Krystal has never ever wished for more on her schedule. Sure, she likes the promotions and working with the other girls and all that but when she does have a schedule, it’s often packed to the brim with barely enough time to breathe, let alone eat or sleep. She dislikes days like those deeply. But now.

Now, it’s Thursday and Krystal would rather be anywhere but home.

She even begged her manager to schedule something for her just so she’d have an excuse not to go to this dinner but the coward had said Jessica already threatened him with his balls if he tried to do just that. Really, whose manager was he?

So it’s with heavy feet that Krystal makes her way to their apartment, wishing that some sort of natural disaster would befall them and she could skip out on this. ...Okay, no, that’s a bit too much. But the fact still remains that she’d rather be anywhere but here.

“I’m home,” she calls out reluctantly. There’s music playing from the direction of the kitchen, the newest hit from what she knows is Tiffany’s third favorite girl group. She knows this because Tiffany has loudly proclaimed (several times over) that of course her own group is her favorite and that of course Krystal’s group is her second favorite.

The music volume lowers and Jessica’s head pokes out from the kitchen. “Come on up, Soojungie,” she says sweetly before disappearing once again.

“Soojung-ah, save us!” Tiffany wails and it only makes Krystal drag her feet some more before finally making her way to the kitchen, dreading what she’s going to see there.

Well. It’s not really as bad as Krystal expected. Then again, she’d been expecting blood and lots of it.

Tiffany and Taeyeon are stationed in front of chopping boards at the counters with various ingredients around them and her sister...Krystal has to bite back a laugh. Jessica is lounging at the dining table, leisurely picking at a bunch of grapes.

Her eyes briefly meet Taeyeon’s and they both exchange an awkward smile before they look away just as quickly.

Tiffany is pouting when she looks up from chopping onions. “Your sister is a slave driver.”

“I said I would cook, not that I would prepare the ingredients,” Jessica says airily, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. “I don’t want to do all the work, you know.” She smiles at Krystal and pats the chair beside her.

“Look at it this way, Fany, at least we’re making sure that Sica doesn’t put anything poisonous in it,” Taeyeon says sagely as she slices into some carrots.

“Yah!”

Tiffany makes a face at the girl beside her. “You’re so whipped, Tae.”

“What? And you’re not?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Krystal can see the pleased little smile on Jessica’s face at Taeyeon not even bothering to deny it. And maybe Taeyeon gains a few points in Krystal’s opinion just because of that.

“If anything, Jessi’s whipped by me.”

“Lies!” Jessica cries out as she slaps her hands on the table.

The three of them dissolve into bickering after that and Krystal is left feeling like a third (fourth?) wheel but it’s not awkward. It’s actually nice, in a way. With their schedules, she’s never really seen them interact in this way and it becomes even more obvious how much they care about each other. Especially when Taeyeon accidentally nicks her finger with the knife and her sister and Tiffany immediately crowd around her.

“I’m fine,” Taeyeon insists, exasperated but obviously liking the attention. She holds up her finger. “See? Not even bleeding.”

Tiffany looks as if she’s going to lean in for a kiss and Krystal quickly buries her face in her arms. “You’re going to make me lose my appetite!” she warns them. Which would be a shame considering she’s really hungry. It’s one thing to see them playfighting and being (disgustingly) cute with each other but it’s a whole other thing to see them be affectionate like that. ...Again. Ugh, maybe she’s already lost her appetite.

“Soojung-ah.” Her sister’s voice prompts her to raise her head slowly, wary of what she might see. “Go watch TV while we get dinner ready, okay?”

Krystal frowns. “You’re not going to defile the kitchen while I’m down there, are you?”

Jessica brandishes a dish towel at her and Krystal is off and running down the stairs to avoid the inevitable smack.

A few minutes after she turns the channel to a showing of one of the Harry Potter movies, Taeyeon settles onto the other end of the couch.

“They’re so overprotective,” she explains when Krystal looks at her curiously. She held up her bandaged finger. “I got kicked out because of this.”

Krystal nods and wordlessly turns back to the TV. There’s a rustle of plastic and then a familiar, enticing aroma reaches her nose

“Oh, it’s still warm,” Taeyeon says, taking out a piece of bread. “Here, Soojung-ah, we stopped by that bread place nearby.” She offers the bag to Krystal and a part of her wants to refuse just out of principle but the way to a Jung’s heart has always been through their stomach so she can’t resist.

“Taengoo! You better not be ruining Soojungie’s appetite!” Jessica calls out from the kitchen.

They both freeze for a moment before Taeyeon brings a finger to her lips. “Of course not!” she shouts back but continues to offer Krystal the bread. “Who knows when those two will finish up?” she whispers and Krystal actually finds herself laughing.

They spend the rest of the time watching Harry Potter in a companionable silence rather than the awkward, stilted one from before. And her opinion of Taeyeon rises just a little bit more.

It’s just as well that Taeyeon gave her something to eat because Tiffany and Jessica don’t finish cooking until almost an hour after they kicked Taeyeon out of the kitchen.

Taeyeon makes a big show of looking around the kitchen, as if inspecting the place. “I’m surprised nothing blew up,” she says to Krystal. It earns her two baleful glares from her girlfriends and she quickly sits down and shuts up.

“Whipped,” Krystal laughs. Jessica and Taeyeon look at her in surprise but Tiffany laughs along and claps her hands in delight.

“Alright, I’m starving. Let’s eat!” Tiffany declares before she starts shoveling way too much food onto Krystal’s plate.

Krystal doesn’t even bother to stop her, used to her sister or Tiffany serving her food, and turns to Taeyeon. “Unnie,” she says in a serious tone. “From now on, please take care of my sister.” It’s as much of a blessing as she can give and three pairs of surprised eyes are immediately on her.

“Y-yes, of course,” Taeyeon says with an eager nod.

A moment later, Jessica lets out a quiet ‘hmph.’ “I can take care of myself just fine, you know.”

Almost immediately, three voices chorus “No, you can’t” and at Jessica’s indignant yelp, the night quickly devolves into raucous laughter

“Soojung-ah, did you see my  - OH MY GOD.”

“UNNIE, GET OUT!