CHAPTER XXXII

OUR BONDS

“It’s raining!” The voice of her younger other-self woke her up from her daydream.

“Hmm?” Jessica looked around and found that she was still sitting on the grass in that vast green meadow.

“It’s raining!” The little blonde girl who was now standing just five feet in front of her said again, and Jessica could feel droplets of water fell from the sky.

“Oh, yeah…” She looked up and stared at the dark clouds above, and realized that she was still in the dream world, talking with her other-self. “It is…”

“Come on, we need to get out before it gets heavier!” The little blonde girl took her hand and helped her up.

“Where are we going?” Jessica asked while they were running together.

“Away from the rain!” Her other-self shouted as the rain started to pour. “I don’t want to get my dress wet!”

“Look, it’s the door!” The little blonde girl pointed at the distance where suddenly a door just popped up out of nowhere.

“Then let’s hurry!” Jessica said as she picked up her pace and now she was the one pulling the little blonde girl.

“Not so fast!” Her younger other-self shouted, but then both girls shrieked and laughed when the rain got heavier and they could feel the cold water drenching their bodies.

“I still don’t understand why you love this Tiffany.” The little blonde girl was now shouting as the rain kept getting heavier.

“I told you before—“ Jessica shouted without looking back. Her free hand was now covering her head from the cold heavy rain.

“—I mean, why do you love Tiffany?” Her other-self cut before she could finish. “Is it because you feel guilty for Stephanie?”

“And now you’re trying your best to make her happy?” They were getting closer to the door now. “Even though she’s not Stephanie?”

“And if you’re in love with Tiffany, then does it mean you don’t love Stephanie anymore?”

“They’re both the same person.” Jessica stopped in front of the door, staring at her other-self. “They’re both Miyoung.”

“And yes, I still feel guilty for everything that happened to her in the past.” She didn’t care about the rain now, and stood there holding hands with her younger self. “And I’m going to do anything in my power to make her happy…”

“So you’re just trying to redeem yourself?” The little blonde girl stared at her with sad eyes; she was expecting a different answer.

“Yes, maybe I am.” Jessica said again. “I’m not going to lie…”

“A part of me is trying to right all the wrongs that happened to her,” She continued. “Another part of me is trying to accept a different Miyoung…”

“And there’s a part of me who fell in love with her, even when she’s a different person than before…”

“I can’t help it…” Jessica looked sad. “She looks the same, sounds the same…”

“And I believe deep down she’s the same person…”

“But you’re not sure?” The little girl stared at their joined hands.

“Yes, I’m not sure…” Jessica let out a deep sigh.

“Is that why you didn’t pursue her when she kissed you?” Her other-self asked again.

Jessica stared at her younger self for a while, and in her mind she was asking the same question. “I guess that must be the reason…”

“Okay, then.” The little blonde girl nodded and smiled. “At least I know you’re telling the truth…”

“I don’t want to rush things,” Jessica said again. “I don’t want to kiss her back without confirming my feelings for her…”

“I love her because she looks the same as Stephanie…”

“But I want to love her as Tiffany too…”

“I know…” The little blonde girl smiled again, and Jessica put on the same smile. “I guess you’ll just have to wait until you’re ready to love her like you used to…”

“We both need to wait,” Jessica said. “Tiffany and I need to wait until our hearts are ready…”

“One last question before you go.” The little blonde girl said when she saw Jessica reached for the door handle.

“Do you remember how you promised you would treat Soojung better?”

“That you would treat her like she treated you in the past life?”

“Yes, I remember…” Jessica nodded as she clearly remembered the first time she realized that she was born into a new life.

It was the first night in Korea, after living most of her childhood life in San Francisco, and she had just stopped crying. Her parents forced her to move to a country she knew nothing about, and she had no say in that matter. She was upset that she had to leave her friends, and she dreaded the thought of having to meet new people. To make matter worse, she only knew little Korean. Her mother taught her some Korean back in the states, but she had never felt the need to practice the language, not when they’re living in an English speaking country, and all her friends and families spoke English.

And that’s not all; her mother had told her that in Korea she was a year older, but when she asked for another birthday party, her mother said no. And the eleven-year-old girl didn’t understand why her parents wouldn’t hold a party for her, when clearly by going to Korea she had grown another year. And so she resolved to any eleven-year-old would do when they’re upset and confused; she cried. She cried her loudest, and hardest all day long when they reached their new home in Seoul. She refused to eat, to take a bath, to do anything, but stay in her new room and cry. Her new room was painted, and decorated like her old one; and her bed even had the same white frilly sheets, her favorite color, but somehow she felt out of place. And so she sat on the floor, which was covered by a thick white carpet, hugging her huge white teddy bear; and cried her eyes out.

Her parents tried to persuade and comfort her, but she wouldn’t listen and locked her bedroom door instead. Her mother kept knocking the door for some time, saying how Soojung was so calm and happy that they moved there, and she should follow that attitude and be a good older sister to her. The little six-year-old Soojung even tried to comfort her, by asking her to come out and play with her; but her Sooyeon unnie wouldn’t listen. She kept crying and yelled at her mother, telling her to go away. And after two hours of trying to calm her oldest daughter, Lauren decided to give up. Jonathan, her husband, told her that Jessica would eventually come out of her room when she’s hungry in the morning.

That night, hungry and tired from all the crying, little Jessica fell asleep on the carpet. That was when images from her previous life flashed before her eyes. The images came to her like stacks of cards flying in the air, surrounding her like they were trying to wrap her body. They were flying too fast around her, so blurry and too bright to see in the beginning, and Jessica found it hard to understand what she was seeing. But then, slowly but surely, the images slowed down, and the little blonde girl could make out a few of those images. And then when she saw a couple of images, she felt like they were familiar to her, but she didn’t know why. She was seeing images of a brunette haired girl, and how mean she was to her blonde little sister; pulling her hair and kicking her for wanting to play with her older sister. And Sooyeon grew angry to the hazel eyed girl, and she was screaming to stop the brunette girl from hurting her baby sister.

But the images soon turned into another sets of images, and young Jessica felt like they were not just random images coming out of nowhere. She wondered why they felt so familiar to her, and in her curiosity, she touched one of the image, and suddenly it shone brighter than ever, wrapping her entire body with that light, and she closed her eyes in fear.

When she finally opened her eyes, she was in the room with the little blonde girl with blue eyes. She immediately wanted to go to her and hug her, and tell her everything was going to be alright, but her body wouldn’t move. She tried to call the little frightened girl who was sitting on the floor, but when she opened , she screamed and yelled to the blonde girl. Suddenly she felt angry that the little girl took her doll and annoy her by asking her to play with her. She kept screaming to the little blonde girl to go away, to leave her room and leave her alone. And little Jessica didn’t understand why she was acting so mean. She would never treat Soojung like that; she would never treat others like that.

But when Jessica was still figuring out why she was so mad, her body moved on her own and she slapped the little blonde girl. She slapped her a couple of times, even when deep inside she was screaming to herself to stop beating the poor girl. The little blonde girl soon cried, and a woman who look just like her mother entered the room screaming, telling her to stop beating Krystal. And Jessica just stood there; a part of her was still angry at the little blonde girl, while a part of her was confused. How could that little blonde girl with blue eyes be Krystal? Krystal had black hair and jet black eyes. How could her mother mistook that little blonde girl for her younger sister?

But before she could say anything, her mother carried the little blonde girl in her arms and left the room. Jessica was already crying when her mother slammed the door shut and locked the room from the outside. Little Jessica was shouting to her mother to come back, and she was so confused why her mother looked so angry at her. She had never seen her mother so angry like that, and especially not at her. How could she? Jessica had always been a good girl. She was kind and smart and funny, and she had always treated her younger sister Krystal with love. Soojung was her precious one and only younger sister, and she had loved her with all her heart. But then why did she hit her? Why was she so angry with her?

Unconsciously little Jessica started cry, and she wiped her tears with her hands. And when she realized she could move her body now, she started to walk towards the mirror and found a completely different person staring back at her. She startled at first, and she rubbed her eyes to see if she was just seeing things, but her reflection stayed the same. And when she reached out her hands and found that her reflection had done the same, she knew that she wasn’t seeing things. She was her. The little brunette girl with hazel eyes, who was mean and violent to her little sister. To her precious Soojung.

Confused and sad, Jessica started to cry once more. She sat down in front of the mirror, crying out loud, praying to God to change her reflection back like it used to. But soon little Jessica felt all too familiar with her reflection, and she started to accept what she was seeing before her. She started to understand the whole situation. She was her. The mean girl with hazel eyes.

Once she started to accept that fact, the room around her slowly turned blur, and turned into a completely different room. This time she was standing in front of a fireplace, and the large room was filled with Christmas decoration. There was a tree next to her, and she understood that it must be Christmas time. She looked around and found that her father and mother was sitting on the couch not far behind her, and Krystal was sitting on the floor, busy unwrapping her Christmas present. Jessica wanted to run to her and hug her, and tell her she was sorry for hitting her, but once again her body wouldn’t move like her brain was telling it to. Instead she took a box of present and threw it at her poor little sister. Krystal immediately cry when the box hit her head, and her parents were shouting at her for hurting her sister. Jessica opened to apologize, but what came out was something different entirely. She cursed her parents, she cursed her little sister, she screamed that she wanted a Christmas present too, and it was not fair because Krystal was the only one to get a present. Her father rushed to her and slapped her, and Jessica was shocked. Her father wouldn’t ever do something like that. He would never slap her. He was a funny and kind and understanding person, who would never slap Jessica.

But then her father grabbed her arm and dragged her against her will. He took her to her room upstairs and slammed the door shut. He shouted that if Jessica wanted a present then she should’ve behave herself, and be good to Krystal. And then he locked the door and left Jessica alone in the room. And Jessica knew that she deserved to be slapped. She deserved it because she was so bad and mean towards her little sister. And she cried; not because her cheek hurts, not because she was locked in her room, but because she felt sorry for Krystal. She wondered if Soojung’s head was hurt when she threw the box. And all she wanted was to hug her precious little sister and tell her how sorry she was.

Her room slowly turned blur and she knew it was about to change once more. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and prayed to God to forgive her for being such a mean girl. And Jessica had to relive her past life. She relived the moment when she was in high school, and despised herself for smoking and drinking beers. She relived the moment when she went back home drunk and burned Krystal’s room, and she couldn’t even express how much she was sorry for acting so mean. She then relived the days when she was banished by her parents to Korea, and she cursed herself from drowning herself in drugs and alcohol and .

And just when she had started to give up on her mean self, she relived the moment when she first fell in love with Stephanie. It was the happiest she had ever felt, and for once she thought she had done something right. She relived those happy times when she went on dates with the pretty journalist; dinners, vacations, and movies. She relived the moments when she kissed her, hold her, embrace her, and she smiled the widest when she relived those moments when she woke up and found Stephanie’s sleeping face right next to her. Little Jessica didn’t know someone could feel so happy like what she was feeling at the time.

But soon everything went bad, and once again little Jessica witnessed how she herself ruined everything and hurt the one person she loved the most. Soon she had to relived those times when her parents found out about her and Stephanie, and her decision to walk away from the crescent eyed journalist. And her pain grew even stronger when she had to relive those times when Stephanie was kidnapped, tortured, lost her mind, and ended her life.

Little Jessica was crying so hard inside, and she prayed to God to stop making her go through all those painful times. But they didn’t stop. Little Jessica had to relive the later days of her previous life; all that loneliness and yearning. All that sadness and heart break. And the only comfort she found was when she turned into a very old woman, who was plagued with cancer, and had her precious younger sister by her side. She thanked God that there was still one person who loved her so much that she was willing to stand by her, even after all those horrible things she had done to her. And once again, in her death bed, when her eyes were heavy and she knew it was time for her to leave this world, she finally had the chance to ask for Soojung’s forgiveness, and she was so happy to find out that Krystal was never angry with her. Not one bit. And her love for her was so pure that Jessica had no words to describe it, and she could only say thanks.

The last image she had to relive was when she was in the theater, and someone, or something, offered her a chance to change her life. And without hesitation, little Jessica accepted the offer, and walked with determination towards the large screen in front of her, and let the light swallowed her entire body.

Little Jessica woke up that morning and found herself back in her new room. She tried to pull herself up but her head hurts so bad and she sat back down holding her head. When the headache finally dissipated, she noticed her nose bleed and she wiped them off with her long sleeve. She stood and walked towards the mirror, and found her normal reflection staring back at her. Little Jessica was back in her blonde blue eyed body, and she let out a sigh of relief.

But then she could remember the dream she had that night. It was so vivid and too real to be just a dream, and somehow deep inside she knew it really happened. She remembered all the school lessons, the trainings she had with Alfred, the knowledge she had earned about business and life; she remembered everything. Little Jessica stared at her own reflection and slowly smiled with determination.

Thank you, She said to her reflection, like she was thanking the mysterious man in the theater.

Little Jessica went outside her room and took the stairs down to the living room, and found Soojung watching some cartoon on the television. Instantly all her emotion ran through her body and there was a strong sense of longing towards the jet black eyed little girl. She rushed to her cute little sister and pulled her into her arms. She hugged the confused black haired girl with all her heart, and made the poor girl gasped for air.

“Soojung, I’m sorry!” Jessica screamed with all her might. “I’m sorry!”

“I promise I would never, ever treat you bad again!”

“W-Why are you sorry, unnie?” Soojung was getting more confused. “U-Unnie, I can’t breathe…”

“Oh, sorry,” Jessica pulled back and stared at her cute younger sister. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, unnie,” Soojung could only laugh at her silly older sister. “So what are you sorry about?”

“I-Uh…” The blonde girl suddenly realized she couldn’t tell her the truth, that she was sorry for being so mean to her in her past life. “It's nothing…”

“I’m sorry for not playing with you last night…”

“It’s okay, unnie,” Soojung laughed some more. “Mom told me that it was because you’re scared that you don’t have any friends here…”

“Well…” Jessica was still having a hard time sorting her memories from her previous life and this one. “Yes…”

“That’s okay, unnie,” Soojung smiled her sweetest. “I’ll be your friend here!”

“In fact; you won’t need any more friends but me!”

Little Jessica stared at her younger sister with admiration. Even in this life, little Soojung cared very much about her, and all she wanted was for her to love her back.

“Thank you, Soojung…” Jessica said before she hugged Soojung again and showered her with kisses.

Little Krystal shrieked and giggled and playfully tried to push her older sister away, but Jessica was held on and pulled her even closer, and showered her with more kisses.

“I see you're already feeling better, Sooyeon,” Their mother was standing near the kitchen with her floral apron on. “Are you hungry now?”

“Mom…” Jessica turned back to see her ever kind blonde mother. “Yes, I am; very…”

“Good.” Her mother showed her the kindness smile she ever saw. “Now, go wash your hands and have breakfast.”

“You too, Soojung.”

“Yes, mom!” Both of the girls quickly said and rushed to the sink to wash their hands.

“Thank you, mom.” Jessica smiled her sweetest as she watched her mother prepare their breakfast.

“You’re welcome, Sooyeon…” Lauren stopped to stare at her oldest daughter and couldn’t help but wonder why she looked a little bit different from usual.

“You’re a good girl…” Her mother smiled again as she continued to set up the dining table.

“Yes, I am…” Jessica smiled as she helped Soojung to wash her hands.

“So I gathered that you won’t be mad if she does something wrong?” Her younger other-self once again woke her up from her daydream.

“I won’t.” Jessica shook her head, but she was now starting to shiver from the cold heavy rain.

“I’ll hold on to your promise, then…” The little blonde girl smiled as she opened the door for Jessica, and there was that blinding light coming from the other side of the door, and Jessica closed her eyes…

When Jessica woke up she had found herself back in her bedroom, on top of her comfortable bed. She looked around and noticed the sun was shining through her white and frilly curtains. When she tried to move she noticed that she was cold and her pajamas were soaked wet. She looked down and tried to lift her thick white blanket and noticed it was drenched too. Her eyes grew wide and she turned to her right side, and found her little sister was sleeping next to her, peacefully.

“Soojung-ah…” She caressed Krystal’s hair to try and wake her up. “Soojung…”

“Hmm?” The black haired girl’s eyes were still tightly closed.

“Soojung-ah, wake up,” Jessica said again as she lifted the blanket that was wrapping them. “You’re going to catch a cold sleeping with your clothes drenched…”

“What?” Soojung immediately opened her eyes and stared down her body. “Oh, no!”

“Unnie, I’m so sorry…!” Soojung immediately cried. “Please don’t get mad!”

“Soojung, it’s okay…” Jessica tried to calm her baby sister down. “It’s okay…”

“No, it’s not!” Soojung cried even harder. “I ruined your bed…!”

“Oh, honey, it’s okay,” Jessica pulled her into her arms and caressed her long black hair. “Ssh-ssh-shh…”

“It’s not ruined…”

“We’ll just leave it in the sun outside to dry…” She said as she pulled away and get out from the bed.

“No…!” Soojung wailed even louder. “If mom finds out she’s going to make me wear those stupid diapers again!”

 “Okay, okay…” Jessica went back into the bed and hugged her crying little sister. “We’ll just dry it with my hair dryer, then…”

“Sshh, shh, little Soojung…” She kept patting Krystal’s back to calm her down, but then she found how funny it was that Soojung still wet her bed, and she couldn’t hold her laughter.

“W-Why are you laughing?” Soojung asked between her sobs.

“I’m sorry…” Jessica giggled. “I’m sorry, Soojung…”

“But you’re so cute…”

“Unnie…!” Soojung wailed once more, and Jessica immediately broke free and ran towards the door when she saw Krystal had already had her fist in the air.

“But I’m telling the truth, Soojung,” Jessica laughed. “You’re so cute—“

“—Stop it!” Krystal shouted as she threw a pillow at her older sister, but her aim was poor and it hit the door instead.

“Why are you so mad?” Jessica . “It’s ‘perfectly normal’ for girls your age to wet the bed—“

“—Unnie…!” Soojung’s next throw was closer, and Jessica had to duck to evade another pillow.

“No, no-no-no-no-no!” Jessica quickly raised her hand when she saw Krystal lifting her favorite stuffed panda above her head. “Don’t throw poor Panda!”

“Throw Bob instead!” She pointed at the purple stuffed dog near Krystal on the bed. “He loves to be thrown around!”

Krystal whined and carefully put down the large stuffed panda on the bed, and quickly throw the purple stuffed dog at her older sister.

“You missed me!” Jessica laughed as she managed to dodge Bob, and quickly opened the door and ran outside when she saw Krystal grabbed another pillow to throw.

“Unnie…!” Soojung chased her older sister, but she was now laughing too, happy to play chase with her dearest older sister.

But their happy game had to be cut short, because when Krystal was running in the hallway outside Jessica’s room, she bumped into her mother, who was just about to wake them up for school.

“Soojung, stop running in the hallway…” Her mother smiled as she her long black hair.    

“Y-Yes, mom…” Krystal said as her eyes met with Jessica’s, who was standing behind her mother. Immediately both girls realized it was a bad idea to go outside the bedroom with their pajamas still damp.

“What is this?” And Krystal knew she was going to be in trouble when she heard her mother said that. “Why are your clothes wet?”

“I-I…” Scared Soojung grasped her long blue pants.

“Did you wet your bed again?” Her blonde mother sighed as she took a good look at her youngest daughter.

“And yours too!” Lauren gasped when she glanced at Jessica and found out her pajamas were also wet. “Did you sleep in your sister’s bed, Soojung?”

“I-I was…” Krystal couldn’t say anything, and her eyes were already teary.

“Go in the shower and change for school,” Her mother said as she walked into Jessica’s room. “Both of you.”

And after showering with Krystal, Jessica found herself sitting in the dining table, staring at her breakfast. The two pieces of bacon and sunny side egg looked delicious and her stomach was begging for something to eat, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to eat the American style breakfast. Not when Soojung, who was sitting next to her, clinging on her school uniform, was sitting there without touching her food and was getting a lecture from their mother.

The blonde girl glanced at her right side and found her father was sitting there, already finished with his breakfast, sipping his cup of coffee and hid his face behind his newspaper. Jessica kicked him in his leg to get his attention, and when she saw her father’s face peeking from the side of his newspaper, she pointed at her little sister by cocking her head. Jonathan glanced at his poor youngest daughter, but immediately turned his eyes to Jessica once more, and simply put on a sad, sympathetic face and shook his head, before hiding his face back behind his newspaper. And Jessica let out a small whine before she went back staring into her plates.

“… And that’s why I told you to keep wearing your diapers, Soojung,” Lauren finished her lecture, trying hard not to sound upset. “At least until you stop wetting the bed…”

“I’m not wearing any diapers!” Krystal immediately shouted when she knew it was her time to speak. “No!”

“Soojung…” Her mother sighed.

“No!” The little black haired girl glared at her mother. “I’m already an adult now and adults don’t wear diapers!”

“Adults don’t wet their bed, also.” Her mother said again, and Jessica knew they were about to hear another long lecture. “This is all for your own good, Soojung.”

“There’s no need to be shy for wearing a diaper,” Jessica glanced at her father, who was still hiding behind his newspaper, afraid to say anything. “No one will tell and you’re only wearing them before bed—“

“—Ah, look at the time,” Jonathan finally had the courage to show his face. “I’m gonna be late for work.”

“Can I give you lovely girls a ride to school?” He smiled to his daughters, and Jessica knew he was feeling sorry for Soojung and offered them a ride so they could get away from their mother’s lectures.

“They’re taking the bus, as usual.” Lauren glared at her husband. “You can go on ahead, dear.”

“O-Okay, then…” Jonathan noticed the sarcasm in his wife’s voice and was about to stand up when Jessica grabbed her sleeve and glared.

Are you going to abandon your precious daughters just like that? She said with her piercing ice glare.

Her father gave her a sad look which said, I can’t do anything about this, I’m sorry…

Is this the limit of the self-proclaimed all mighty Iron Jonathan? Her glare intensified.

“Yes, it is,” Jonathan gave his blonde daughter a smile, before he yanked his hand free and immediately rushed to the front door.

“Good bye, girls!” He shouted from the front door. “I love you!”

Traitor! Jessica squinted her eyes as she saw her father ran cowardly outside and shut the door behind him.

Once she turned her head back to the dining table, she met her mother’s glare and immediately stared down into her plates again. It was going to be a long morning…

On the bus ride to school both girls didn’t say a word. Soojung was too busy holding back her tears, or trying to come up with a plan so she wouldn’t have to wear a diaper, meanwhile Jessica was holding her hand all the time to calm her. The blonde girl was not without a thought; she was thinking about her dream last night, and all the memories about her past life. The thing which was bothering her was the conversation she had with her younger-other self, and the questions she asked.

Who do you love now; Stephanie or Tiffany?

Why do you love her; is it because you feel sorry for what happened to her? Is it because you want to redeem yourself?

And the blonde girl was intrigued with her other-self. She wondered why her other-self had asked her those questions. Is she not a part of herself? Is she not her spectral image in the dream world? Then why does it look like she has a mind of her own? Why does she keep asking difficult questions?

But before she could think about the whole situation, their bus stopped, and Jessica found herself standing in front of her school, linking hands with her younger sister. A couple of students who recognized the two nodded to them, and some friends waved at them. Jessica stared to her right and found Krystal was still looking sad, deep in her own thoughts. And somehow an idea crossed her mind, and one could wonder if it was a good one.

“Hey, do you want to go to the amusement park?” She said to her younger sister.

“Next weekend?” Krystal asked as she stared at her beautiful older sister.

“No; I mean right now.” The blue eyed girl smiled.

“Wha-But what about school?” Soojung asked again, but there was a hint of expectation in her jet black eyes.

“I think it’s okay for us to skip school for just one day,” Jessica smiled as she playfully pinched Soojung in her cheek. “Just this once.”

“Come on!” She giggled as she started to run and pulled her younger sister’s hand.

“Mom is going to get so mad at us!” Soojung was still pretending she didn't like the idea; but her grinning face was telling the exact opposite.

“We’ll just have to think about that later!” Jessica laughed, and Krystal started laughing too. The two girls then quickly jumped into a bus which would take them to the amusement park, and they couldn’t stop giggling and laughing all the way there.

“I want to ride the Merry Go Round!” Krystal squealed with joy and excitement when they finally arrived.

“Hold on, let’s go buy some clothes first.” Jessica said as she stopped her younger sister from running and pulled her to the side.

“Why?” Soojung asked with her glimmering eyes. She couldn’t wait to get on her favorite ride.

“We need to get out of our school uniform or they won’t allow us to ride anything.” Jessica said as she took her younger sister to the souvenir shop.

“Okay…” Krystal smiled and nodded and cheerfully followed her blonde sister.

Once inside the souvenir shop Jessica took Krystal to browse some shirts, and noticed the employees were giving them an odd look. They looked like they were hesitant to let two students in their park during school hours, but it looked like they didn’t want to chase away paying customers, so they let the two girls shop.

The amusement park had just open that morning, so there were still no other guests at the park. Krystal was so happy to know that they had the entire park for themselves, and she had already forgotten about this morning’s incident. The little black haired girl happily browsed through the shirts, and quickly found a white T-shirt with a picture of a cute brown cat on its chest.

“I like this one!” She said cheerfully to her older sister.

“Great,” Jessica smiled as she picked another white T-shirt with a picture of a lion on its chest. “Let’s go change, then.”

“But this cat is so cute!” Krystal whined. “Look at its eyes!”

“Yes, it is, Soojung,” The blonde girl didn’t understand what her younger sister meant. “So let’s buy them.”

“But don’t you want one too?” Little Soojung stared at her older sister with hopes. “Just like this?”

“Oh, of course, Soojung,” Jessica giggled as she understood that her younger sister wanted to wear the same shirt. “The cat is so cute…”

“Now let’s get change.” She smiled as she took the same shirt and took Krystal to the dressing room.

“Yay!” The cute black haired girl squealed and quickly followed her sister into the tiny women’s dressing room.

Once both girls were in their new shirts, the two of them pranced outside to start their “sudden vacation.” The first ride they went to was the Merry Go Round, just like Krystal had wanted all along. The ride was still empty and after they rode it for the second time, they decided to play chase on it. Krystal was laughing all the time, running through the fake horses, and Jessica smiled with satisfaction. It had been her dream to make Krystal laugh like that, since the moment she knew she had the chance to live a new life.

Their second ride was the Love Boat; which was a soothing log ride on top of an artificial lake, and they held hands and sang together the whole ride. Krystal’s eyes were shining like diamonds and Jessica felt the happiest.

Their third ride was the bumper car, and the two girls screamed and squealed and laughed in joy as they tried to ran their car into each other’s. Little Soojung screamed the loudest and Jessica laughed so hard. After getting tired with the cars, the two young girls spent their times riding every other rides the amusement park had for them; but not the scary ones because Jessica was very adamant in saying that she wouldn’t get into one. And despite how bad little Soojung wanted to sister and see her screaming with fear, the jet black eyed girl decided not to. She was already her happiest, spending time in the park with her dearest older sister, she didn’t want to ruin the moment. And so she was content to ride those perfectly safe and slow rides.

During lunch other guests started to fill the park, and Soojung felt a little disappointed. She glanced at her beautiful older sister and cling on to her more, like she was afraid the crowds would take her away. Jessica smiled at her as she adjusted her light brown glasses, and continued spoon feeding her. And the black haired girl felt the happiest in her life. Soon after that they continued their little adventure, and went back getting into the rides, or simply having fun strolling inside the huge amusement park.

As it was getting darker, they two girls were sitting inside the Ferris Wheel, staring at the city beneath them from the windows in their car. The sun was starting to set and its orange ray of light formed a peaceful and romantic ambiance.

Jessica was humming to a lullaby while Krystal was sitting next to her with her head against her older sister’s neck. Cute little Soojung was probably tired from all the excitement, and had her eyes closed. The blonde eyed girl kept humming as she brushed her younger sister’s hair with her fingers, and stared into the distance. Something about the way the sun’s orange lights bathing the skyscrapers and all the other buildings and trees reminded her of Tiffany. Another black haired girl with that ridiculous beautiful eye smile of hers. Jessica felt like she was missing her so bad, that she took out her phone and checked for any messages. But there was not a single message from that crescent eyed girl.

The blonde girl fixed her glasses and let out a sigh. Chloe and Lily had sent her messages asking if she was sick or anything, since she didn’t go to school today, but the blue eyed girl wasn’t in the mood to reply to them. Not when she was expecting for Tiffany’s messages instead. She unconsciously let out another sigh when she remembered how awkward it had been for her and Tiffany these past few weeks. She knew Tiffany was in the denial stage, and at first she was happy to know that the crescent eyed girl had grown feelings for her. Tiffany’s feelings were strong enough that she stole her first kiss. Well; her first kiss in this new life anyway.

And so she decided to give Tiffany some space, to figure out her feelings for the blonde. But after a few days she started to feel like she needed some time away from the crescent eyed girl too. Her other-self was right; she needed to make sure her own feelings before anything. She was still having doubts about her own motives; was it just because she wanted to redeem herself, or was it because she was truly in love with Tiffany? And if she really fell in love with the crescent eyed girl, does it mean she didn’t love Stephanie no more? And if she didn’t love Stephanie anymore, then wouldn’t she be betraying Stephanie? And what was the point in having a new life and a second chance if she was just going to betray Stephanie?

In her mind she kept telling herself that Tiffany and Stephanie was the same person. But a part of her noticed the differences, and sometimes she couldn’t help but feel like she was talking to a completely different person. A different person with the same face and voice.

“Are you fighting with Tiffany unnie, unnie?” She could hear Krystal’s sleepy voice.

“I don’t know…” Jessica smiled as she stared at her cute younger sister. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that you usually talk about her all the time,” Krystal stood up and rubbed her eyes. “And you’re always hanging out with her—“

“—Stop rubbing your eyes, honey.” Jessica said as she took Krystal’s hands and put them on her lap.

“It’s like you never have time for me anymore…” Her younger sister whined, and Jessica immediately felt guilty.

“I’m sorry, Soojung-ah…” She caressed Krystal’s hair. “I’ve been such a bad unnie…”

“You’re not a bad unnie, unnie…” Soojung said as she leaned to her sister once more and wrapped her arms around Jessica’s waist. “You’re the perfect unnie…”

“Thank you, Soojung…” Jessica smiled and kissed her forehead.

“I hope you'll make up with Tiffany unnie soon…” The black haired girl said again.

“I hope so too…” And the blonde girl was touched by her sincerity. It was amazing how a couple of sweet words from her baby sister could make her feel so touched, and cared for.

“But if you forget about me, I’m going to…” Krystal stopped in the middle and buried her head against her sister’s chest.

“You’re going to what, Soojung?” Jessica asked.

“… I’m going to tell mom and you’re going to get lectured for a day!” She muttered as she snuggled on Jessica’s chest.

“Oh, and we don’t want that; do we?” The blue eyed girl giggled, and soon Krystal followed.

“When we get home, mom will be very angry with us…” Soojung said again after a while; still wouldn’t let go of her sister.

“It’s okay…” Jessica comforted her.

“We’re going to get lectured all night…” Krystal whined.

“It’ll be okay,” The blonde girl said as she patted her head. “We’ll just hold hands and we’re going to get through her lectures together…”

Krystal finally raised her head and stared into her older sister’s eyes. Her own eyes were suddenly teary, but she was putting on her best smile for Jessica.

“I love you, unnie…” She said as she kept staring into Jessica’s deep blue eyes, and the blonde girl couldn’t help but wonder there was something different about her smile. It was filled with happiness, but there was a hint of sadness too. But the blue eyed girl thought that maybe her baby sister was just tired.

“And I love you too, Soojung…” Jessica said as she gave her own best smile, before Krystal gave her a quick peck on her lips and immediately went back snuggling against her chest.

“I love you, unnie…” Little Soojung said again, and the ride stopped and their car’s door slowly opened.

During their cab ride home Krystal was sleeping in her older sister’s arms, and Jessica was staring at the streets from the window. The blue eyed girl was back thinking about Tiffany and her eye smile, and how much she was missing the black haired girl.

Someday I’m going to take her on an amusement park date just like this one, Her thoughts wandered, and she could imagine how much fun she would have with Tiffany then.

Someday…