Yoona was standing in front of the bar with her books in hand; she had volunteered to come and keep an eye on her sister lest the woman decided to get herself drunk again. She was thankful for the good employees that were working for btoh Yuri and Hyoyeon; if it weren't for them, Yuri might not have ended up in such a decent environment when she passed out in a drunken state. A part of her deeply wished that Yuri wouldn't date Jessica anymore but the other part of her knew that they were meant to be together no matter how dim the situation looked right now.

“Yoong?”

“Hyoyeon-unnie,” Yoona gave the shorter woman a tight hug and linked her arms with Hyoyeon’s, the two walking into the dimly-lit bar together.

Hyoyeon scanned the surroundings and tried to find a suitable place for Yoona to study; even though Yoona was not keen on furthering her studies after this, it wouldn't hurt for her to score well for her finals. She knew how much Yuri wanted for Yoona to do well and get a master's degree but she was also willing to respect her sister's wishes. As for her and Tiffany, they watched upon the younger Kwon siblings as if they were all one big family; as long as Yoona and Jongin had some direction in life, it was more than enough for them. 

“Oh, Krystal Jung?”

Following Yoona’s soft whisper, Hyoyeon turned her head in the direction she was looking at and cocked an eyebrow; Krystal was holding a beverage tray with one of the guys watching over her… what in the world was Krystal doing here before operating hours? Hyoyeon let go of Yoona's arm and immediately walked to where the two youngsters were busy; one teaching the ropes and the other eagerly trying to learn the duties of her job. While Yoona was left behind, her eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the tall brunette.

When Jaehyung turned around and saw Hyoyeon walking towards them, he gulped in a mix of surprise and fear, “H-Hyoyeon-noona! What are you doing here so early?”

Krystal felt her stomach flip a couple of times in nervousness; she knew this was one of Yuri’s best friends and the more irrational one when it came to her best friends. She knew how angry Hyoyeon had been when she found out that Jessica didn't do too well in trying to keep Yuri's heart intact. She had also chanced upon the constant threats Hyoyeon had done, but it was also to keep Jessica here in order to maintain Yuri's sanity. As long as Krystal was here, however, she was going to try her best to persuade her sister that being with Yuri was still the better choice.

In fact, Jessica didn't seem to be doing too well without Yuri by her side either. She couldn't eat properly, neither she could focus on anything fully. Normal activities such as exercising regularly or checking on her and Nicole didn't come; Jessica was an absolute mess as well. 

“Krystal, right?” Hyoyeon asked and she took the tray from Krystal’s hand, putting it on the bar. She beckoned the assistant bartender to move aside while she spoke to the girl. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school now? Why are you learning the ropes to be a waitress?”  

A deep blush appeared on Krystal’s face and she cleared before saying softly, “I need a part-time job for now… I don’t want to rely on my sisters to pay my university fees.”

It was a noble decision, of course. Hyoyeon would want nothing more than to grant Krystal’s wishes but it wasn’t a healthy environment to be working in, especially for a young, attractive woman like Krystal. It was no surprise that some customers had really itchy hands and indecent mouths; the staff that were working currently had enough balls to send painful replies and take it in their stride but Krystal was still so young. If anything, Hyoyeon would feel as if she was letting Jessica down by letting her youngest sister work here. 

It was bad enough to have Nicole working here, honestly. 

Before either of the two women could say anything else, Yoona swooped in and flashed one of her charming smiles at the slightly younger brunette, “hey there, my name is Yoona. And you?”  

Yoona didn't know what in the world had gotten into her; she was not a bold person, and she was fairly sure the woman in front of her was still a freshman at their university. She vowed never to date someone younger than her because she had seen so many of their relationships fail but this was different. It was as if she had lost her mind after seeing Krystal personally; Jongin did tell her that Krystal was one of the most gorgeous women he had ever seen before but Yoona was doubtful because their taste was different.

But... he was right. 

“Krystal Jung.”

The two women shook hands and Krystal was quite surprised at how bold Yoona was, considering that this was their first meeting. Krystal was quite tickled at Yoona’s reaction to her; this doe-eyed woman was familiar. And while Krystal was sure that they had met in school before, Yoona already knew who this woman was and where they met in the past.

Flashback. 

Yoona grumbled under her breath when she realised it was her turn to give a speech at the freshmen's forum. She was not one to preach and talk about good grades, simply because she believed it was to each his or her own. A sigh left her lips when she stood alone backstage; it was bad enough that people constantly compared other students to her because of her good grades. Yes, Yoona was proud of herself for being able to achieve such a nice report card but it didn't mean that others had to be compared to her. 

No one likes being compared, especially when they're not the one on the better side of it all. 

“Yoona-ah, not many have turned up so don’t be too surprised,” Joohyun said and patted Yoona’s shoulder, “I think you’d like a smaller crowd, in fact.”

“I do.”

That being said, Joohyun left the backstage and headed out of the auditorium, giving Yoona some space to herself. Yoona did have something else she was hiding, and that was the fact that she was trying to avoid someone in the crowd. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes Yoona had ever made was when she decided to have a fling with one of the freshmen a few weeks ago. If that freshman decided to call her out, Yoona would be at the center of embarrassment - God knows what will happen to her reputation.

“And one of the school’s brightest students, Im Yoona will now give her speech.”

Yoona hated those words; so what if she indeed bright? She couldn’t understand why the hell everyone was so hung up over her grades. Grades were not going to be everything in this world; there was no point slapping good grades in people's faces. As she stood on the podium with her mind set on her script, she regretted looking out at the crowd. Her mind had gone blank in that instant. Yoona started to sweat profusely and was about to run off the stage when she caught sight of a particular freshman gesturing her to calm down. 

A blonde, tall freshman who was on her feet; she had her arms in front of her and guided Yoona to take deep breaths with her gestures.

..... 

Krystal Jung, eh? 

Flashback end. 

“Yoona?”

“Yoong?”

“KWON YOONA!”

When Yoona finally snapped out of her thoughts, she saw her sister staring at her with a cocked brow and a questioning look. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously; Yuri wasn’t supposed to know she was here but it looks like the cat’s out of the bag. Yuri wasn’t surprised but she wasn’t pleased to see Yoona here; if anything, she wanted her siblings to stay away