Jessica's POV

We were all standing in the room my sister and I claimed when we heard the front door open. The two officers looked at each other and stood up in alert. The shorter girl's hand hovered over the weapon in her side holster as they listened.

“PARTY TIME!” a girl’s voice sang from downstairs.

The girls relaxed and the blonde ushered us downstairs. “Come on down so you can meet our third and last partner, a.k.a your other servant!”

Downstairs, there was a very tall, very thin girl. She wore shorts that showed off her gorgeously long legs and a black blazer with a white shirt underneath. Her smile was genuine and when she saw me and Krystal, it grew bigger. Then the blonde spoke and her smile faded.

“There’s Assistant Choi!” she said, walking towards the tall girl with her arms open for a hug. The tall girl gave her a dirty look and pushed her face away with her hand when she was close enough.

“I told you not to call that again, Hyogre.” she said.

Hyogre?

She looked at the short girl and her smile came back. “TAE!” she exclaimed, running towards her.

“SOO!” The strawberry blonde mimicked the tall girl's voice. They hugged and jumped in a circle together.

The blonde joined in, “HYO!” she called out.

This was a sight to see. Three female officers meant to protect my sister and I from a crazy killer guy were jumping around like little girls in front of us.

Krystal was giggling. She looked a lot more comfortable than she did when we left the hospital. I felt grateful for this childish scene in front of us because of that.

The shortest girl stopped jumping and stiffened again, looking at us. Her cheeks were flushed as she scratched te back of her neck. Now it was my turn to giggle. I noticed she looked so cute and adorable when she was embarrassed.

She cleared loudly and the others stopped too and turned to face me and my sister. The blonde was the first to speak.

“Okay, since we’re all here now it’s about time we officially introduce ourselves.” She said.

“My name is Kim Hyoyeon. You won’t be seeing much of me probably, but I’ll be seeing a lot of you!” she said. Well that’s creepy.. “I will try to come by every once in a while though.” She leaned forward and cupper her hand to the side of as if to tell a secret and whispered loudly. “I’m the most fun out these girls so you’re gonna miss me.” She winked at us.

“Hey! Not true!” the tall girl said, bumping her with her shoulder.

“This is Soo—“ Hyoyeon was cut off.

“I’m Choi Sooyoung, the pretty and tall one.” She gave us a cheeky smile. “You’ll see me more than a bit. I’ll be here to one of you or keep the other one company in the house whenever you two need to be separated. I’m also the tech savvy one, so today I’ll be installing cameras in every room to make sure everything is quiet and peaceful around the house. Don’t worry though, I’m sure it’ll all be okay.”

Sooyoung and Hyoyeon looked at the shorter girl, who seemed to have spaced out. Hyoyeon nudged her and she came back to reality.

“I’m Kim Taeyeon, the one you’ll be staying with. I hope we can get along as much as possible…” She mumbled, looking uninterested. Hyoyeon nudged her again and she continued. “It’s my job to keep you guys safe and I do not slack at my job. If you have anything you want to say, tell me. Even if it’s telling me to go die or something. It’s possible that we may not get along, and I will tell you now that I won’t hold back my words if I disapprove of something. You father has asked me to do anything and everything to keep you safe and out of harm’s way and that includes physically and forcefully keeping you from doing something or making you do something.”

All this time, she was standing at attention like a soldier and speaking formally and in a military-like tone.

“No, I am not your butler. No, I will not read you to sleep or fetch you water. I will do the same as I’ve been doing for half of my life on my own. Only now I have two more mouths to feed. You will not leave this house alone. If you need to go somewhere, all of us will go or Sooyoung or I will accompany you while the other will keep with the other of you. If you have any questions, just ask.”

Well that was unexpected…

Sooyoung and Hyoyeon were looking at the ground silently and uncomfortably all the while Taeyeon was giving her speech. Hyoyeon looked up and attempted at a smile. “Alright, well your turn girls.”

Krystal spoke first. “I’m Krystal Jung, the maknae sister.. Please take care of us while we’re here.” She bowed at the three.

She seemed to have lost comfort after Taeyeon’s speech and was once again extremely shy and tense. That made me really upset so I lifted my head up confidently and spoke up. My voice turned icy to match my mood. “My name is Jessica Jung. Thank you for letting us stay here until the matter is cleared up.” I narrowed my eyes at Taeyeon, looking her straight in the eyes with a cold expression. “We don’t plan on relying on you for anything. You can cook for yourself and pretend as though you’re still living here by yourself if you so please. I’ll cook for me and my sister if that’s the case. I can tell you that if I have something to say I won’t keep it inside either, and I can guarantee you that it may not be very pretty when it comes out.”

I kept eye contact with her until Sooyoung cleared . “Okay… Well that was lovely wasn’t it, Hyo?”

“As lovely as falling into a thorn bush completely .” Hyoyeon let out a breath she seemed to have been holding.

“Shall we get this started then?” Sooyoung asked in a peppy voice, obviously trying to lift the tension.

Hyoyeon came forward and linked arms with Krystal, who looked slightly panicked. “Don’t worry, Krystal, I won’t bite!” she said, dragging her along behind Sooyoung. I followed them with Taeyeon at the end.

“Okay, so like I said, I’ll be installing cameras throughout the house. There will be two in the living room, two in the kitchen, one in the dining room, one in each room—“

“But not the bathrooms. You’re safe in there.” Hyoyeon winked at Krystal. Once again, Krys was noticeably calming down.

Thank you Sooyoung and Hyoyeon.

“Right. None in the bathroom. Actually, I think I’m gonna put two in your bedroom for safe measures, you know? I’m guessing you chose the big room?” I nodded. “Right, I’ll put one in Tae’s brother’s old room, one in Tae’s room—“

“Wait what?” Taeyeon interrupted. “No way. Why are you putting one in my room?”

“Because I need one in every room. Yours included. What if someone climbs through your window?”

Taeyeon opened to complain again.

“Nope. No arguing. It’s happening.”

“I’ll just turn it off.” Taeyeon said.

“I’ll just turn it back on, Taengoo. I’m not stupid. Hyoyeon and I will be able to turn the cameras on and off from the office or from my tablet.” She said happily.

Taeyeon sighed in defeat.

“Anyways. As I was saying. One in Tae’s room, one down the hallway upstairs, some outside in the front yard and back yard…. Oh! And four in the basement!”

“There’s no reason to go in the basement, though.” Taeyeon turned to me and my sister. “Really. There’s nothing down there worth going for.”

“Alright, any questions about that?” Sooyoung asked.

“Yeah.. so you’ll be able to see every single thing we do?” I asked.

“I will.” Hyoyeon said. “My job is to sit and monitor the house. Make sure everything is secure. I promise I won’t out on you guys though.”

“Yeah. Plus, the cameras are moveable so she can move it side to side and up and down. If you need to change, you can always do that in the bathroom or tell the camera beforehand and if she’s even looking at the monitors, she can just move the camera to face away from you.” Sooyoung stated.

“Okay, good.” I said.

“Now, we’re telling you guys about the cameras not so you can just hide from them. It’s to let you two know that the house is fully under our vision. Nothing will get in or out without us knowing. Hyo will be watching at all times and I’ll be checking up on it too.”

Krystal and I nodded.

“Oh, your father has also told us to bug your phone.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “What???”

“Yeah, I know,” Sooyoung said. “it , but it’s necessary. The house isn’t the only place a threat can occur. If someone unknown calls, we have to know and we have to listen. I’m sorry..” she apologized sincerely.

I understood the case. It may be an invasion of privacy, but my dad told them to do, so I guess I couldn’t stop them.. I handed Sooyoung my phone and Krystal followed.

“Thanks, girls. I’ll get it done in a sec, okay?”

She walked to a box by the couch. It was full of cameras and other things. She pulled out 3 small objects.

“Here are our earpieces.” She handed one each to Hyoyeon and Taeyeon. “Keep this on. At. All. Times.” She put hers in and secured it around her ear. “Its wireless and the range is incredible so we don’t have to worry about losing signal.”

The other girls put theirs on.

“The microphone is on the earpiece itself so we don’t have to press some button to communicate like security does. I messed around with it to make it like this. It’s my own little invention. Hehe.” Sooyoung said proudly.

“So everything we say will be heard by the others.” Taeyeon stated.

“Yep. Here, turn them on.” They turned them on. “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???!” Sooyoung shouted.

“AHHHH!!”

“YAH!”

Taeyeon and Hyoyeon jumped and pulled the earpieces out.

It was already late in the night. Sooyoung had put up all of the cameras and just finished bugging mine and Krystal’s phones. Knowing that they were almost done made me nervous. That meant Sooyoung and Hyoyeon would be leaving soon and we’ll be stuck here with Taeyeon.

Hyoyeon and Sooyoung were in our room helping us unpack and feel situated before they left. Taeyeon was somewhere else.

I noticed Sooyoung mouthing and signing to Hyoyeon to turn off her earpiece.

Oh no, what’s this about..?

“So… About Taeyeon..” Sooyoung started.

“She’s just a bit moody right now..” Hyoyeon finished for her. “It’s nothing on you two in particular, I promise. She just has something to sort out and because it all started today, it might take a bit..”

“Yeah,” Sooyoung started again. “if you could be patient with her.. She’ll warm up to you after a while. She’s really not like that usually. She’s a lot more gentle and sweet.”

“Jessica unnie should be used to being talked to like that—ouch!” I pinched Krystal hard on the side so she would stop talking.

“What do you mean by that?” Hyoyeon asked, looking at Krystal.

“Nothing. She’s just teasing me.” I gave Krystal a threatening look.

“…alright,” Hyoyeon said, unconvinced. “Well, we should be going now. If you need anything or if she’s being a huge mood killer, call one of us.”

“Thank you. Really. Thank you for doing this for us.” I told them.

They smiled and waved goodbye before leaving the room.

Author’s POV

Hyoyeon and Sooyoung made their way to the living room where they found Taeyeon sitting on the couch silently with her head in her hand. They looked at each other with sad eyes.

“Go ahead and go to the office and make sure the cameras are all working.” Sooyoung whispered to Hyoyeon.

When Hyoyeon was gone, Sooyoung sat on the couch with Taeyeon. For a few minutes they sat in silence. Finally, Sooyoung broke the silence.

“I know what you’re going through, Tae..” she started. “Not personally, but I understand why you’re acting like this.. But you have to do this with a clear mind. You getting mad at them for something they didn’t do is not right, nor is it fair..”

Sooyoung sat there silently again, waiting for a reply.

A long silence later, Taeyeon lifted her head up, leaned into the couch and let out a slow breath. “I know, Soo.. I didn’t mean to act like that. It was harsh and not something I would normally do. But this is hard for me.. How do you just look past something like this?”

Sooyoung thought for a moment. “You have closure..”

Taeyeon’s eyes were brimmed with tears. She looked up to the ceiling, trying to keep them from falling.

“You have to forgive some day or it will only tear you down in the future.” Sooyoung said. “And the future doesn’t seem so far away now.”

“That’s easier said than done.”

“Yeah.. It is.. But I’m sure this is the perfect time to try, love.” Sooyoung moved closer to Taeyeon. “As for the thing you said earlier; apologize to them. Cook them breakfast or something.” Sooyoung gave her a soft smile and her hair. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Sooyoung leaned closer to her and kissed her forehead.

“I heard that! Who’s kissing who??” Hyoyeon’s voice sounded in their ear, making them jump.

“Dear God, Hyo! You scared the out of me!” Taeyeon exclaimed.

“Have you been listening this whole time??”

“Of course. What am I supposed to do?? You’re in my head! Now I’m in yours!” Hyoyeon gave an evil laugh.

“Ugh.. This is gonna get annoying really fast.” Taeyeon groaned.

“Smile, kid leader. You’re smile is too cute to be hidden.” Sooyoung got up and left the house.

Little did they know that Hyoyeon wasn’t the only one listening to their conversation. Upstairs, sitting behind the wall was Jessica who had been eavesdropping for over half of the conversation.

When she heard Taeyeon get up and start towards the stairs, she tiptoed to her new bedroom and closed the door. Krystal had already managed to fall asleep with the lights still on, so Jessica turned it off and made her way blindly to the bed.

Taeyeon stood on the other side of the door to the new residents’ room. Hesitantly, she grabbed the door knob and slowly opened the door, planning to apologize for her behavior. She peaked in to find the room dark and two figures already lying still under the sheets. She closed the door and made her way to her own room, deciding not to wake them up and just apologize tomorrow.

In her room, she sat at her desk and looked down at the files. She opened one of the files and a picture of Jessica Jung was clipped to a bunch of papers.

For the next couple of hours, Taeyeon read through Krystal and Jessica’s files, getting to know as much information as she could about them before going to bed.

Alas! They finally make their formal introductions. Not so nicely though.. Oops, sorry. What'd you expect?? XD

Like I already said, I'll be making updates on the story every day until good news about RiSe is out. Thank goodness for SoJung's successful facial surgery <3