(Taeyeon’s POV)

“What are you doing home? Where’s Sica?” I asked when I found Fany home unexpectedly.

“I dropped her off at home… Why?” she asked back.

“Uh oh! Krystal’s home too! Are they going to be alright, left alone?!”

“Calm down, Taeyeonie! They’ll be fine… What’s the worst that could happen? They’re not going to kill each other…”

I guess she was right. I was just afraid that Krystal would do something stupid…

“So what happened with you two? Where did you two go?”

“Nothing… She just made me drive around and I got tired of it so I took her back home. I should make her pay me back for the gas I wasted!”

“Oh… okay…”

I thought back about the moment Sica dragged Fany with her… Sica had her own car… she could drive… So the question was why did she need to take Fany with her?!

The only possible reason was because she wanted a private conversation with Fany and come to think of it… Fany was only there because she said she wanted to have a word with Sica… WHAT WERE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!

Ugh! I don’t even know why it was bugging me so much. So what if they ran off together? They worked together… they spent A LOT of time together… Sica probably just needed someone to confide in… It was stupid to dwell on something so minor.

This is not you, Kim Taeyeon! You don’t get jealous!... Wait! Am I jealous?!

I wasn’t even sure what it was… Why would I even be jealous? It’s been a long time since anything remotely shook me up about Fany. Besides I had already made my peace with this whole thing… It’s never going to happen… I was past it.

“What are you thinking about?” she said in her usual loud voice, interrupting my thought.

“Huh? Oh, nothing… Just, uhm… hoping those two are alright…”

“Seriously, don’t worry about those two. They’ll be fine. Anyway I told Jess that I was going to pick her up at 6.30. But now that I know Krystal’s home too, I guess we’re all going together.”

“Oh, right… the dinner. 6.30 you said? Okay…”

I suddenly remembered what Krystal wanted me to do.

Oh no… this is going to be a disaster…

I wasn’t even sure what on earth she was planning to do but if Krystal went overboard, those two were going to wreck havoc regardless of whether or not we were in a public area. Those two were terrible at controlling their tempers and sometimes even had no sense of decorum.

Hopeless lovebirds…!

I didn’t understand why Sica was giving up so easily. She said it would never work for them… I guess there were definitely a lot to overcome but she wasn’t even giving it a chance before throwing in the towel.

“What would YOU do, Taeyeon? If you were in my shoes… would you fight for love or would you run and hide?”

Those words kept ringing in my mind. I had no right to judge her when all I did was run and hide, all these years.

It’s not your business, Taeyeon… Just let them sort this out themselves…

---

Fany and I got to the Jung residence at 6.30 like we had all agreed upon. To our relief, everything in the house was still intact and there were no signs of blood. But the air in the house was definitely cold and stale. Sica greeted the door when we arrived and Krystal was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Krystal?” I asked.

She just gave me a hateful look and pointed at Krystal’s room.

I knocked on her door.

“I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE! HAVEN’T YOU DONE ENOUGH?!” she yelled through the door.

“Krystal… it’s me, Taeyeon unni!” I called out.

The lock on the door clicked and the door opened.

“Sorry unni, I thought you were Jessie…” she apologized.

“It’s okay, I figured. Are you two alright…?”

“I just locked myself in my room the whole time she was back. She kept knocking on my door but I didn’t want to talk to her…”

“Well… at least you didn’t do anything crazy,” I let out a sigh of relief.

“Whatever… Are we leaving now?”

“Yes, if you’re ready.”

She nodded and walked out to the living room.

“Hi, Krystal…” Fany greeted her.

“Hi, unni…” Krystal replied indifferently.

Then the Jung sisters turned and faced each other, giving the other a death glare.

“Let’s just get this over with…” Sica said with a sneer.

“Tch!” Krystal let out.

Yup… this is going to be a disaster…

---

(Tiffany’s POV)

Now that we were all actually at the restaurant, I wondered if I had actually made a wise decision in scheduling this dinner… Maybe we should have solved this privately instead of in public. I thought that being in public might keep the two in check and force them to behave but I might be wrong.

The car ride over was definitely awkward. Taeyeon and I made the Jung sisters sit in the back seat together but they both sat apart as far as possible, both leaning on their respective doors and keeping quiet the entire ride. It was a good thing that the restaurant wasn’t too far; otherwise we would have had to sit through the awkward silence for way too long.

Before any craziness occurred, I decided to order us some food. The Jung sisters were actually the type who were not happy campers when they were hungry so it was better to get some food in them as soon as possible. That way where was one less thing to worry about.

“Now… Jess… Don’t you have something to say to your sister…?” I asked, meaning that she should apologize.

“Actually… yes!” she started. “Why do you have to be such a brat all the time?! Can’t you just listen to me just this once?! I’m just trying to do the right thing and be a good big sister!”

I punched her on the arm indicating that that was NOT what I was intending for her to do, but she just brushed me off.

“I’ll listen if it made any sense! You’re not doing the right thing… you’re just doing what you THINK is right! I know what I’m doing too!

Neither of them would back down. This was definitely the worse I’ve seen them…

“Come on girls… don’t fight… Family shouldn’t be mad at each other…” I told them both while signaling Taeyeon for some back-up.

“Uh… yeah. I think you two need to just figure out a way to compromise and make things work…” Taeyeon added.

“Oh, I’m not mad… I’m fine… I’m over it…” said Krystal.

Then she leaned in and whispered something in Taeyeon’s ear and as she pulled back, she Taeyeon’s arm.

At first I thought I had just imagined it but I was sure she definitely did it.

What on earth…? That was weird… Maybe it was just one of those knee-jerk reaction things you do without noticing…

---

(Taeyeon’s POV)

“Unni, don’t be too shocked with anything I do, okay? Just play along…” Krystal whispered in my ear.

Then she my arm gently. I was DEFINITELY shocked but I tried my best to hide it.

Dammit, Krystal! Why are you doing this…?!

I looked at Sica and she was definitely giving me a hateful stare. I guess I should be used to it by now. It’s really unfortunate how all this drama has prevented us from being closer friends. Instead it was always her getting jealous over nothing, then she’d feel guilty and apologize for it, and then it was back to being jealous again.

“Well then… it’s settled. We’re over it… There’s nothing to worry about anymore…” Sica said, directing it to Fany for the most part.

Then she brushed Fany’s hair back with her hand and followed through by running it through her hair and rested her hand on Fany’s shoulder.

That’s odd… What is she doing…?

Maybe she was trying to make Krystal jealous but Fany didn’t brush her hand away or give a disapproving reaction. Whatever it was… I didn’t like it.

“Come on, girls… You think we don’t know when you’re lying? You two are such terrible actors,” Fany said.

“I might have some resentment but I’m definitely over it. I have better things to focus on… Right, unni?” Krystal said calmly to me.

“Huh? Yes… right…?!” I did promise to play along but I had no idea what she was getting at. All I was worried about was Sica’s wrath.

“That’s right. We’re all adults here. We can agree to disagree. It’s not a big deal…” Sica added.

“Babe, it is a big deal. She’s your sister… Taeyeon’s right, you two need to find a way to compromise and solve this problem. Otherwise it’ll forever be the little pebble in your shoes.” Fany said to Sica as she reached out to cup Sica’s cheek.

Babe?! WHAT?! Where is this coming from?

“W-What is going on?!” Krystal asked out loud what I myself did not dare to.

“What do you mean?” Sica asked back.

“You! Playing with her hair… And you! Calling her babe!”

Fany whispered something in Sica’s ear and then Sica whispered something back in hers.

“We didn’t want to say anything but Fany asked me to consider dating her awhile ago. At first I didn’t think it was right but I’ve reconsidered and I said yes,” Sica explained.

WHAT?! How?! When?!

My mind was going insane from the sudden bombardment of mind-blowing news. It was impossible! It couldn’t be… could it? Sica and Fany? Fany and Sica? What about Krystal?!

Krystal got up from her chair and slammed her hands down on the table.

“How is this possible?!” she yelled.

“Shhh! Krystal, please…” I told her, even though I wanted to do the exact same thing.

“I-I’m sorry, Krystal… I didn’t think it would upset you this much… Do you not like me?” Fany asked worriedly.

“No offense, unni… but this isn’t about you. It’s just that Jessie NEVER mentioned any of this to me…” Krystal said in a very hostile tone.

“I didn’t think you’d want to know… besides you NEVER listen to me anyway…” Sica replied. “And it shouldn’t concern you. It’s Tiff and my personal matters.”

“Well, she’d only really just recently agreed, Krystal. But to be honest, I’ve liked your sister for a long time now… Please, don’t be mad…” Fany apologized innocently.

“You don’t need to apologize to her, babe,” Sica told Fany as she leaned over and gave Fany a kiss on the cheek.

All this while, I hadn’t said a word. My mind was still in a daze and unable to comprehend the reality of the situation.

Wasn’t Sica just breaking up with Krystal to protect her? So why is she suddenly with Fany? Is this part of her plan? But Fany was the one who called her babe first and she even caressed her cheek! And that confession… Fany liked Sica for a long time? How is this possible?!

My heart ached so bad even though I didn’t want it to.

Go away, feelings! Go away! Just stay locked up, where I’ve kept you!

But it was no use. The walls that were guarding my heart were slowly crumbling. Brick by brick the wall was collapsing. My heart was now defenseless and it was being stabbed by a thousand very serrated, very blunt, very rusty knives. The worst kinds of knives to be stabbed with…

As I was zoned out, the argument continued. I could see that Sica and Krystal were really going at it while Fany was trying to mediate the situation unsuccessfully.

Finally, I just couldn’t take it anymore…

“STOP IT!” I yelled out loud.

The entire restaurant went silent, even Sica and Krystal, but I didn’t even care. I was going to leave immediately after what I had to say anyway.

“I’m sorry, my little one… I can’t do this anymore!” I had meant to say this to Krystal but I was looking at Fany the entire time.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek so I quickly bowed my head and turned away.

“I’m leaving…” I told them and then I dashed out of restaurant.

---

(Krystal’s POV)

“Unni!” I called out after her.

Perhaps we had gone too far. I didn’t think that she would react this way, especially since he hadn’t given any sign of what she was feeling up until just then.

The look on her face when she said “… I can’t do this anymore!” was absolutely heartbreaking. There was no doubt that she couldn’t deny her feelings for Tiffany unni anymore.

“I’m sorry, Jess! I have to go after her… You two will just have to figure this out on your own! Stop being children and grow up!” Tiffany unni scolded us as she went after Taeyeon unni.

I realized that people around the restaurant were still staring at Jessie and me since we were the only ones left at the table.

“Jessie, do you think we went too far?” I asked.

“No. She needed the push. Now it’s just up to Tiff to seal the deal,” she replied.

“What do you want to do now?”

“There’s still all these food and since we’re here, we might as well enjoy it… We haven’t been on a date in a while, have we?”

“You call this a date? You , Jessie!”

“Fine, fine… I’ll take you out after all this has blown over.”

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic about it… It’s fine if you don’t want to…”

“I do! I just prefer to spend our time together in the privacy of our home… where I don’t have to keep my hands off of you!” she said cheekily.

There she is… my ByunSica… my beloved big sister… the love of my life… the ert.

“Actually… that does sound better…” I grinned.

Still, we stayed and finished our dinner… while we both hoped that Tiffany unni and Taeyeon unni will find their way to each other.