Hey,

Me and Addie have long been planning this OnSica/JongSica story, and we've finally finished up three teasers to bother you guys with. 'The Welcome Mat' - as the story is titled - is about making some tough decisions in life, following your heart, and realizing where your home lies. These three teasers will introduce the characters to you, and they will also allow you to get a little look into what the conflict may be. The final date for when this will be posted has not yet been finalized, but when the foreword in posted, I'll blog about it. Anyways, enjoy!

Thanks,

- Nemo and Addie

“What are you doing here?” Krystal queried, peering over at the older woman with curious eyes. She was covered by a snowy blanket, and she propped herself up to get a better view of the visitor. “I thought you had a date tonight.”

“I did,” Jessica replied. She slowly pulled up a chair next to her sister’s bed, and gently took off her coat, draping it over the back of the seat. “I called it off just a little while ago. Mom said you weren’t feeling well?”

Krystal giggled. “I’m feeling fine. Mom believes everything that those silly doctors tell her. Don’t I look healthy to you?”

Jessica frowned. Her eyes gazed over the white walls of the room. The curtains were neatly tucked away, revealing the last rays of the sun before it set. There was a bouquet of various flowers adorning the night table, which gave off an endearing scent. Jessica analysed every feature of the room, as she always did when she visited her sister, and took a deep breath. It always hurt her to be here, but she came by nonetheless to support her sister, even though she felt that the reality of the situation had not yet settled with her or her sister. “Please take care of yourself,” Jessica murmured, reaching for her sister’s pale hands. She shivered a bit at the touch of the younger girl’s cold fingers, but still held on.

“You look very pretty,” Krystal whispered. “You’re all dressed up. I wish you had gone on your date. Onew would’ve been very charmed by your appearance.”

A blush rose upon Jessica’s cheeks. “He saw me already. He came to pick me up, and I had to tell him that I couldn’t make it.”

“Did he ask why you couldn’t go?”

“No. He is very understanding. I don’t really need to explain anything. He just understands.”

“I see… Jessica?”

“Yes?”

Krystal shifted in her bed and shuffled to one side, patting the vacant area. Her older sister hesitated for a moment before slowly settling atop the bed. “Jessica,” Krystal whispered again, snuggling into her blanket. “Do you love him?”

There was a brief silence that filled the air. It was really the first time that this issue had ever been addressed. Both girls knew the drive behind the relationship between Jessica and Onew, yet they had never really talked about the hidden motives.

“I do love him,” Jessica finally answered, staring at the ceiling. There was a slight hesitation in her tone, but she repeated her statement with confidence. “I love him.”

“Do you love him because you have to or because you want to?”

“I love him because I want to love him, of course. Krystal, I don’t think you understand that even though we were matched up by our parents, we still love each other. The background of it all doesn’t change how we feel about each other.”

“How much does he love you?”

“We both love each other. It’s a mutual feeling.”

“Are you sure he’s the one?”

Jessica gritted her teeth slightly. She loved her sister immensely, yet she was always annoyed when Krystal questioned her relationship with Lee Jinki. “He’s perfect, okay? He’s intelligent, he has such a bright future ahead of him, and he makes me smile. He understands me, and never questions my loyalty, and he’s always there when I need him. He’s an ideal man.”

What Krystal said next startled Jessica the most. Her younger sister’s words hung in the air without an answer, and even as Jessica was walking home quietly, her thoughts were scrambled, and a massive headache was forming in her mind. Krystal’s question had made her contemplate the reality of her relationship as she tried to understand what she wanted for herself, and what was impossible to attain. Krystal’s question was still hovering in her mind as she slept, as she woke up the next morning, as she went to work, and most certainly as she met him and pecked him and saw his genuine smile.

“Lee Jinki is an ideal man, but is he the ideal man for you?”