Taeyeon ran to where familiar screech came from. “Sica!” 

Jessica ran towards her and buried her face on the crook of the shorter girl’s neck.

“What’s wrong?” She heard Jessica’s silent sobs and thought about the worst scenarios. “Did you encounter a ert? Did he a cop a feel? Where is he? I swear I’m gonna kill him!” Taeyeon was glaring at every guy that passes them. 

An ahjumma approached them. “She touched one of the octopus’ ers. I’m guessing that she though it was dead and that it wouldn’t anymore but she was wrong. She’s just a little shocked,” she said in Korean.

Taeyeon bowed in respect and apologized for the little ruckus. She stifled a laugh and tapped Jessica’s back to calm her down. “Sica, what happened to your little policy of not touching things?”

Jessica pinched her arm and caused her to release a small yelp. The blonde still has her face buried in the other girl’s neck.

“It’s a good thing you didn’t touch the crabs though. That’d hurt and did you see their claws? You would probably lose a finger if you—“

Another painful pinch. This time it was inflicted on the side of her stomach. “Ouch!” Taeyeon sighed. She hugged the girl and said, “I was just kidding. Let’s go get everything that’s on the list so we could go home.”

They continued walking and looked for the items Taeyeon’s mom wanted them to buy. Jessica stay closed to Taeyeon as they walked through hoards of people and stalls of seafood. 

They saw a stall that sells shrimps and oysters. “Do you eat shrimps?” she asked Jessica and the latter nodded.

“I don’t know how to peel it properly though. I always end up eating a small amount of it so my dad always gets shrimps that are already peeled.”

Taeyeon smiled. Cute. Definitely a princess.

“I want to learn how to shuck oysters. It seems interesting.”

“I’ll teach you later,” said Taeyeon and bought a kilo of shrimp and oyster.

Jessica took the list from Taeyeon’s pocket and looked at it. “Taengoo, you guys aren’t fans of fishes, huh?”

“We’re just bigger fans of shellfishes,” Taeyeon smiled like a dork and it made her look more like a kid than a college student.

Jessica stared at her blankly then sighed. “Stop smiling like that. We’d look like mother and daughter if you would keep on doing that.” She stared at the bags that Taeyeon was holding. “Not only that, I would look like an abusive mom because I’m making you carry all those bags.”

Taeyeon smirked. “Well, do you want us to look like a couple instead?”

“How about this? I would be the boss and you… you would be the servant? Is that good enough? Great! Let’s go buy…” she looked at the list, “Dried squids.”

They looked for dried squids outside but all the saw were a bunch of cutlassfishes. “Those are seriously freaking me out. They’re too long,” said Jessica.

“They’re not even fully grown yet but I don’t think I would ever look at a fish the same way again after what happened yesterday.”

Jessica asked what happened and she answered. “You know what a pond smelt is, right?” Jessica nodded. “Our professor said it’s usually eaten raw. People dip it in red paste pepper and eat it straight away.”

Jessica gasped when she realized where Taeyeon was going to say next, “Oh my god! You ate a live smelt?”

“It was mandatory. Plus, he said it won’t kill us so we either have to eat it or convince someone to eat it for us,” Taeyeon muttered. “It was a mortifying experience.” She remembered the smelt squirming inside when she refused to chew it. 

“Yuri ate one, too?” 

“No, that selfish little brat ate two!” she stated angrily.

Jessica was confused. “What?”

“I told her I didn’t want to eat it and seeing how she easily finished hers, I approached her and asked her if she could eat the fish given to me. She said ‘no’. Could you believe her? She said ‘no’ to me, her friend and housemate, her cooking buddy! But when that kid, Krystal, asked her, she immediately said ‘yes’,” Taeyeon said in one breath. She was still a little bitter about what happened yesterday.

“Are you jealous now?” Jessica mocked because Taeyeon sounded like an angry girlfriend.

“No, if you were the one who did that I’d probably be jealous.”

Jessica chuckled. “Come on. Less talking and more…fish hunting or…shellfish hunting or whatever.”

It was almost noon and the heat and smell was getting unbearable. When they finished purchasing every single item that’s on the list, they went straight home.


---


“Yuri,” Tiffany nudged Yuri who was busy tying her shoelaces. They were done with lunch and are now out in the backyard for a good game of dodge ball. It’s a game between the oldies and the two teens plus Victoria. The baby was sleeping peacefully inside a crib.

“Yeah?”

“What’s the real deal between you and Victoria-unnie?” she asked. She wanted to ask Yuri that question for a while now. During lunch, she was seated across the two who talked like they haven’t seen each other for decades. She was left out yet again. Good thing Yuri’s father conversed with her during the meal.

“I already told you, didn’t I? She’s like my older sister. Me and my brother grew up with her,” Yuri answered nonchalantly.

“No, seriously, Yuri and cut the crap about her being like your older sister. You don’t even call her ‘unnie’. So you treat her like your unnie and she treats you like her dongsaeng? You treat each other like siblings? Then you two must be big fans of ‘’.” 

Yuri furrowed her brows. “, UAL RELATIONS between persons who are so closely related that their marriage is illegal or forbidden by custom,” she stated in a robotic way, like an online dictionary would. She looked up and pretended to contemplate about what Tiffany said. 

A few seconds later, she looked at Tiffany and smirked. “We haven’t had yet so technically you can’t call it that.”

“Come on, Yuri, be serious. Do you like her? From what I see, I think she likes you.”

Yuri let out a hearty laugh, “She likes me?” Tiffany nodded. 

“That’s what you get for jumping into conclusions.” She patted Tiffany’s head and added, “Just because you were right about Soo and other people liking you doesn’t mean you’re going to be right all the time.” She saw Victoria walking towards them. “Here comes my lover. Let’s not talk behind her back, yes?” she sniggered.

The three of them went to the middle of the yard and faced Hyuk-joon who was on one side of the yard and on the other side were his wife and Daddy Kwon.

“Get ready to get marks on your pretty faces girls especially you little sister,” Hyuk-joon said.

He threw the ball and hit no one. It didn’t even get near any of the girls. “You throw like a child, oppa.”

“Seriously, Yuri,” Tiffany started talking again. “Do you like her? Does she like you?”

“No for both question,” Yuri answered.

“Really? Maybe you’re just too dense to notice that she likes you,” she kept on talking disregarding the fact that the said girl could hear what she’s saying. She stopped moving and stood beside Yuri. “I honestly think she likes you.”

Yuri saw the ball flying towards Tiffany’s face so she blocked it with her hand. 

“Yuri-ah, out!” her brother shouted. 

“Yah! You can’t intentionally hit someone’s face! Aish.” She looked at Tiffany. “Geez, Fany-ah, focus!” She walked away and sat beside the crib.

It wasn’t long before Tiffany got hit and Victoria was left to play for their team. She went to where Yuri was with a humungous grin in her face. “I’m not made for playing dodge ball.”

“You didn’t even try to NOT get hit,” Yuri retorted. 

“Tell me the truth, Yuri-ah, do you—“

“TIFFANY!” she shouted but immediately calmed down when she saw Tiffany’s expression. The other girl was clearly stunned by her sudden outburst. “I’m sorry but will you please get over it. Victoria and I are just friends, we’re basically sisters. She doesn’t like me that way and neither do I. For your information, she’s engaged.” 

“Oh.” Tiffany pursed her lips as she watches Victoria trying hard not to get hit by the ball. There was a long pause before Tiffany spoke again. “But that doesn’t really make any difference. I mean, she could cheat on her fiancé with you,” she smirked and looked at Yuri.

Yuri stood up when she saw Victoria caught the ball successfully. “Just because you do it, doesn’t mean other people would do it, too.” She started walking but still faced Tiffany, “Your mom told me about the people you’ve cheated on and yes, she knows. The reason why she acted like she didn’t know anything was because she thinks you’ll be able to learn what the word ‘fidelity’ means by the time you find the one whom you would want to spend the rest of your life with.”

Tiffany couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Ugh, she tricked me! It means she didn’t really have plans to send me to military school. She was just using that so I would behave.” 

“That’s not even the point, idiot,” she said as she chuckled. 

“Yuri-ah! Come on!” her brother shouted again.


---


“Sica, you have to wear gloves to protect your hand. You might get cut if you don’t,” Taeyeon reminded her as they started shucking the oysters.

“I know, I know,” said Jessica in an irritated tone.

Taeyeon stepped back and watched as Jessica struggled to even put the knife inside the oyster.

“Sica, do you still think I’m annoying?” Taeyeon suddenly asked.

“At times, yes. Why?”

“If you give me a chance, I can love you right,” Taeyeon answered in a serious tone.

Jessica stopped what she was doing and leaned on the counter. She looked at Taeyeon and sighed, “It’s too late to stop pretending.”

Taeyeon bit her lip. “I’ll try to show you each and every way I can—“

Jessica cut her off, “I’m still afraid that you’ll be leaving anytime.”

“I swear I’ll never let you down ‘cause I swear it’s you that I adore,” she said while looking deeply at Jessica’s eyes. “If love is a crime,” she paused and walked towards Jessica, “then punish me I would die for you.”

Jessica couldn’t take it anymore and finished Taeyeon’s statement. “’Coz I don’t want to live without you. What can I do?” They couldn’t hide the sparkle in their eyes and started to actually sing the song together.

“You can call me selfish, but all I want is your love. You can call me hopeless, baby, because I’m hopelessly in love and you can call me un-perfect but who’s perfect? Tell me what do I gotta do? To prove that I’m the only one for you.” 

They couldn’t sing the rest of the song for they’ve already broken out in fits of laughter.

“Why do you laugh like that?” Taeyeon said in between her laughs. “I swear if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re winking at me.”

Jessica stopped laughing but was still panting. “Why would I wink at you?”

“I don’t know. Why do you close one of your eyes when you laugh?” Taeyeon has already stopped laughing and was waiting for Jessica’s answer.

“I do not! Why do you laugh like an ahjumma? You even snort!” she retorted.

“Get used to it, dear,” said Taeyeon’s mom when she entered the kitchen. Mrs. Kim did what Jessica failed to do and shuck the oysters like a pro. “Taengoo-ah, where do you plan to take Jessica tomorrow? Your brother said you asked him about the aquarium.”

“Yup,” Taeyeon answered. “I’m actually excited for tomorrow.” She smiled widely which made Jessica nervous. It’s just an aquarium. What could this dork possibly ask me to do there that I wouldn’t be able to execute?


---


The exhausting game of dodge ball was done and the teens plus Victoria won despite the lack of enthusiasm of one of their members, Tiffany. Yuri’s dad and her brother with his family went to her mom’s grave and Victoria decided to tag along leaving Yuri and Tiffany alone in the house.

Yuri sat on the bench and played a couple of random notes.

“Hey, ManYul,” said Tiffany teasingly. She came back from having another video call with Sooyoung and she was in the mood to taunt her roommate about looking like a dude. Again.

Yuri shot her a murderous glare. Tiffany chuckled. “Your glare won’t scare me. I’ve seen the worst glares and compared to those, yours is a bit weak.” She sat down beside Yuri and said, “Yul, play a song.”

“I didn’t receive any memo saying you hired me as your personal pianist so…NO.”

“Oh come on!” Tiffany pouted. “Pwease! Pweety pwease! Tweety pie would love to hear you play,” she said imitating Tweety’s voice again.

“Stop it,” Yuri warned but Tiffany won’t listen and continued to whine with that annoying voice. Annoying for Yuri but for Sooyoung and others who were swept off their feet by the eye smile queen, it’s precious.

“Fany, don’t make me go ‘Sweeney Todd’ on you. I swear if you don’t stop using that voice right now I will slit your neck, make sure to split your jugular vein in half and turn you into a real Tweety PIE, got that?”

Tiffany sighed in defeat, “Can’t you just please play a song for me?”

Yuri started playing seeing Tiffany’s defeated expression. For some sadistic reason, she feels good seeing Tiffany lose to an argument.

“Wait,” Tiffany held her hands and stopped her from playing. “Could you sing, too? I’ve never heard you sing before. Every time the girls randomly sing you would always sit in the corner and just watch.”

“I wouldn’t want you guys to fall in love with me because of my angelic voice,” she exclaimed proudly.

“Wow, you really are a humble person Miss Kwon Yuri,” she said sarcastically. “Just play and sing and I’ll be the judge.”

Yuri started playing again. She was moving her hands gracefully over the keys and Tiffany couldn’t help but be amazed. Seohyun is a great player, there’s no doubt about that but Yuri has this…something, she doesn’t know what it is, but it’s pulling her in like a magnet. The first time she heard Yuri playing the piano in the Kim’s house, she was surprised to know that she could play like that.

“Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long. No matter what I say or do. I still feel you here ‘til the moment I’m gone.”

“Uh…Yuri,” she interrupted. “Cold you sing with a bit more feelings? You sound like you’re sleepy.”

“You are so demanding,” said Yuri continued playing. She tried to not sound sleepy and did what Tiffany told her to do. 

Tiffany watched as Yuri sang. From the sleepy Yuri earlier she suddenly felt the song more and Tiffany could hear it from her voice and how she played. She thought she’s already witnessed how awesome Yuri could be in front of a piano, singing an emotional song but she was wrong. When Yuri started singing the bridge, she could only stare and listen in amazement. 

“I live here on my knees as I try to make you see that you’re everything I think I need here on the ground. But you’re neither friend nor foe though I can’t seem to let you go. The one thing that I still know is that you’re keeping me,” she stopped playing and sang the highest note in the song, “down. Halfway through it, she played the piano again, just like Sara Bareilles performed it. She even pulled the falsetto bit successfully.

“You’re keeping me down. You’re onto me onto me and all over. Something always brings me back to you. It never takes too long.”

Yuri finished the song and smiled at Tiffany. Before Tiffany could even react, they heard the voice of Yuri’s brother, Hyuk-joon.

“You’ve been trying to reach that note ever since the song came out but you’ve only done it now that Tiffany’s here and we almost missed it! Good thing it rained.”

She looked at Tiffany once again before saying something to her brother. “I guess my desire to prove to Tiffany, here,” she patted Tiffany’s head, “that I’m awesome is greater than I expected it to be.”

Hyuk-joon, his wife, their dad and even Victoria just looked at each other and smiled.

“Now that you guys are here, we better head back to school,” said Yuri.

“It’s raining and it’s going to get dark soon. Both of you will stay here and that’s final,” said Daddy Kwon.

“Dad, Fany doesn’t have—“

“You have clothes that’ll fit her. If it doesn’t fit her, I could lend some of mine,” her sister-in-law said.

Yuri looked at the shorter girl next to her as if asking if it was okay.

“It’s okay with me and I’m sorry to be such a bother, sir.” 

“Non-sense, Yuri’s friends are always welcome here.” 

“Okay then, I’ll go ahead and make dinner,” announced Yuri.

The time at the Kwon’s residence passed by like a bullet train and here was Tiffany lying on her back on a bed in one of the rooms in the house. She’s already in her PJ’s and ready to fall into a deep slumber but she heard a knock on the door. She sat up and said, “Come in.”

She was greeted by a grinning Yuri who was carrying baby Minhyuk who was clad in a cute but very girly PJ’s. 

“Cute!” Tiffany squealed. “Jigglypuff boy version!”

“His mom is addicted to pink, too.” She carefully sat on the bed a feet away from Tiffany and placed the baby in between them. “I kidnapped him from his parents, by the way.”

They were playing with Minhyuk when Yuri remembered something, “Babies like seeing other people get hurt especially grown-ups.”

“What?” Tiffany asked as she chuckled at the absurd comment.

“There’s this incident when I tripped and kissed the ground while walking towards him and he laughed hysterically. If you still don’t believe me then try pretending to punch your face and pretend to be in pain, he’ll laugh at you.”

Tiffany did it and was surprised when the baby actually laughed.

“See, I told you.” Tiffany continued doing it because she liked hearing the baby’s cute laugh. 

They continued playing with the baby ‘til he fell asleep. Yuri cradled him in her arms. “Night, Fany.”

“Yuri.”

“Yeah?” she asked in a hushed tone.

“Where will you be sleeping tonight?”

“In my room, of course,” she answered.

Tiffany nodded. “Night.”

“Do you want me to sleep here?” she asked which surprised Tiffany for a second before she answered ‘yes’.

“I’ll return this kid back to his parents first.”

When Yuri returned to the room, she saw Tiffany already curled up and her whole body was covered with a blanket. Yuri slid herself under the same blanket and fell asleep almost instantly.


---


“Sica, wake up.” Taeyeon was far from where Jessica was in fear of getting punched again. “Sica.”

“I’m up,” she answered but still curled up in a ball and covered with a thick blanket.

“Wake up . Today’s our trip to the aquarium.”

Jessica woke up after half an hour of Taeyeon trying to wake her up. They quickly got dressed, grabbed a bunch of snacks and headed to Hyundai Beach.

“Sica, I won the bet, right? And we had a deal?”

“Yes,” she answered coolly while they were walking towards Busan Aquarium.

“I want you…to go shark diving with me,” Taeyeon said reluctantly.

“Are you crazy?” That was exactly what she expected Jessica to say.

“It’ll be fun, Sica,” she tried her best to convince her. “Plus, you lost and you have to do whatever I tell you to do.”

Jessica scoffed, “That’s too much though! Are you trying to kill both of us? Sharks, Taengoo! They are freakin’ sharks not one of those friendly dolphins! SHARKS! They could probably swallow both of us whole!”

“They won’t. They’re regularly fed and we’ll have someone with us.”

Jessica was turning red because of anger, “I am not going to do that. I don’t even know how to go diving!”

Taeyeon was still talking calmly. “They’ll teach us. I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Please just go with me. This would be a fun and unforgettable experience.”

“Fun? I don’t think so. Unforgettable? Yes. Our families will never forget that we’ve got eaten by those sharks just because of your idea of having a good time,” Jessica said angrily.

“They won’t eat us. S'il vous plait, Sica,” she pleaded.

Jessica gave her a ‘what-the-hell-did-you-say’ look. “Kim Taeyeon, you better not be calling me names in some language that I don’t know!”

Taeyeon sighed, “I said ‘please’ in French. Sica, just try the scuba diving first and if you really can’t swim with the sharks then I won’t force you to do it.”

“Fine.” Jessica walked away leaving a disappointed Taeyeon. She really wanted to try doing it with Jessica.


---


“This suit’s killing me,” said Jessica. They just finished wearing the troublesome wetsuits and are headed to meet their diving instructor.

Taeyeon looked at her and saw how uncomfortable she was in the suit.

They saw the instructor and motioned them to come closer. The instructor taught them the hand motions relevant in diving and other information that would be important once inside the tank with the sharks and other sea creatures.

“Now, we’ll start to learn how to breathe using the gears,” he said.

The two put on the mask, weight belts and the tank. Taeyeon saw Jessica almost tipped over when she put it on her back.

“Jessica, are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll feel lighter once we’re submerged in the water,” the instructor reassured them. 

After the quick lesson on how to dive, the instructor told them to wait for their turn in the waiting area.

“So,” Taeyeon started, “You really don’t want to do this?”

“I don’t want to die yet,” answered Jessica. She was sitting on a bench and fiddling with her fingers.

Taeyeon nodded and tried to lift the mood, “I’ll just bring you back some souvenirs then.”

Jessica looked up at her, “You’re really gonna go in there?”

“Yup,” she showed her dorky smile, “That’s what I came here to do.”

“But, Taengoo—“

“I’ll be fine. I won’t get eaten by the sharks. I think they’d be pretty pissed off and discontented if they eat me since I’m small and I won’t fill their tummy. I won’t be able to suffice their hunger,” she joked.

Jessica looked down, “I’m sorry.”

“Yah,” she said gently and cupped Jessica’s face so that they are staring at each other eye to eye. “You don’t have to say sorry. You just have to make it up to me when we go back to Seoul.”

Jessica nodded and hugged Taeyeon. “You better be in one piece when you get out of that tank or I swear I’ll turn all those sharks into sashimi.”

“I’ll be back here with all my limbs intact.” She broke the hug and handed the camera to the blonde. “Don’t forget to take pictures of me with all those sharks, okay?”


---


As soon as Jessica saw Taeyeon inside the tank, she waved at her and smiled. Her smile was replaced with a nervous expression when she saw sharks swimming towards Taeyeon.

“Oh god please be fine, Taengoo,” she said out loud. 

Her uneasiness disappeared when she saw Taeyeon having fun inside, making gestures and walking towards where she was, even posing for the other people in the aquarium. There were times when the shorter girl would crouch down and looked like she was picking up something from the ground. It seemed like seconds and Taeyeon was already out of the tank.

“Sica, that was so amazing!” she exclaimed as soon as she got out and saw Jessica waiting for her. “Did you see this grouper which probably could eat my whole arm? Then those Zebra sharks looked so cool and—“

Taeyeon went on and on with everything she saw. It’s as if Jessica didn’t get the chance to watch her while she was there.

“Oh, here you go,” she held Jessica’s right hand and put something in the latter’s palm. 

“What are these?”

“Shark teeth,” Taeyeon said proudly.

“What!?”

“Those are shark teeth. They said they shed their teeth all the time.”

Jessica counted it, “Why did you get eight of them?”

Taeyeon pretended to think, “Eight letters for… ‘Jessica’.”

“Taengoo, ‘Jessica’ has seven letters.”

“The other one’s a spare. Don’t lose it,” she smiled and took Jessica’s hand then dragged her to the tunnel where they could see all sorts of marine animals swimming above them and beside them. “I want to see them again, Sica.”

The two of them spent another hour walking around the aquarium and making random comments about the creatures they see.

“That Eagle Ray looks weird. It’s like a dolphin and a manta ray decided to mate and that’s the outcome,” said Jessica while looking at a bunch of eagle rays swimming above them.

“More like a dolphin, manta ray and a shark decided to have a and that eagle ray was the product of their crazy getaway,” Taeyeon commented.

“You are a erted kid.”

They arrived on the section where the penguins are shown.

"Taengoo-ah, have you heard the sound a penguin makes when it’s being tickled?” 

“Not yet. How does it sound?”

“It sounds weird kinda like your laugh…but it’s cute.”