Jessica had said she would read the letter to Krystal. She went to get it from where she'd left it in her bag, but she suddenly felt fear clench her heart. Her relationship with Krstyal was barely held together by merely a thin thread of hope. The letter contained so much poison. It could borderline break what they already had. Even though it was just father's apologies and explanations, some of it might further drive Krystal away from her, or so Jessica thought. 

The last line of the letter was telling Krystal to take care of herself.

And now she was unable to do so. She was blind now because no one had even wondered whether she was feeling well or not before. Jessica didn't even think about her at the time either, but perhaps that's why Krystal started wearing glasses a while back. But how was anyone to know she was already sick if she never showed it? Or maybe she purposefully kept it secret so father wouldn't have to worry about the medical bill...

Either way, Jessica was afraid that all the content in the letter--from dad's disappearance, mom's death (since Krystal didn't know about it yet), secrets Krystal didn't know, and Jessica's bitterness--would make Krystal not trust her even more.

So she lied.

"I lost it," Jessica had said. "It must have fallen somewhere when I came back home."

"I promise I'll look for it," Jessica tried to make it sound as true to her as she could.

"Oh ok," Krystal had replied simply. "I'm sure it'll turn up sooner or later."

Jessica couldn't even look at her sister, but she pet her head gently. She felt guilty about lying to her too. Wasn't the truth better than a lie? But sometimes the truth hurts, and the truth can kill. 

She was glad Krystal couldn't see her guilty face, and she hoped Krystal believed her for now. ALthough, she wasn't sure how Krystal would feel once it was revealed that it was a lie...whenever that would be.

"Do you want me to tell you what was in it?" Jessica said, trying to make up for the lie. She did remember most of it anyway. "What I remember?"

Krystal shook her head. "OK. When you're ready you can read it to me."

Jessica swallowed. What did she mean by that? Did Krystal know she had lied to her? She tried to swallow down her discomfort, and keep as calm as possible. "Of course..."

-------------------------------

*Krystal POV*

Another week had passed since I came back from the hospital. We were sitting around a table at the balcony of my sister's apartment for lunch with Tiffany and Amber. It was surprise for us actually because Jessica was just about to make something for us, but then Tiffany and Amber popped up at the door with food. It was takeout from some Korean place. 

"So how's it going?" Tiffany asked. "Are you getting better, Krystal?"

"Um...yeah." I don't know what she meant by that. Of course I was better now that the thing in my brain was out, but I was still having some technical difficulties since I'm still getting used to being blind.

"Oh yeah!" Amber piped up. "Jess, have you thought about that school for the blind I told you about?"

"School for the blind?" Tiffany cut in with interest in her voice.

"Yup, I've got a friend that goes there," Amber explained. "It's really good and they have programs to help you out."

"Oh, well, that does sound good, doesn't it?" Tiffany said more in a declaration than a question. "Right, Jess?" She definitely sounded demanding for an agreement.

Without thinking, I immediately instinctively clumsily held my sister's hand tight under the table. Jessica tensed a bit with surprise but she quickly loosened up and rubbed my skin with her thumb. "Yeah," she said. "I was thinking that I might go check it out actually."

"Great!" Amber cried. "I'm sure Sulli will take a liking to you, Krys!"

"oh...ok." That's all I managed to say because I didn't know what else I could have said.

"I don't think you've ever seen the city view from here before, huh Krystal?" Tiffany asked. "It's amazing."

I didn't reply. What did she want me to say? I couldn't see it. And if they were going to tell me about it they could at least describe what they saw that was so amazing because all I could see was dark nothingness. No one said anything. They probably thought I was feeling bad about not seeing anything, which was half true, but at least someone could say something to ease my curiosity.

Tiffany-unnie continued talking about the latest news on celebrities and fashion, while Amber was being a huge jest about it. She kind of got annoyed at Amber for making everything into a joke, including ual innuendo and the like. It was kind of awkward.

I was sitting crosslegged at the sofa and staring at nothing after Tiffany and Amber had left. Why had they come of all days they could have come to surprise us? Or maybe it just happened to be that way?

"See something interesting?" Jessica asked.

I didn't reply.

"S-sorry," she stammered. "I forgot..."

"It's ok," I said. I honestly didn't mind, but what I really didn't like was when people kept thinking that they had to act or talk differently around me just because I was blind.

She sat down beside me and sighed. It was awkwardly silent, and I searched my mind to say something that could have been interesting, but I came up with nothing. I heard Jessica uncap a bottle. Was she drinking? In front of me? 

But then, Jessica put a hand on my shoulder. "Drink some of this. Open your mouth."

I hesitated, and turned my head away when I felt something against my lips.

"It's sparkling water," she said.

I shook my head, and I heard her put it down on the table.

"Why did you hold my hand earlier?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Do you not like it?" I asked. I had felt kind of bothered that TIffany sounded a bit intimidating towards my sister when they were talking about that school for the blind.

Jessica took my hand in hers and squeezed my hand tightly as if that were an answer. "It's nice," she said.

"Are you feeling ok?" she asked me.

I guess she could tell I was kind of grumpy. And about what? Tiffany-unnie. She was nice and everything...maybe even nicer than my sister, but sometimes I felt she was sort of pushy about things.

"Didn't you think...?" I started, but stopped. What was I doing?

"What?" Jessica prompted.

I swallowed, deciding that I better not say anything about Tiffany's attitude today. What if she thought I was badmouthing her friend? "Nothing," I mumbled.

Jessica lightly ran her fingers over the back of my hand, and I squeaked as I tore my hand away because it tickled. I heard her giggle. "Ticklish, are you?"

"No." I moved away from her before she could have a chance to do anything else.

"Well, we'll find out won't we?" she said playfully.

"W-wait-!" I cried out when she pushed down on my shoulders to trap me underneath her. "I'm not ticklish!" I cried desperately.

I yelped when she poked me in the belly. "No!" I begged.

"Then you'll tell me what was on your mind, won't you?" she asked mischievously. "Before I find your weak spot?"

"It doesn't matter!" I accidentally snapped nervously. My heart was beating rapidly for fear that she would actually find my weak spot and think that I was insulting her friend. 

"Oh, really?" It sounded like she was smirking or something because it sounded like she was going to torture me with tickling. "Hmmm," she continued in a thoughtful tone as if she were debating which part of my body to attack first. Oh crap...that sounded really wrong.

"It was nothing," I tried to sound convincing and calm so she'd leave me alone.

"Well it had be something if you were going to say anything," she pointed out. 

How was I going to get out of this? She obviously had the advantage of vision, so I hoped that maybe I could confuse her or distract her, and get me out of this situation.

"That's an interesting place to put a piano," I suddenly said. I really hoped she'd fall for it.

It was silent. Did she believe me?

But then it dawned on me that I might have sounded really stupid. "Um..." I started. Maybe I should have used something else...like poke her instead.

And then she burst out laughing. She tapped underneath my chin with her fingers. "You're funny," she said. "I don't even have a piano in here, you dummy." 

I fidgeted underneath her and tried to think of a back up plan. "Well..."

"You tricky girl," she said playfully. "Fooling your own unnie?"

"You didn't even fall for it," I grumbled feeling sad that I didn't even come close to tricking her.

And then the worst happened. She started tickling me, and I squirmed trying hold it in. I don't know what kind of magic tickle power my sister had, but I wasn't usually this sensitive.

"OK! OK!" I yelped. "No more!" I stopped her hand with mine. "I just thought Tiffany-unnie was being pushy today! Happy now?" I let go of her hands and turned my face away from her.

I felt the sofa move when she sat back. "Oh...that's what it was, Soojung?" she said quietly. 

I sat up and moved to the other side of the sofa. "Yeah," I mumbled, feeling embarassed.

She moved closer to me and kissed my cheek. "That's nice of you," she said. "And Tiffany is always like that. It's just in her personality."

I heard her get the bottle of sparkling water. "It's really good, Soojung." She put the cold bottle in my hand. 

"Guess I'll have to find your tickle spot later," Jessica said pretending to sound defeated. 

"Good," I said with mock annoyance. "Because I'm not ticklish."

"We'll see about that, Soojung." Jessica pinched my cheek. "Hurry up and try it."

It was sweet and fizzy.

------------------------------------

*Jessica POV* (days later)

"Oh man, Jess!" Amber said. "This is so cool. I'm so glad you're really looking into this." She followed me into the the bus terminal, which was packed with people. 

We went to study the time tables on the wall to figure out which bus could take us to Hongcheon. With Amber's help, it was an easy find, and we were able to get in before the crowd filled up the seats.

"It's about an hour or so," Amber explained. "So we should be able to get there and back in record time. We're just checking out the place right?"

I nodded.

"I can introduce you to some people," she said. She winked at me. "I got connections, ya know."

I had decided that I should at least take a look at what kind of place that school for the blind was. I didn't want to just head in without knowing what was going to happen. Krystal had agreed that she'd give it a try since it was the only the two week program we were interested in. I had actually called in advance earlier in the week to see if it was possible for me to just walk in and explore, and luckily the nice person on the phone said yes. And I had told Tiffany my plan, and she went and told Amber about it, which led Amber to decide to offer to help me out...That probably wasn't the best idea, considering how cheeky and preposterous she could act.

So I had left Krystal in Tiffany's care for today. The good thing was that Tiffany would never say no to watching my baby sister for me, so there was no reason to worry about that. But I did feel uncomfortable at her eagerness to spend a whole day with my sister. Well, they were close after all, but I still felt like Tiffany might be getting too close to her. Call me jealous, but it's really just sibling protectiveness, I'm sure. 

Am I jealous? I'd questioned myself. While I'd been trying to distance myself from Krystal, Tiffany had gotten closer, and now I was really on the line with Krystal. I really didn't want her to hesitate being in my presence. In fact, I really liked having her around.

The only time I felt that I had gotten as close as I possible could to Krystal was when we had that tickle scramble. She was acting so weird after Tiffany and Amber had left that day. She looked puzzled about something so I had tried getting her to talk. And I discovered she was ticklish, and I still had to figure out where her tickle spot was. She probably thought I'd forgotten, but I hadn't. The only thing I couldn't believe was how she tried to trick me by telling me that there was a piano in my apartment. She knew as well as I did that I didn't have one, so she should have known that I wouldn't fall for it.

But it was cute.

That just made me fall for her even more...

I broke out of my daze. WHat the hell was I thinking? I can't be falling for her...she's my sister.

I couldn't help remembering what had gone on later the other night when we finished washing up. Now she was able to clean up herself, but I still had to help her around with things so she wouldn't accidentally hurt herself or lose something. We had gone back out to the balcony because it was a still fresh night outside. The city looked beautiful that night with all the city lights, building, cars lighting the snaking freeways, the occasional blinking airplane in the sky.

"What's it look like?" Krystal had suddenly asked.

I looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"The city. Tiffany-unnie said it looked amazing, but I want to know why." She stared out into the distance with her sightless eyes.

I paused. How do I describe the whole thing to her? "Well, you've seen the city right?" I asked.

She nodded. 

"Just...try and see all the buildings lined up and clumped together," I said slowly. "And the winding roadways with tiny cars traveling back and forth...like an ant trail. It's dark so the city lights are all shining, and illuminating..."

I hoped she was able to picture it. I wasn't much of a reader so my use of imagery was probably pretty bad.

"I wish I could see it," she said quietly. I don't think I was meant to hear it because she leaned on the railing and hung her head down.

She sounded really sad. I didn't know how to console her. I felt like anything I could have said could be easily turned into a negative connotation.

"Soojung, let's go back inside," I had said. "It's late."

"Unnie...I'm useless, aren't I?" she asked. "When I had my eyes I could do anything! But now...now I can't do anything without bothering you."

I gaped at her. "Soojung, you're not bothering me!" I exclaimed. "Don't put stupid things like that in your head!"

"That's not the point!" she said a bit irritably. "I like to be independent. I don't want anybody's help." For the first time since I'd seen her again, she looked angry and ready to break down. "I learned how to get by on my own...why does it have to be like this?" she growled.

I swallowed, unsure what to say or do. I cautiously moved closer to her and cupped her cheek with a hand so I could take a good look at her. "Soojung, sometimes you need to learn to depend on people to survive. You can't always succeed on your own."

"Well that's easy for you to say," she grumbled. "You weren't around."

I had felt hurt that she said that, and it made me feel terrible again.

"Soojung, I'm going to take care of you whether you like it or not," I said firmly. "I'm not going to abandon you again."

She had tried to pull away from me, but I grabbed her into a hug. "I'm sorry," I said, feeling the tears leak from my eyes. "I'm sorry you had to go live like that. I'm sorry you had to see father drunk. I'm sorry you lost your eyes, Soojung." I pulled her closer to me. "And I'm sorry....that I couldn't be there for you when you needed me."

Krystal didn't move an inch. She was like a ragdoll letting physics do its work on her. But eventually, she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder.

"Unnie, if you keep crying, the world is going to drown," she said as she wiped my tears away with her fingers. She was smiling. "And then we'll die because of you."

I couldn't believe she was joking at a time like now. "yah!" I said sharply.

"Don't be sorry," she had said. "We're here now. You're here right now when I need you. So there's nothing to be sorry about, and you had no idea about what was going on in my life."

Now she was the one my cheeks and consoling me. "You're not a bad person, unnie. I know you're not."

I was glad she couldn't see my ugly tear stained face, but I almost felt like she was actually looking at me even though her eyes wouldn't allow her the ability. They were beautiful.

I suddenly had the urge to kiss her...press our lips together...

"JEss! Hey, Jess!" Amber broke into my thoughts.

I awoke from my daze and looked at her. "What?"

She smirked. "checking out that guy, huh?"

"What guy?" I gave her a wierd look. 

The bus had stopped at a traffic light. She pointed out the window to a guy who had noticed me "staring" at him. He was smiling, and I immediately looked away.

"I wasn't staring!" I hissed at her. "I just spaced that's all."

"Yeah, right," she grinned cheekily, "Wait till Krys gets a load of this."

I sneered at her, and grabbed her by the shirt so we were eye to eye, nose to nose. "You better not, you idiot! I'm already regretting letting you come along with me."

She suddenly looked scared, "Ok! Ok! Lemme go before they kick us off the bus!" People were already staring at us.

I let her go. "And please keep your stupid jokes to yourself. Save them for Tiffany and you can bother the hell out of her once we get back."

"You're no fun," she grumbled. "At least Krystal and Tiffany know how to have a good time."

"What?!" I snapped. GOOD TIME?!!!

"Geez, Jess. Chill out!" she said quickly. "I'm just saying they're more easy going than you are. Heol! I don't even know how Tiffany put up with you for so long...and man...poor Krystal....she has to put up with you 24/7."

"I'm really close to kicking you out this window," I threatened.

And she shut right up.

I had thought she was a respectable girl, but she turned out to be a rowdy wild tomboy, who was outgoing and very straightforward about things. THe worst quality about her was that she was a jokester, a prankster, and very keen on annoying the hell out of people. I don't know how Krystal managed to be friends with her.

I sighed. This was going to be a long bus ride.

-------------------------------

*Narrator POV*

Krystal listened to the radio with Tiffany, who was singing along to some Kpop song. This was a perfect day for reading, but she couldn't because she was blind! She sighed and turned over on the sofa so she was laying on her back. She could have gone out to run, go to the park, watch the sky, feed the birds, go to the libary...

She wished her sister were here right now. After that other night when they went out to the balcony, they had become a bit closer.

Before her sister had left for Hongcheon, she had let Krystal use one of her oversized longsleeves. Krystal had taken a liking to longsleeves that were slightly bigger than her actual size. They were comfortable.

Plus, it smelled like her sister.

Jessica had also commented that she had the world's smallest wardrobe, and that they should probably invest in a few extra articles of clothing for her. Krystal tried to protest that what she had was good enough, but Jessica wouldn't have any of it. So Krystal ultimately lost the debate within seconds.

"Hey, Krystal," Tiffany said. "Do you know CNBlue?"

Krystal shook her head.

"How about 2PM?"

Krystal shook her head again.

"Do you know any KPOP?" Tiffany asked.

Krystal shook her head once again.

"What kind of music do you like?"

Krystal thought for a second. Classical...some KPOP actually ( but not the electric ones), movie soundtracks..."Boring music," Krystal replied.

Tiffany chuckled and sat down beside her. "Music can't be boring. Otherwise it wouldn't be music."

"Well, there are boring people," Krystal said.

"KRystal you can't compare people to music," Tiffany said. "That's two different things."

"But people can compare food to music....like how clarinet sounds like chocolate."

She heard Tiffany breathe loudly out of her nose. "Uh...sure."

KRystal suddenly wanted to see if Tiffany would fall for the trick she had tried to play on her sister. "Hey! That's an interesting place to put a piano!" she suddenly said.

"HUh?" Tiffany said. "Where?"

Krystal grinned triumphantly.

"Wait a minute!" Tiffany cried. "You...You little sneak!" 

Krystal sat up and smiled. "Unnie didn't fall for it."

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"I'm just saying she didn't fall for the trick."

"Tricks?" Tiffany echoed. She suddenly grabbed my shoulder and playfully threatened. "SO you wanna play tricks now?"

"Don't tell unnie."

There was a slight pause before Tiffany speak again. But she heard a slight excited shakiness in her voice. "Well...then don't tell Jessica about this."

Krystal's heart literally stopped for a whole second when Tiffany pressed their lips together.

TIFFANY-UNNIE IS KISSING ME??!?!?!? She started to spaz out as her heart went off to the races.

WHYYY?!

-------------------------------------

Hellooo~! How are you all? I said I would update, and here it is!! 

I hope it didn't get too confusing, so I'm still going back to check up on this chapter later (like tomorrow or after), but I thought that I should at least put it up for you to read since it's already been a week!  :D

Thanks for staying with me on this story! I will try my best to write this well! :) We're just starting to get to all the interesting stuff.

Please comment! It is always appreciated as long as you're not mean about it! :D

I'm almost done with my first summer school session! YAY! ANd i'm actually going out of town sometime this week and I don't think I'll be able to take my laptop with me...so I probably can't promise an update.

thanks for reading! And take care!! Don't text and drive or text and walk...I saw someone cross the street looking at their phone, and they nearly got run over by a truck.

<3