The 2nd Beginning

The second beginning started in late October, on Hyukjun’s birthday, when Jung Jessica came to our house, bearing cake and gifts for my brother.

I was seventeen at that point, in my last year of high school, preparing for tests and exams to shape the rest of my life.

“Do you think she’ll be nice?” Hara, a close friend, had inquired as we walked home from school, down the hill, side-by-side.

I shrugged, shifting my bag on my shoulder. “I hope so…but, like, when I see her, do I hug her? Or do I go in for a handshake or like a simple nod of acknowledgment or maybe a-“

“You’re overthinking it, Yuri.” Hara said. “Just go in for the hug and it’ll make you seem nicer.”

I nodded. “Alright.”

And we walked the rest of the way home talking about all the possibilities of what Jessica could be like.

I waved to Hara when we parted ways and walked by myself the rest of the way home, knowing that I would be meeting the mystery Jung Jessica when I stepped through the door.

I walked up the driveway, nerves building, fumbled around in my pocket for my keys, and checked my hair in the reflection of my phone screen before unlocking the door and stepping in.

I locked the door behind me and the first thing I noticed was the unfamiliar pair of shoes and handbag, and then I looked over and saw Hyukjun step out of the kitchen. He smiled at me. I smiled back.

And then out stepped Jessica.

Slim, petite Jessica with narrow shoulders and white skin. Long-haired, eyes glittered with stars Jessica who approached me with open arms. Graceful, insanely beautiful Jessica who walked toward me and hugged me, smelling like spring flowers and everything pretty.

That Jessica.

Maybe I’m exaggerating and maybe I’m biased when it comes to Jung Jessica, but I’ll tell you this, she really was beautiful. Not in just her looks, but the way she had walked, the way her eyes looked impossibly brown, the way she spoke with confidence and underlying shyness, all of it, even now, was something out of a movie.

“Hi, it’s nice to finally meet you.” She smiled, a gentle curve of the lips, her hands placed on my shoulders.

“Yeah, you too.” I returned her smile.

And then we moved to the kitchen where I poured myself some juice, leaned against the counter, and as discreetly as possible, observed Jessica and my brother. His smile was brighter, his words were softer spoken and his eyes shone with something that I had never seen before.

She had made him a cake for his birthday, but somewhere along the way it had gone wrong.

“It doesn’t taste that bad.” Hyukjun had said, pushing on a smile, hiding the grimace.

She frowned and he had hugged her, and what a strange sight it was.

Hyukjun being nice? What? What was this? Hyukjun voluntarily showing affection? What? How was this even happening?

But I learned quickly that Jessica just had that kind of effect on people.

I think now is as good a time as any to tell you that Hyukjun and I had a really good relationship as brother and sister, especially at that time. Of course we fought every now and then, but it was never major. I look back to being a kid and Hyukjun was always there, he was the only one who could really make me laugh, so to see him happy with Jessica, in retrospect, made me happy too, regardless of how strange it was at the time.

I saw, within a matter of hours, that Jung Jessica really was nice. She seemed genuine and sweet, and my thoughts of her only grew fonder as time passed.

Jessica had a sort of way about her. The way her clothes hugged or hung off her body. The way she laughed with pink lips and white teeth. The way her eyebrows slanted and downturned whenever she was displeased. These things, and a million others, all added up together and made her so easy to sit back and just admire. She was far beyond the point of just pretty.

After meeting her for the first time, she came to our house quite often and came to my birthday dinner and slowly but surely I got to know her bit-by-bit, beyond what my brother had told me.

My main concern was her not being able to handle our rather abnormal ways as a family, with our strange sense of humor that no one else seemed to get, but much to my surprise, she fitted right in.

And with time spent with the both of them, I began to realize just how