Krystal swallowed as she faced her mother who was bristling with indignation. With the daunting task of discussing her opinion of same relationships with someone who was clearly opposed to them, fear and anxiety coursed through the young girl's veins. Mama Jung's question remained unanswered as Krystal swallowed and tried to regain some semblance of composure.

"Well? What do you think about Sooyeon being a lesbian?"

Truthfully, Krystal was extremely confused by the news that Jessica was a lesbian. It made no sense since Krystal knew that her sister currently had a boyfriend. And on top of that, Krystal couldn't believe that Jessica hadn't confided in her first, especially since Jessica was already aware that she was in a relationship with Amber.

But regardless of the reason why her mother thought Jessica was a lesbian, Krystal now had a chance to tell her mother that she supported same relationships without admitting that she was in such a relationship herself. All Krystal needed to do was gather her courage and speak from the heart. 

"I... well I think it's great," Krystal replied meekly.

"'Great'," Mama Jung replied slowly. Her voice was calm, but Krystal could feel a tangible anger boiling within her mother. "You mean you think it's great that your sister would choose to be with a woman and bring shame to our family rather than be in a stable relationship with a man?"

Immediately Krystal wanted point out several things wrong with what her mother just said. uality was not a choice, so her sister wasn't choosing to be with a woman. And it shouldn't be considered shameful for two women to be together. And being in a relationship with a man shouldn't automatically be considered stable; straight relationships could be unstable too.

But Krystal held her tongue because her mother appeared frighteningly angry and Krystal was too scared to say anything argumentative.

"I... I th-think..." Krystal stuttered nervously. "...I think I need to talk to Jessica-unnie," she finished cowardly. "I want to talk to unnie first before I make any judgments about her ual orientation."

The older woman narrowed her eyes at Krystal before shaking head in disgust. "Go ahead. Talk to your sister. I don't want to think about this any more tonight anyway."

Without another word or another thought about her youngest daughter, Mama Jung turned and walked away without saying good night.

Krystal let out a sigh and slowly leaned against the wall as her mother retreated into her bedroom for the night. Her legs felt like jelly now that the adrenaline was no longer rushing throughout her body. The encounter from moments ago was surreal. Had her mother really just confronted her about Jessica being a lesbian? How in the world did things turn out this way?

The feeling hadn't completely returned to her legs yet, but Krystal pushed herself off of the wall anyway and stumbled toward the front door. She quickly hurried to her car and climbed inside for privacy before dialing Jessica's number on her cell phone. As it rang, she nervously imagined a tearful Jessica crying on her own after the harsh phone call with their mother that Krystal had overheard. Krystal's sympathy towards her sister grew with each ring of her phone until Jessica finally picked up.

"Hey, Soojung-ah. Why are you calling so late?" Jessica asked casually over the phone. To Krystal's relief, there was no trace of the tears that she had been expecting.

"Are you OK?" Krystal asked quickly.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Are YOU OK?" Jessica questioned the younger girl kindly, easily sensing the underlying stress and tension in Krystal's question.

"I heard your conversation with mom just now," Krystal admitted.

"O-oh, you did? I--" the older sister stuttered into the phone, but Krystal quickly cut her off.

"Are you a lesbian?"

Jessica sighed. "It's a long story, but no I'm not a lesbian."

"Then why does mom think you are?" Krystal wondered.

"Because she misunderstood something I said and I didn't try to correct her."

Krystal gazed out of her car in disbelief. "Why wouldn't you correct her about something like this? You wanted her to think you're a lesbian?"

"Kinda... although it's more like I wanted to ease mom into the idea of having a lesbian daughter so that it'd be easier for you to come out to her later on."

"Oh," Krystal replied softly, surprised by Jessica's careful planning and consideration. The plan made sense, and Krystal couldn't believe that she hadn't caught on sooner. "Thanks Jess, it means a lot that you would do this for me, but you can't keep doing this." An uncomfortable guilt knotted Krystal's stomach. "How long has mom thought that you're a lesbian?"

"Um... a little over a month?" Jessica guessed, much to her little sister's surprise.

"A month??" Krystal repeated. Her mind quickly analyzed the constant bickering between her mother and sister lately and suddenly she could connect the dots; they had been fighting because her mother mistakenly through that Jessica was a lesbian. "Is this why you and mom fight so much lately? Is this why you suddenly had to work during Christmas and skipped the family party?"

"...please don't feel bad," Jessica began hesitantly, "but yeah, it is."

Krystal was already wracked with guilt, but the feeling was magnified with Jessica's confirmation. "Why did you suddenly decided to do this? And why didn't you tell me about it?" the younger girl asked softly into her cell phone.

"Because I realized that you and Amber were serious about each other when we had dinner together last month. And I knew you guys had a tough road ahead of you and I wanted to make it easier for you if I could," Jessica explained. "I just hope I haven't made things even harder."

"You haven't made things harder, but you can't do this for me anymore. I won't let you," Krystal told her sister firmly. "You're ruining your relationship with mom."

"But if I don't do this," Jessica replied sadly, "you'll ruin your relationship with mom. From what I've seen so far, mom isn't going to accept you coming out. I know your relationship with her is closer than mine is, and I've been telling myself that she would make an exception for you, but I don't know if that's true. You need to let me keep doing this until I can get her to warm up to the idea of having a lesbian in the family."

Krystal shook her head even though Jessica couldn't see the action from the other end of the phone call. "No... no. This is just crazy, Jess. I've gotta tell mom the truth. This isn't fair to you otherwise."

"It IS fair," Jessica insisted. "I'm the older sister and I want to do this."

"Well it's not your choice. I love you and I'm grateful that you did this for me, but I'm not gonna let you keep lying for my sake. I'm gonna tell mom now."

"No way, you can't do that to her, Soojung. It's almost new year's and you're going to Beijing tomorrow anyway, right? Are you really gonna tell her something like this and then leave the country?"

"Oh, right," Krystal mumbled, thinking of her schedule. Even though it the holiday season, there was no rest for the weary. f(x) was scheduled to perform for CCTV's New Year Eve Show and they were planning to fly to Beijing tomorrow. She was glad that Jessica had pointed this out. "Fine, then I'll tell her when I get home."

"Wait Soojung. Just stop for a moment and seriously think this over before you tell mom," Jessica advised her sister calmly. "I don't want you to rush into anything just because you're feeling guilty or whatever. I'll tell mom the truth about me not being a lesbian, so you don't have to worry about me lying for you anymore, OK? Just go to Beijing tomorrow, try not to think about this, and we'll talk again when you get back."

With a heavy sigh, Krystal agreed to Jessica's plan. "OK, fine."

"Good," Jessica said, sounding relieved that she managed to calm down her sister. "No matter what happens, remember that I'm here for you, OK? I'm always on your side, Jung Soojung."

Krystal smiled at the sincerity in Jessica's words. It was times like this that reminded her of how precious her relationship was with her one and only sister.

"Thanks Jess. I'm always on your side, too."

Krystal slowly hung up the call and tried to absorb everything that had just happened with her mom and sister. Things were changing a little too quickly for her liking. The peaceful and safe evening that she had just spent with Amber felt like a distant memory now. And if the conversation with her mom was any indication, Krystal felt like those peaceful days were no more.

The young girl knew that she could easily spend the rest of the night sitting in her car and worrying about the future, but doing so would accomplish nothing. Her flight was in the morning and she was already exhausted. It was too late to call Amber and tell her what had happened, so she resigned to going to her room to sleep for the night.

Beijing was a blur to Krystal from start to finish. Even though Jessica told her to not think about the situation with their mom, it was all that Krystal could think about during the two days away from home. She immediately told Amber and Luna about what had happened upon seeing them and both girls were sympathetic, but even their sympathy and advice couldn't entirely push the anxiety out of Krystal's mind.

"You don't have to tell your mom about us now if you don't want to," Amber gently reminded Krystal as they left Incheon after returning back to Korea. It was now the first day of the New Year and their manager was headed back to Krystal's home to drop off the youngest f(x) member. "I'm really not looking for you to push our relationship forward or to do anything drastic. Take Jessica's advice for now and just think about it a little more. We've already kept this secret from her for a year. A little more time won't make a difference."

"I know, I know," Krystal sighed. "I just feel like things are so out of control right now. If only things between Jess and my mom would go back to normal, I think I'd feel a little less guilty and stressed about everything."

"Give it some time and it'll happen. Jessica said she was going to clear up the misunderstanding, right?"

"Right," Krystal agreed as the car pulled up to her parents' home at last. The young girl looked at the house apprehensively and sighed.

"Be strong," Amber smiled encouragingly to her girlfriend. "If anything happens, call me. I'll be there for you when you need me."

Krystal smiled weakly but nodded her thanks towards Amber before heading into the house with her luggage in tow. The delicious smell of a homemade Korean dinner met her like a warm and comforting hug. It had only been two days since she left home, but she had missed her mother's cooking in that short span of time.

"Mom, I'm home! Krystal called out as she headed toward the kitchen. Her mom's voice responded welcomingly.

"Come in, Soojung-ah! Sit, sit, sit!" Mama Jung gushed, cheerful and very much unlike the angry woman who has confronted her about Jessica a few days ago. Maybe her mother and Jessica had made amends after all. "I've made your favorite dinner! Sit and tell me all about China!"

"Sure!" Krystal agreed brightly. She looked over at the stove and saw her favorite dishes ready to be served. She looked at her mother and saw a genuine smile. Things seemed to be back to normal in the Jung household. "Is Jessica-unnie coming over for dinner too?" she wondered. Jessica usually came over for dinner when she was in Seoul, especially if her mom was going all out with her cooking, and Krystal knew Jessica was here in Seoul.

Mama Jung's face tightened noticeably. "You sister won't be joining us tonight. Dad's working late, so is just you and me tonight."

"O-oh..." Krystal mumbled, her expression falling quickly. Perhaps she was wrong about Jessica clearing up the misunderstanding.

"Are you hungry? Let's eat," Mama Jung said, breaking the bit of awkwardness in the room. As her mother went to get bowls to serve dinner, Krystal quickly sent an accusatory text to Jessica.

Krystal: [You haven't told her yet, have you?]

Jessica's reply was instantaneous. 

Jessica: [About not being a lesbian? Actually, I already told her it was a misunderstanding and she didn't believe me...]

The young girl's eyes widened in surprise. Things had gotten worse in her absence and the guilt of putting her sister in a bad position wit