"Joey, take the trash out."

Wanting to escape the dishes, Joey Tuan did as Jessica told him to, and went to take the garbage out, leaving Mark and Jessica by the sink. Their mom and older sister already kidnapped Noona and brought her to their parent's room, humiliating Mark, for sure.

"So you brought her, huh."

Mark went on cleaning the plates, thinking how best to respond to Jessica. He'd been purposefully avoiding the moment when they will be left alone, but it seemed inevitable now. Even Joey wasn't cooperating, going into his room right after taking the trash out.

"She's pretty and she's so nice," Jessica went on.

"You think so?"

"Yeah. That's why I hate her." She forcefully dried the plates with the dishcloth. "I can't find anything to hate about her."

"Don't be like this, Jess, please."

She took the plate he was holding and dried it, too. "What kind of girl do you think I am? Don't worry. I won't cause any trouble."

Mark dried his hands. "That was the last plate." Mark put the dry ones on the cabinet. 

"Was she that girl from the article? The one you begged your fans for?" Jessica asked and Mark nodded in response. "I see. Good for her, then." She walked out the kitchen, crying "Lemme see that, too! I haven't seen that in forever!" as she went inside Mark's parent's room.

Mark sighed and went into his room he shared with Joey.

"What did she say?" Joey asked when he came in.

Mark picked up a pillow and smacked it at his brother. "I told you not to leave us alone."

"Dude, you have to ask nicely. Besides, it's Jessica. She always gets what she wants."

Spying a Rubix cube, Mark took it and his hands went automatically, lying down on the bed.

~~~~~~~~~

In Tammy Tuan's room, at 12:30, two girls were still up. Noona hadn't played fashion show for a long time, but Jessica was rummaging in her suitcase for something to wear to the airport.

"I should've brought it, gosh I'm stupid."

"This will do,"Noona picked a flowy blouse she found in her bag. She saw a pair of tight jeans and put it together, testing how it went and imagining it on Jessica. "What shoes you got?"

Jessica held out a pair of black/pink Converse sneakers, a pair of low healed boots that reaches to the shin, and two pairs of high heeled sandals.

"Boots."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Jessica said, giggling. "Let me try it on." She started to undress, but then jumped a foot when Noona suddenly threw a pillow towards the door that was actually ajar, closing it. "That was cool!" she said, amazed, because Noona wasn't looking at where she threw it. "What do you think?"

Noona put her hand on her hips, her lips puckered to the left, thinking. "Do you have, like, a leather jacket?" She didn't wait for Jessica to answer and pulled one out of the bag. "Your suitcase is a treasure box, jinjja. Wa, daebak."

"You're just like Mark. Speaking Korean with English."

"I spoke in Korean?"

"You can't keep track of it, can you? Mark's like that, too. You should hear the two of you talk from our point of view. It's like watching Korean drama without the subtitles."

"We do? Mianhae. I mean, sorry."

"There it goes again. Aigoo."

When Jessica said that, they both laughed again. They looked at the mirror and Noona arranged Jessica's hair more on one side.

"You've been influenced by Kpop, too much," Jessica said. "Look what you did to me."

"Gosh, I love your hair. Can I braid it, please?"

"Really? I mean... my jawline is kinda..."

"Leave it to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~

By two thirty, Noona was asleep. Jessica was still up, preparing her stuff. She really wanted to stay longer but she had to go. She might not be able to get another job offer as good as New York. She heard the door from the adjacent room open and close again. Figuring out Mark came out, Jessica walked out of the room herself and went to the kitchen. She was right and she found Mark pouring himself a glass of water. Mark looked up at her as she turned the light on.

"Oh, she got your hair," he said, seeing Jessica's hair prettily braided.

Jessica excitedly turned around on the spot for him. "Yeppeoji?"

"And she's been teaching you Korean."

"I just met her and she taught me more Korean words than you did in six years!"

Mark snickered as he drank his water and poured another glass.

"You're still wearing that."

Mark looked down at what Jessica was talking about. His hand immediately went to the silver ring that he kept on a low chain around his neck. It's been there for years he almost forgot about it. Almost.

Jessica showed him an identical one, hanging around her own neck. "Does she know?"

Mark shook his head.

"Guess you didn't tell her about me."

"I'll tell her soon. Someday. Jess--"

"I know. And I should be mad at you, but..." Jessica took a step closer to Mark. "I can't get myself to be angry at you. You know that. It's always been you, Mark. And it's still you."

"I have her now."

"You said we'll wait. I was willing to wait, Mark." She just said she wasn't mad, but she sounded like she was. Mark couldn't look at her eyes. She wasn't angry. She was hurt. "Did you ever love me?"

"I did! I still do but--"

Mark's words was cut off when Jessica put her lips on his. For a moment, he didn't know what to do or how to react. When he did know, he pulled away and gently pushed her away. His left cheek suddenly stung as Jessica's palm colided with it.

"I'm sorry," was all Mark could say. And before they do or say something that they will both regret the day after, Mark left.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Gosh, we just met and now you have to leave," Noona told Jessica as she gave her a hug before she got into the cab.

"We'll see each other again sometime," Jessica