new." she said, still sounding confused. Well, I never did bring a woman here. Yes, not even Krystal.

I grinned at mom then went near Sica. I held her hand and guided her closer to mom. "Umma, meet Jessica. Jessica, you remember her, right? My very annoying mother?"

Jessica finally looked straight at my mom. She smiled warmly, "It's nice to meet you again, auntie."

"Jessica?!"

"Yup. Jessica Jung, auntie. Don't you remember me?"

"Oh, my dear..." Mom started to cry as she embraced her. "How could I ever forget about you? I miss you so much~"

Jessica chuckled, "I miss you so much too."

Mom broke away. She cupped Sica's face then gave her a kiss on the forehead. Sica giggled in return. Afterwards, she redirected back to me, Taeyeon and Seohyun. "Alright. The intervention's canceled. Dinner time!" she said cheerfully.

Taeyeon sighed in relief while Seohyun clasped her hands together and cheered. Obviously enough, they don't want intervention to ever happen again. Well, whenever my mom officiates one, it always ends up with all of us getting scolded, most especially the two of them. Don't get that wrong, though. My mom treats those two like her own children. It's just that, like she always says, I'm her favorite so I get the lesser rant even though I'm the one mostly at fault.

---

Instead of a simple dinner, mom quickly ordered our servants to order food from the nearest restaurant. The food on the table became too abundant that now it looks like there's a feast or something. So, anyway, as usual, mom arranged our seating. She sat at the center, Seohyun sat at her right with Taeyeon next while, Jessica sat at her left then, me.

Immediately as dinner started, though, she only engaged conversation with Jessica, giving updates on each other's lives. The rest of us, on the other hand, ended up just listening to them, though. Oh, I forgot to mention. It seems Seohyun still holds grudge over Jessica that, throughout the whole time, she's glaring over the former. Hmmm. I guess Sica was right on her guess earlier, ehh?

"So, you guys..." Mom looked at Seo and Taeng. "Did you know that she's my most favorite daughter-in-law?"

Taeyeon then asked somewhat innocently, "Err-- how did she become your favorite? Did she and Yuri already get married back then? And uhhmm-- did he happen to marry many girls before?"

Mom narrowed her eyes at him. Then, quickly, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. Oh. Don’t ask how she did that despite the fact he's a little far from her. Let's just say, my mom secretly ate a gum-gum devil fruit.

"Are you questioning my intelligence, young man?" she asked darkly.

He faked a grin. "No, Ms. Shin. That was just a question out of curiosity."

She removed her grasp on him and went back to composure. "Well, just to explain, initially, my Yuri was originally engaged to Jessica. But, yeah, they didn't like each other back then and were even too serious on cutting each other's throat out."

Jessica and I shared a chuckle. Mom quickly redirected to us and stared quizzically, "And I guess, tables have changed. Yunho was right after all. You two are gonna like each other someday. That's what he's always been telling me."

"We like each other only as friends, umma." I said.

"Yeah, we're just good, good friends." she seconded and somehow faked a chuckle.

"Oh you can never fool me, son. Look at you, you're blushing. You're like a cutie red tomato." She looked at Jess. "And most especially you, Jessica. I can totally read your mind. I might be living my second life now, but, my mind reading ability never faded away. I even passed you that legacy, have you forgotten that?" Jessica just faked a chuckle again and focused on her food.

Oh... So, Jessica's weird ability was somehow taught by my mom to her? Really?

Taeyeon continued, "So, Ms. Shin, you're basically saying she's supposed-to-be your future daughter-in-law but, she wasn't the only one, right?"

Mom looked at him, "Oh. Yes. You see, my son was overly crazy about the little girl he met who turned out to be Elise's child. In the end, we had no choice but to arrange Tiffany and him instead. So, see, I got two daughter-in-laws and Jessica was just my ever favorite. Don't take that the wrong way, though. I mean, cutie Tiffany was a little bit lovable child and she's my best friend's daughter. Too bad she's a Hwang, though, and that is definitely a no-no for me. In fact, that's the only reason. Else, she could have been my favorite instead."

And the atmosphere turned to awkward silence. Apparently, they're now all staring at me with my three friends seemed to be waiting for my rebut. Mom, on the other hand, was looking at me differently. It was like she's challenging me as she narrowed her eyes and stared at me in quizzical.

I smirked, "Pfft. If you're expecting me to say something on that statement of yours, you better shrug it off, umma. Insult my ex-girlfriend for as much as you want. I couldn't care less."

Jessica then retorted as she chuckled, "I couldn't blame you, auntie. I mean, I can definitely assure you that I am a much better daughter-in-law than Tiffany would be, whether she's a Hwang or not. Tiffany might look lovable and angelic outside but, really, she's much devilish inside."

Mom chuckled, "Yes, yes, of course. And she's quite stupid and naive, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes, totally."

Great. Now she just joined my mom on insulting her best friend.

Jessica redirected the topic, "Anyway, auntie, I have this question hanging ever since I set foot here. I really mean to ask you about it."

"Uhuh. What is it?"

"Yuri told me earlier you stayed in San Francisco exactly after that uhmm- tragic incident happened. So uhhmm-- why there? I mean, those who are after your family might find you easily because you're so near to where you lived before."

"Oh. Yes. Actually, someone gave me that idea. It sure was effective, see?"

"Err- may I know who?"

Mom chuckled, "Little Tiffany once told me before that 'the most effective disguise in this World is when you overdo it'."

"Really?! She told you that too?!" Jessica looked at mom pretty much disbelievingly. "And you even took that advice of hers?"

"Yup."

Pfft. This woman. She just said earlier that Stephanie's stupid and naive. Now, she just admitted she took an advice from a stupid girl?

Mom suddenly laughed, "Gosh. Look at your face, Yuri. Yes, yes, I did take her advice but not literally, though. You know, that ex-girlfriend of yours was really, really stupid." She started to share a story, "I totally remember that moment when she told me that line. She was sneaking inside our home to see her 'Yuwree'. Well, in the first place, Yunho was really against their relationship that's why she did that." She looked at Jessica. "And you know how she sneaked in?"

"Err- how?"

"She went into the front door while wearing a very, very bright pink cloak. Anyone could have totally noticed her!" She laughed loudly and my other three friends followed along too, while, me, I almost did. I just tried my best to show my poker face.

She continued, "So, I approached her that time and she was even startled and asked me how did I notice her. I tell you, she was really, really a cute child. Most especially, when I asked her why she dressed like that, she told me that statement in a very, very serious manner. And it turned out too, she even made that up herself."

Jessica chuckled as she responded, "Oh, you won't believe this but, still after few years, she's been doing the same thing. Wearing stupid cloaks saying it's part of her disguise AND still holding on to that belief of hers too. Seriously