"Yah, wake up!" Jessica could hear a faint voice gradually getting louder and louder. She felt her whole bed shaking, 'Is there an earthquake?' she thought. She slightly opened one eye and saw a blurry image of a guy looking done at her, shaking her body from side to side. She opened her other eye and the image started becoming more clear. 

 

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed as her eyes laid on the person in front of her

 

"Dude, your phone has been ringing nonstop for the past half an hour," Jiyong lazily explained, rubbing his eyes. "I couldn't even sleep in on a Saturday because of it."

 

Jessica's diverted down and she screamed in horror when she realized that she slept in just her bra and undies. She quickly grabbed the blanket that she had kicked to the bottom of her bed and covered herself. "You creep! Were you standing there the whole time?"

 

"You act like I haven't seen everything before anyway," Jiyong teased, a smirk escaping from his face. 

 

Just when Jessica was about to grab a pillow and throw it at him, her phone rang again. "Insert melody Of a ringtone that will be for her mom, happy/sweet"

 

"See, it's that stupid ringtone!" Jiyong justified himself. "You really need to change it to a less annoying one."

 

Jessica ignore him and picked up her phone without looking at the caller ID. "Umma!" she greeted in the sweetest tone possible, when she heard the voice from the other line.

 

Jiyong stared at her for a good five seconds and started laughing at how innocent she sounded, completely different from what he was seeing in front of him. From his side, Jessica was still holding into a pillow and threatening to hit him with it.

 

"Sooyeon-ah, did you drink last night?" her mom questioned right away, worried. 

 

"No, no! Umma, I was working yesterday and went out to eat with my co-workers to celebrate my first contract," Jessica denied. "That was it." 

 

She covered her phone to make sure that her mom could not hear her sighed and angrily whispered, "Why are you still here? Get out!" 

 

Jiyong shook his head and laughed, "No, why would I? This is very entertaining, hearing you give in to someone like this so easily." 

 

"Why are you lying to me Sooyeon-ah? I already called Seunghyun and asked him last night." Her mom told her.

 

She face palmed herself. Why was it so hard for Seunghyun to lie? She needed to get him back for not having her back later. 

 

"Ah, yeah, I might've had a cup or two. But it was just in the moment because everyone else was doing it since it was a celebration," she tried to explain.

 

"You know how you get when you get drunk. You told me you weren't going to drink anymore," her mom scolded. 

 

"Yes, umma," Jessica gave in. "Nothing happened this time though, I'm getting a better tolerance level." 

 

Jiyong let out a chuckle on the side. "Better tolerance level? You've been getting drunk each time, pabo." 

 

Jessica kicked Jiyong's leg, who was now already getting comfortable on her bed, laying down on it, sticking his legs off the edge of the bed and listening to the mother daughter conversation."

 

"Who was that?" Jessica's mom asked suspiciously.

 

"Huh?" Jessica was caught by surprised. She kicked Jiyong again and contend, "Oh, that was no one."

 

"Is that the boy from last night? Why is he there?" Her mom persisted in asking.

 

"The boy from last night?" Jessica asked, confused, and turned to Jiyong.

 

He returned her look with a confused look of his own and shrugged. Then, both their eyes bulged at the same time.

 

"Oh! I forgot your mom called last night and I picked up," he whispered to her, regretting that he did that.

 

"It is that guy, isn't it?" her mom's voice on the other line pulled her concentration back on the phone conversation.

 

"What? No, I don't know what you're talking about umma," Jessica denied.

 

"Anyway, I got to get ready for work so I'll talk to you later!" she lied, to be the conversation.

 

"Its Saturday..." her mom replied.

 

"Well, my boss is kind of a jerkface," she glared at Jiyong, who was mouthing angrily at her for talking bad about him. "He's a bit ridiculously demanding so I better get to work ASAP."

 

"Okay, sweetie, be safe all right? Please stop drinking and listen to Seunghyun oppa," her mom said. "And make sure that boy from last night is a good person."

 

"Umma! I told you there was no one!" Jessica exclaimed.

 

"Okay, I get it but just make sure he won't hurt you," her mom adamantly warned.

 

"We're not in that kind of relationship umma!" Jessica hopelessly explained.

 

"So there was a boy," her mom caught her.

 

"Bye, umma!" Jessica rolled her eyes.

 

"Bye, see you soon!" her mom replied and hung up.

 

Jessica understood why her mom worried so much about Jessica, especially after her last relationship but it was still annoying that her mom didn't trust her.

 

Jessica turned and glared at Jiyong, using her feet to try and kick him off her bed. "Why are you even here?"

 

"Hey, you used me to lie about having work to get out of your conversation with your mom," Jiyong argued. "I think I deserved to entertain myself by that."

 

"It was all your fault for picking up the phone last night, anyway!" Jessica retorted, raising her hands up to push him off her bed successfully.

 

She leaned over the edge of her bed and saw him pushing himself up from the ground, blood seemingly flushing to his face as he stared at her. The close distance in between them did not help him either.

 

"I didn't even push that hard! " she complained. "Why is your face so red?"

 

She waved her hand in front of his face and made him come to his senses quickly as he got up and picked up the blanket that fell to the ground and threw it on her. Her eyes bulged out when she realized that she had exposed herself again.

 

"You ert, g...gee..get out!" she yelled, flustered, covering herself up. It was her turn for her face to get red.

 

-------------------------------------------

 

"Sica!" she heard Seunghyun's voice coming from the living room.

 

"Oh, oppa, I'm in here!" she shouted back, her eyes not leaving her computer screen.

 

She could hear small footsteps as her room door opened. She pretended not to notice and right before Seunghyun could reach her, she turned around and scared him instead.

 

"Yah, it's no fun if you do it like that!" Seunghyun whined.

 

"Okay, okay, let's just pretend that you scared me," Jessica coaxed him.

 

"Why are you looking up tea recipes, anyway?" Seunghyun asked as he looked at her computer screen.

 

"I just wanted to see what was a good tea recipe for the elderly," Jessica explained. "The haraboji's birthday is tomorrow and I must wanted to give him something that would be of use."

 

"Ah, that's right!" Seunghyun snapped his fingers. "I knew there was something that I was forgetting, I can't believe I almost forgot haraboji's birthday!"

 

"Jiyong!" he yelled.

 

"Yes, hyung?" Jiyong answered back from the room across.

 

"Did you get haraboji anything for his birthday yet?" Seunghyun asked.

 

Right when Seunghyun finished his question, Jiyong was already in front of them - inside Jessica's room.

 

"Oh my god, I've been so busy that I completely forgot," Jiyong told Seunghyun.

 

"It's fine, we still have time to go get him something," Seunghyun reassured hum. "Let's go now."

 

---------------------

 

"Thanks for remembering hyung," Jiyong put his arm over Seunghyun's shoulder, smiling, as they walked into the store. "What would I do without you?"

 

"Don't thank me," Seunghyun took Jiyong's arm and put it around Jessica's shoulder instead, before running off to the toy section in the store that had gotten his attention. "Thank Sica, she was the one that remembered. I was too busy to remember too."   

 

Jiyong looked over his shoulder; his arm still placed over her shoulders, and raised his eyebrow at her. "How'd you know it was my grandpa's birthday?"

 

"He called the other day, when you weren't in the office," she began to explain and turned her head to look up at him, not having much room to move her face further from his because his arm locked her in place - right next to him. "He told me to remind you about his birthday celebration tomorrow and invited me to come."

 

Jiyong release his arm from her shoulder and, somehow, she felt a sense of warmness disappear. "He invited you? It's better if you don't come." Jiyong replied, Jessica noticed his voice changing into a more serious yet sadder tone.

 

"Why? You hate me that much that you don't want me to be seen around your family?" Jessica kidded.

 

"It's not that..." Jiyong calmly stated. "These types of celebrations aren't for you, they're no fun."

 

"Are you saying I don't know how to act on the occasion?" Jessica misinterpreted. "Well, I didn't even want to go but I couldn't say no to the old man.”

 

"Fine, go," Jiyong told her. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

 

"Whatever, you're just being a party pooper," Jessica rolled her eyes and pushed him to the center of the store. "Now, go choose something for your grandpa!"

 

"Guys, I think I just found the perfect gift for haraboji!" Seunghyun exclaimed, excitingly, bringing Jiyong and Jessica over to his side.

 

"Oppa, you really think he is going to like that?" Jessica laughed when she saw the doll-shaped, bearbrick Seunghyun was holding.

 

"Hyung, I don't think that's it," Jiyong joined in with Jessica. "It looks like you're buying that for yourself more."

 

"Oh, we should play a game! Choose something for haraboji and see which gift he likes most," Jessica enthusiastically explained. "The winner can tell the loser to do whatever he or she wants. Deal?”

 

"Call! Sounds fun to me," Jiyong smiled and agreed. "It's my grandpa after all, it should be easy for me."

 

"Please, Jiyong," Seunghyun interjected. "I share more stuff in common with your grandpa than you do."

 

"That's only because you have tastes like an old man!" Jessica teased, laughing.

 

Jiyong held his hand up for a high five, which she returned, as the two of them continued to laugh. Seunghyun looked at the two and shook his head, whining, "What am I supposed to do with you two cannot ganging up on me like this?"

 

Jessica looked up at Seunghyun and tried to contain her laughter. "I'm sorry, oppa," she pouted as she wrapped her arms around the side of his body and hugged him. "You know I love you."

 

Jiyong stopped laughing and chuckled awkwardly as he looked at the two in front of him, the scene making him slightly uncomfortable for some reason.

 

"Okay, so we got a deal right?" Jiyong asked Jessica, making her pull out of her hug.

 

"Deal," Jessica reaffirmed, followed by Seunghyun with a nod. "Just don't back out of this if you lose, I'm very good with the elderly," she bragged as she stuck her tongue at Jiyong.

 

"Let's start shopping for real now then," Seunghyun stated as he put the bearbrick he was holding back, causing Jiyong and Jessica to look at each other and laugh again. 

-------------------------

The doors opened and Jessica’s eyes widened when she saw all the people inside the banquet hall.

 

Jiyong leaned over to whisper in her ear, “I warned you. This isn’t going to be fun.”

 

“Why is he celebrating his birthday in such a fancy manner?” Jessica asked back, turning her head and eyed Jiyong suspiciously. “What are you?”

 

He just raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged, smiling as he walked away.

 

She turned to Seunghyun for answers but he just laughed at her. “Don’t you feel like you’re back at home here?”

 

“It does feel like home,” Jessica slowly nodded. “And it’s funny, this makes me realize how I didn’t miss it at all.”

 

“Just be careful, there might be people here who might recognize you,” Seunghyun teasingly patted her shoulder.

 

“Jessica!” she heard a familiar, mature voice call out to her. She scrunched her face up and looked up at Seunghyun, waiting for him to reassure her that it was okay to turn around and face whoever recognized her. He gave her a smile and light nod.

 

She slowly turned around, but her face lit up in surprise when she saw who it was. “Mrs. Choi, Mr Choi!” she greeted them with a hug. “It’s so nice to see you here.”

 

“It’s nice to see you too, darling,” The Chois greeted her back with a warm smile. “Has this oppa been treating you well? He can’t even take care of himself properly so I was worried when I heard you were staying with him here.”

 

“Umma!” Seunghyun quickly defended himself. “You came and greeted Jessica first, and now you’re already looking out for her? You don’t love your son anymore do you?”

 

“I’m just taking care of my daughter-in-law,” she teased and wrapped her arm around Jessica. Mr. Choi just shook his head and laughed at the scene his wife was making.

 

“Umma!” “Mrs. Choi!” Seunghyun and Jessica shouted at the same time, embarrassed.

 

“Remember when you were younger and you always ran around saying you’d marry Seunghyun oppa when you grew into a woman, Jessica?” Mrs. Choi recalled, chuckling at the memory of the teenaged girl proclaiming her love for her son.

 

“She did?” a voice joined in their conversation, laughing at what he had just overheard.

 

“Oh, Jiyong, you’re here too,” Mrs. Choi greeted and he replied back with a hug.

 

“So what was this about, you wanting to marry Seunghyun hyung?” Jiyong brought the topic back to their attention.

 

“I was young, okay? It was like one of those young, immature crushes you thought was your first love,” Jessica defended herself and scowled at Jiyong for continuing to probe at her embarrassing memory.

 

“You remember what that’s like, right, Jiyong?” Seunghyun nudged him teasingly.

 

Jiyong, taken by surprise at the sudden turn of the conversation towards him, hesitated for a moment. “Huh? Oh yeah, I had my foolish moments back then too,” he replied and petted Jessica’s head, chuckling. “It’s okay, everyone has that one embarrassing crush they want to forget.”

 

“Well, it seems like you two got along well too,” Mrs. Choi commented. “That’s good that all of you guys can live together happily.”

 

“How can I not like living with such a cute dongsaeng like this one here?” Jessica opened , about to retort Mrs. Choi’s observation but Jiyong beat her to it and already placed his left arm around her shoulders to show how ‘comfortable’ they are with each other, pinching her cheek with his left hand so she couldn’t talk.

 

“Well, it seems like Mrs. Choi is just bothering you guys isn’t she?” Mr. Choi finally chimed in, earning an elbow from Mrs. Choi as he started pulling her away to leave the kids alone. “We’ll leave you guys alone to enjoy your evening, have fun!”

 

“Give me a call later, Seunghyun!” Mrs. Choi reminded him as she waved goodbye to them and found a new group of people immediately to continue her conversations.

 

Seunghyun just laughed at his mom. “There she goes again,” he sighed. “She just loves to talk.”

 

“Where is your grandpa anyway?” Jessica turned to Jiyong and asked.

 

Jiyong shrugged. “I tried looking for him, but I couldn’t find him.”

 

“Maybe he found some place where he’s sitting alone again,” Seunghyun added.

 

“Again?” Jessica asked.

 

“I told you these things aren’t fun,” Jiyong reminded her. “My grandpa doesn’t find them fun either, so he usually finds a place where he can have some peace and quiet at these events.”

 

Jessica slowly began to understand what Jiyong meant, nodding her head slowly. She remembered that she hated these huge, spectacular events when they held it for her back in America too. It wasn’t fun even though there were so many people, it felt more like a business meeting with everyone talking about their latest investments and scouting for potential business partners - this seemed to be no different, she thought, as she looked around.

 

“Where are your parents then? Shouldn’t they be here for their father’s birthday afterall?” Jessica asked again.

 

“They’re busy people,” Seunghyun answered for Jiyong, knowing that the topic about his parents is more sensitive. “They’re probably going around, making sure their business partners are happy and everything.”

 

“Dad!” Jiyong shouted when he saw his father, diverting Jessica’s and Seunghyun’s attention to the direction where he was shouting.

 

Jiyong’s dad looked frantic, restless, like he hasn’t had enough rest and needed some sleep to relax immediately. But it made Jessica smile when she saw how Jiyong acted like an excited 5 year old kid, running up to his dad. "I guess he has his childish moments too," she laughed to herself. 

 

“Oh, Jiyong!” his father hurriedly made his way over to the three of them.

 

Seunghyun gave Jiyong’s father with a slight bow, while Jessica greeted him with a bright smile, “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kwon. I’m Jessica.”

 

Jiyong’s father returned a smile to both of them and turned his attention back to Jiyong, “How have you been doing? Everything’s going great, I assume.”

 

“Yeah, everything’s going good,” Jiyong replied and returned the same question. “How have you been?”

 

Jessica slightly cringed at the awkward conversation unfolding before her. For some reason, she expected them to be embracing each other and laughing with one another with the way Jiyong looked so happy to see his father. Instead, they were standing with a bit of distance in between each other and appeared stiff.  Were they really father and son? Anyone would feel uncomfortable listening to this conversation she was listening to right now. It sounded like they haven’t seen each other in a while, it sounded unnatural.

 

“I’ve been busy,” Jiyong’s father replied and dismissed himself quickly when he heard his name being called. “Well, you guys enjoy yourself. I’m going to get back to my friends over there.”

 

Jessica stared at Jiyong, she could see the disappointment and a hint of hurt on his face as he looked at his father walking away. It was as if she got a glimpse inside of Jiyong, a side that he's been trying to hide or, in a sense, trying to forget. It made her feel kinda bad, she never expected the mighty Kwon Jiyong to have moments like this too. He made it seem like he was impeccable, flawless in every way. She thought he would have the perfect life, the perfect family. In a way, this made her feel somewhat closer to him, being able to get a glimpse of the more vulnerable Jiyong. She felt like she could relate to him better, knowing that he wasn't perfect and had his own problems.

 

“Well,” Jiyong began, regaining himself to change the topic and pulling Jessica out of her thoughts. “You sure do seem comfortable in this environment. It almost seems natural for you. I thought you’d be uncomfortable seeing so many people, especially all these business people who are all serious.”

 

“Didn’t you know?” Seunghyun responded for Jessica, placing his arm over her shoulder and winked at her. “Our Jessica can adapt quickly to any environment.”

 

She pushed her thoughts about Jiyong aside for the moment and joined the conversation.“Yeah,” she stuck her tongue at Jiyong and laughed at what Seunghyun said, since they both knew that she was used to these kinds of stuff back in the states.

 

Jiyong placed his hand on Jessica's face and pushed her head back in return, making Jessica grimace and pretend to pout in pain. Instead of giving in and apologizing to her like she wanted, he squeezed both of her cheeks up to form a smile, exclaiming, "Aigo, is our Jessica pouting?"

 

"Stop it, it hurts!" Jessica groaned, then jokingly accused Jiyong. "You just want to touch my face, don't you?"

 

"All right, all right," Jiyong complied, smiling, letting go of her cheeks. "You caught me."

 

But her smile faded and her face froze after she saw a familiar figure walking by behind Jiyong in the distance. Jiyong raised an eyebrow at Jessica when he noticed she was staring past him. He turned around to look in the direction she was looking, confused. “What’re you looking at?” Jiyong asked Jessica, interesting Seunghyun as he looked behind Jiyong as well.