“Pass the chips!” A girl’s voice rang.

“Not until you hand me another soda!” Another voice piped up.

“Turn the music up!” Another one cheered.

“Dance battle!” One screamed.

“Oh, God,” Jessica slammed her palm on her face. “I can’t believe I forgot.” She groaned.

With everything that had been happening in the office this week, she had completely forgotten Krystal’s dance competition. She had been leaving notes by her bedside table about the time and place, but she had been too tired to put it in her calendar. Even when she did have the time to remember, something would coincidentally come up that would make her forget about writing it down. Ever since her sister had started dancing, she had never missed a competition no matter how terrible her sister and her friends were. Out of all the days, she had to miss this. Feeling guilty, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside.

“Unnie!” Krystal beamed, “You’re home!”

“Yeah, how was it?” She put her bag down and hugged her little sister. 

“It was awesome!” Krystal ran to her bag and pulled out a silver medal. “We won second place!”

“I am so sorry I missed this,” Jessica held the silver medal in her hands and frowned. “The one time you five actually win a medal and I wasn’t there to see it.”

"It's okay. There's always semi-finals."

“You guys made it to the semis?!” Jessica jumped up.

“Sulli’s dance solos kicked !” Victoria smiled.

“Language,” Jessica lightly tapped Victoria’s head.

“Ohhh, Unnie.” Sullie laughed. “I did kick .”

Jessica laughed, “Alright, why don’t we all celebrate? I feel like I owe you guys some BBQ or pizza or something.”

“Let’s go get some BBQ!” Luna piped up.

“Alright, we can walk since it’s just two blocks away, sound good?” Jessica asked her little sister’s friends.

“You’re buying, right?” Luna asked.

“Yes, I’m buying.” Jessica smiled.

“Then, let’s go!” Luna cheered.

Jessica laughed at her little sister’s friends and followed the little group out the door. Looking back at her life, her and Krystal had come a long way. Thinking about the past few years with their parents dying in an accident, putting herself through law school and being successful as she was now and how Krystal had been doing so well in school, she knew that she was doing the right thing with her little sister.

Even though Krystal’s middle school years had been hell, Jessica somehow managed to encourage her to be able to get past everything because being successful was something she knew her parents wanted. With a lot of encouraging speeches and late night studying with Krystal, she had made it through middle school with a flawless GPA. The oldest sister walked behind the group of friends with a proud smile on her face. Her baby sister was finally graduating high school with a 4.7 GPA with elite colleges eyeing her and scholarships were being offered left and right. It made her sad thinking about coming home to an empty apartment, but her heart swelled with pride thinking about all the great things her sister was destined to do.

“Unnie?” Krystal’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“You’re crying,” Krystal walked beside her and pulled her into a loving side hug. “Is this still about missing the competition?”

“Oh, no,” Jessica shook her head and wiped the tears. “I was just thinking about all debt you’re gonna be putting me through when you go to college.” She laughed.

Krystal laughed and kissed her sister’s cheek, “With the scholarships I’m getting, you won’t ever have to worry about paying. I can handle it now.”

“Unnie!” Luna’s voice rang. “They’re having a special for five people!”

“It’s when 5 people eat for $50, this is an awesome deal!” Victoria pointed to the sign.

“Alright, go and try to get us some seats, I’ll be right over there,” Jessica motioned her little sister’s friends. “I just need to use the restroom.”

When Jessica came back from the restroom, she saw Krystal and her friends already cooking the BBQ in the center and rice bowls and drinks all over. She made her way to the group and sat at the head of the table. 

“What are we having?” She asked.

“Ribs and pork belly,” Luna placed some pieces of meat on her plate and started distributing them evenly in the group. “Unnie gets more since she’s paying for all of this you pigs.”

Sulli laughed, “You’re right, besides, Unnie needs to eat properly. Krys has been telling us about your crazy work hours and you’re looking a little thin.”

“It’s true, Unnie,” Krystal took a sip of her water. “Your hours have been super crazy and you haven’t been sleeping as much as you usually do.”

Jessica took a bite of her food, “That’s because I need to work in order to keep a roof over your stupid head and make sure you’re being well fed.”

“You don’t even feed me, you just leave me money on the counter for me to get take-out.” Krystal defended.

“Yah, I leave enough money for you and your friends, so don’t even complain.” Jessica lightly hit Krystal’s head.

“Is that why she always has money?” Victoria’s eyes widened in surprise. Jessica nodded. “Dang, Unnie! You must make a lot of money!”

“Work hard, children and you will be earning as much as I do,” Jessica lectured.

“Yes, ma’am!” Luna saluted.

“Good, now eat your food before it gets too cold.” Jessica ordered. “Luna, give me some more of that BBQ.” She motioned to her plate and smiled when Luna put more on her plate.

“She’s hot,” Luna looked at five women and one man standing at the entrance.

“Where?” Sulli followed Luna’s eyes. “Woah, the shortest one in the group is pretty hot though.”

“The brunette with the glasses?” Luna asked.

“Hell yeah!” The two friends shared a righteous high-5.

“I think the guy is kinda cute,” Krystal said.

“I think so too.” Victoria agreed.

Jessica hid her face in her hands. The woman her little sister’s friends thought was hot, was none other than her Boss and the five other women with her were Sooyoung, Yuri, Amber and Ailee. To make everything worse, Krystal and Victoria had thought that Minho was cute. With all her heart, she had hoped that she wouldn’t run into them here of all the places. She sank in her seat and tried to act as if nothing was wrong.

“Watch out, Unnie!” Luna cried out, but with Jessica slowly sinking from her seat, her elbow had knocked over the glass over water that was by Sulli.

“I’m so sorry, Sul!” Jessica got up from her seat and started cleaning up the spilled water on the teenager’s clothes.

Sulli laughed, “It’s okay, Unnie. It was an accident.”

Jessica sighed, “I really didn’t mean to knock it over.” She frowned, “I have an extra jacket in my bag, don’t worry.”

“Your sister always seems to come prepared for these kinds of things, huh?” Luna asked Krystal.

She nodded. “You’d be surprised. Unnie keeps extra clothes in her car and always has a jacket or a shirt in her bag. She likes being prepared.” Krystal giggled at her older sister frantically wiping Sulli and pulling out a jacket out of her bag.

“Are you warm enough?” Jessica gave her a worried look.

“Unnie, I’m fine,” Sulli smiled. “You always know how to take care of us.”

Jessica gave her a warm smile, “I have to take care of you. You three are the only ones who have been with my sister all these years.”

Victoria scoffed, “We have to be friends with her. Who else can put up with her attitude?”

Jessica laughed, “She’s right, you know.” She laughed even harder at her sister’s sulking look. She grabbed Krystal by the chin and shook it. “Awe, come on. Don’t be a little grumpus.”

“I don’t have an attitude,” Krystal defended.

“Sure you don’t.” Luna rolled her eyes and continued to eat.

“Jung?”

A voice from behind made Jessica’s soul jump out of her body. She kept her eyes closed, hoping that if she didn’t turn around, the voice would magically go away. Sulli and Luna had their mouths hanging wide open because the hot woman they had been leering at was actually someone their Unnie knew and never bothered telling them.

“What are you doing here?” The voice asked.

“Unnie, I think she’s talking to you,” Krystal whispered.

“Boss!” Jessica greeted awkwardly. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We came to get some grub, what are you doing here?” Minho asked.

“The same thing, duh,” Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“Hi, Krys,” Ailee smiled and waved. 

“Hi, Ailee Unnie,” Krystal waved back.

“How do you guys know each other?” Tiffany asked.

“I stayed with Jessie and Krys when I was still apartment hunting. But when that was over and done with, I didn’t really need to stay with them anymore.” Ailee explained.

“Mind if we sit next to your table?” Yuri asked.

“Not at all,” Luna smiled. “You can even join us if you want.”

“Yeah, just put two tables here and we can have a big ol’ gathering.” Sulli smiled.

Jessica sighed. This was going to be a long night. Krystal eyed her older sister who gave her the same look back. The younger Jung shrugged and went back to talking to Sulli, Victoria and Luna about the upcoming dance competition. Sooyoung, Minho and Yuri had started making more BBQ and started placing them in a plate in the middle that was accessible for everyone sitting at the table. But every now and then, Amber would strike up a conversation with the teenagers, giving them some advice for their competition while the younger ones willingly listened to her words of wisdom. Tiffany and Jessica were sitting side by side silently eating their food and occasionally looking at each other and then going back to eating.

“What brings you here?” Tiffany asked quietly.

Jessica eyed her little sister and her friends who were happily talking to Amber. She smiled, “My little sister’s dance group won silver at their competition today. I decided to take them out since I missed it today.”

“I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“That you had to miss that because of me.”

“It’s not your fault.” Jessica said hastily. “I really don’t blame you for any of this. You’re just doing your job and I was doing mine. That’s really all it was.”

“What’s your sister’s name?” Tiffany asked, but before Jessica could answer, Amber’s laugh cut through the entire table.

“Little Jung is so funny!” Amber gripped her stomach while the other friends laughed along with her.

“Oh, my God, Krystal!” Victoria slammed her hand repeated on the table.

“That’s not something you just say!” Sulli shook her head.

“Unnie!” Luna called Jessica.

“Yes?”

“Is it okay if we sleep over tonight?” Luna asked.

“Of course,” Jessica smiled.

“Yay, sleepover!” Ailee cheered.

“Not you, Ailee,” Jessica said.

“But she said sleepover,” Ailee frowned.

“Awe, c’mon, Jung,” Minho laughed. “Let Ailee sleepover. It’s been a while since she’s actually had some fun with people her age.”

Ailee threw a rice ball at Minho’s face, “I’m not only older than you, but I am also much smarter than you.”

Minho crossed his arms, “I’m a year older than you and just because you went to some prissy high-class school in London for three semester doesn’t make you smarter than me; it just means that you had more money than I could ever have.”

“Can Amber Unnie sleepover too?” Sulli asked.

“Is everyone planning on sleeping over at my apartment?” Jessica sighed. “I don’t think there’s going to be enough room for everyone at that small place. Ailee, you won’t have any room if you sleepover. These guys take over Krystal’s bedroom and there won’t be room for you to be with them.”

“I’ll just sleep with you then,” She shrugged.

“But I like sleeping by myself,” Jessica countered.

“But I like sleepovers.”

“But this sleepover is for the teenagers.”

“But I like them.”

“Okay,” Sooyoung interrupted. “Ailee, we can get some wine and put on some movies when we get back to the house. It’ll be like a sleepover, except with alcohol.”

“What kind of wine?” Ailee asked.

“Whichever you prefer,” Yuri shrugged.

“Sounds good to me,” Ailee smiled.

Tiffany laughed, “Lee is pretty pushy, huh?”

“Pushy?” Jessica scoffed. “That’s an understatement.”

She nodded, “She has to get what she wants or else everyone has to suffer the entire day with her whining.”

Jessica sank in her seat, “I’m already up to my neck with Krystal. I don’t really need another teenager to take care of.”

“Where are your parents, if you don’t mind me asking,” Tiffany took a sip of her water.

“They died in an accident a few years ago when Krystal just started middle school.” Jessica said quietly and stared blankly at the cup of water sitting in front of her.

Tiffany placed her hand on her knee under the table, “I’m sorry to hear that. It must have been hard doing it on your own like that.”

Jessica gave her a small smile, “I think I did pretty good.”

Tiffany gave her a bigger smile, “You did an amazing job. She’s lucky to have a sister like you. Who knows, maybe your sister and my sister could be friends.”

“I thought your entire family was in the States.”

“They are,” Tiffany nodded, “but Evelyn is coming to Korea for college. My dad said that she needs to learn how to be independent and stand on her own two feet.” She shrugged. “I don’t even know. As much as I love my little sister, she heads too much for me to handle, but then again, she is baby sister, so I have no choice to let her win arguments.”

The great Tiffany Hwang’s weakness was her little sister. The person who never backed down from a fight was letting her baby sister win without much of a fight.

Jessica shrugged, “Maybe your sister coming here will be a good thing.”

“We’ll see,” Tiffany took a deep breath and got up from her seat. “I’m gonna go take care of our bill.”

“Wait!” Jessica followed Tiffany. There was no way in hell that she was going to let her Boss pay for her bill.

“What do you think that’s about?” Minho looked over and saw Tiffany walking away with Jessica practically running to catch up with her.

“Lovers spat?” Yuri shrugged.

“My sister and that woman are dating?” Krystal gasped.

Sooyoung laughed, “There’s been hints that those two are going to end up together. We all know it, they just need to hurry up and figure it out for themselves.”

“Oh, Little Jung,” Ailee laughed and patted Krystal’s head. “See, these would be the kinds of things we would be talking about at our sleepover.”

“Unnie, no one asked you to come to the sleepover,” Krystal said.

“We should start heading back to the house,” Sooyoung patter her stomach and smiled. “There’s still room in my system for some wine and possibly some beer.”

“Sorry, I drank all the beer last night,” Minho apologized.

“Well, you can stop by the store and get us more beer.” Sooyoung patted Minho’s shoulder. “It’s the least you can do for drinking all the beer.”

Minho nodded, “How many cases?”

“Just enough to stock the fridge,” Yuri said.

“I’ll go with you,” Amber volunteered. 

“Let’s all go before Ppany gets back.” Sooyoung said quickly.

“Why are you guys leaving?” Krystal looked worried. “She’s gonna be stuck here without a ride back to your house.”

“So then, your sister will have to take her home,” Amber elaborated. “Or somehow force Boss to spend the night with Jung.”

“That’s even better!” Minho grinned. “Up top, Liu!”

“Hell yeah!” Amber his her hand with Minho’s.

“Okay, so we’re going to go now.” Sooyoung motioned to the back door and started walking.

“Bye, girls,” Minho waved and followed Sooyoung.

“It was nice meeting you!” Amber grinned and jogged to Sooyoung.

“I’ll see you girls later,” Ailee smiled and followed the group.

“I had fun tonight,” Yuri laughed and waved as she waved away.

Krystal watched the group of lawyers walk out of the restaurant. She felt a little envious because of how successful each and every one of them were. A part of her wanted to move out in order to go to the best school in the country for her major, but at the same time, she didn’t want to leave her older sister alone without anyone. After all, she had been the only person there for her when no one else was. Not only was Jessica her older sister and best friend, but she also acted like a mother and father figure to her. 

Six years ago, Jessica was 20 years old and Krystal was only 12. Their parents had died, Jessica had dropped out of college for a little bit in order to have some sort of stable footing in hopes of trying to support her little sister. Krystal had fallen into a deep depression, but Jessica had refused to have her give into those feelings. The older Jung knew that if she had fallen into depression, then, getting back on their feet would be hopeless. Their parents didn’t leave them with much and Jessica knew that the $20,000 in their bank account would be left untouched because she had to think about her little sister’s future. If that meant that she needed to get another job and drop out of law school, then she would do it for the sake of her baby sister. There was nothing in the world she wouldn’t do for her. She was the only family that she had left.

Although Jessica did manage to finish law school, she was working three jobs and taking care of her little sister at the same time and still somehow managing to make it to all of Krystal’s dance competitions and school functions. It was one of the many things she admired her sister.

How was she going to just leave the person who helped her built herself back up when she hit rock bottom?

“Hey, are you okay?” Jessica nudged her little sister’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about college,” Krystal quickly answered.

Jessica frowned, “I know it’s stressful with everything and this being your senior year on top of all that, but just try to relax tonight and we can talk about this sometime this week, okay?”

Krystal smiled, “Okay.”

“Where did my ride go?” Tiffany placed her hands on her hips and scanned the restaurant.

“They said they had an emergency,” Sulli spoke up.

“What emergency?” Tiffany asked.

“Minho burnt his hand on the grill and they had to take him to the emergency room,” Luna covered.

“Why didn’t they leave a car for me to drive home with?” Tiffany asked. “We did take three separate cars and there were only four of them. They could’ve fit in one if they wanted to.”

“I guess they aren’t that smart,” Victoria shrugged.

Tiffany seemed to have bought it when she shrugged, “I know. In the courtroom, they’re one of the best, but put them in a real life situation, they all are terrible at it.”

“C’mon, I’ll take you home once we walk back to the apartment.” Jessica motioned Tiffany to follow her and the group of teenagers with her.

“I still can’t believe they left me,” Tiffany shook her head and followed Jessica to the exit. “They could’ve at least left me car for me to drive you guys home and for me to drive home. That’s just rude of them, don’t you agree?”

“Unnie, why don’t you just spend the night like the rest of us?” Luna asked.

“Because I have a perfectly functioning bed waiting for me at my house,” Tiffany answered.

“Sica Unnie has a decent size bed,” Victoria smiled.

Tiffany awkwardly smiled, “I really should be getting home. I’ll just call a cab.”

— — — — —

“I’ll just take the floor and you take the bed.” Jessica offered as they walked inside her bedroom.

Tiffany shook her head, “It’s fine! You can sleep on your own bed and I’ll sleep on the floor. I’m a guest, so I should be fine sleeping on the floor. Just give me a blanket and I’ll make myself at home over there in the living with the other girls.”

Knock. Knock.

“Yes?” Jessica called from the closet.

“Unnie, you left your laptop on the kitchen table again,” Luna smiled and walked over. “I’ll just leave it here on the bed.”

“Thank you, Luna!” Jessica shouted.

Tiffany sat on the bed and looked around the room. It was nothing like she had pictured it. She pictured Jessica’s room to have a bigger bed with more books on the shelves. Maybe a desk that was designated for her work stuff.

This. This bedroom was nothing like anything she had in mind. Jessica had two desks crammed next to each other. One of them had a computer desktop and the other had a laptop. On the computer desk, there was a shelf full of games. The middle shelf had a Nintendo DS, a Nintendo 2DS, a Nintendo 3DS XL, a PSP, and a Game Boy Advance. The bed was pushed against the wall so it was underneath the window. Next to the bed was a night stand that had a picture of Krystal hugging Jessica. Tiffany had never noticed, but she realized that the woman’s younger sister was actually a head taller than her sister. Next to that picture was an older couple sitting with Jessica and Krystal standing behind them. The woman figured that those were Jessica’s parents before they passed away.

“That was taken a month before the accident,” Jessica’s voice rang, snapping Tiffany out of her trans.

“What?” She blinked.

“That picture,” Jessica had her hair in a high bun with shorts and a loose shirt. She sat next to Tiffany on the bed, “That picture was taken a month before they died. I was in the States visiting a friend of mine for Spring Break. My parents were picking me up at the airport. Krystal was supposed to be at her friend’s house, but when she heard that they were going to pick me up, she wanted to come.”

Tiffany internally cringed. Here Jessica was opening up and all she could say was, “Oh.”

Jessica laughed, “I don’t have to tell you the story. I just thought—”

“We’re friends,” Tiffany interrupted. “You can tell me anything you’d like.”

“Well, a truck collided head on my parents’ car. They died on the scene, but it was touch and go with Krystal.” Jessica recalled, “She had to miss to first year of middle school and ended up being homeschooled for the year because it hurt her too much to get out of bed and walk.”

Tiffany held Jessica’s hand, “I’m sorry you had to go through what you went through. Your parents would be proud to see what you’ve become.”

“They would laugh,” She said bitterly. “They were strict Catholics. If they ever find out that I’m a lesbian, I’m pretty sure that I would have gotten kicked out of the house.”

“Then you would have to come and live with me in my house,” Tiffany nudged her shoulder.

She laughed, “You don’t even like me.”

“You’re right, I don’t like you.”

Knock. Knock.

Jessica got up and opened the door, “Yeah?”

“Sulli found these again,” Krystal handed her a small box.

“Make sure that she stops snooping through our things the next time she sleeps over.” Jessica rolled her eyes.

“Good luck,” Krystal scoffed.

Tiffany smiled. She wished she was a lot closer with her siblings. Since they were all in America, while she was here, it made sense that they wouldn’t be close. Ever since she graduated high school, she had moved to Korea to live with her grandparents in order to get a fresh start and be away from her judgmental family members’ eyes. When her grandparents passed away, her father had asked her if she wanted to move back, but when she said no, he was furious. Her and her father used to get along so well up until the summer after her senior year when she had decided to go back to Korea with her grandparents on her mother’s side.

She loved it here. She loved how her grandparents always made sure that she never skipped any meals, even when she moved out to live closer to her new job in her old law firm, they religiously called her at 8 o’clock on the dot to make sure that she was still eating. When she said no, her grandmother would scold her about how she was getting so thin even though the woman hadn’t seen her in months and her grandfather would tell her that the girls didn’t like having a stick-of-a-woman because it’s nice to have someone with meat on their bones.

That was also one of the reasons why she decided to leave home. Her father loathed the idea of her being a lesbian. Her grandparents were more accepting of her than her own father. Although her siblings were completely fine with it, she still felt like she never really belonged to the family she had. Sooyoung and Yuri were her new family now, and now there was Amber, Ailee, Minho and Jessica. They’re the only family she has now. Maybe everything might change when Evelyn moves to Korea and lives with her. After all, she was the only sibling she was ever close to back when they were kids. Evelyn even beat up a boy twice her size because he wouldn’t leave Tiffany alone.

“Are you okay?” Jessica gave Tiffany an odd look. “You’ve been spacing out a lot.”

“Of course I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you’re spacing out. It’s not like you.” Jessica handed her a blanket. “You take the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“No you’re not,” Tiffany crossed her arms.

“Tiffany Hwang, I am honestly insulted,” Jessica gave her a hard stare.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You let me sleep in your perfectly functioning bed while you slept in the couch. I expect you to return that same favor when you’re at my apartment,” Jessica crossed her arms.

“Fine, but at least sleep in the bed with me,” Tiffany said.

“W-why?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” But before Jessica could even respond, Tiffany scooted over to the bed and patted the empty space next to her. “Just sleep here with me tonight and then we’ll talk more about this in the morning when we go to the office. I just need tonight to be silent.”

Confused, Jessica slowly slid in the bed with Tiffany. What did she mean by wanting tonight to be silent and they were going to talk more about it in the morning? Jessica rolled to her side with her back facing Tiffany’s face and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

Slowly, a hand made its way around Jessica, just below her chest and felt the other arm slip underneath her pillow. She was more confused than ever. Tiffany pulled her closer to her body and sighed in her ear. A million thoughts were racing in her head that she felt like she was spinning. Not only was this the woman she had been majorly crushing on the past couple of months, but also her boss. As odd as their entire situation is, she wished and hoped that none of her co-workers will ever find out about this. The last thing she needed was having them breathing her neck in details of what her and Tiffany did behind these closed doors.

Even if Krystal were to walk in her bedroom unannounced, she would see that they were still full dressed and all hands were accounted for and none were placed at inappropriate places. This was completely innocent and no one would ever think wrongly of this.

Never in her life had she ever found the person she had worked for attractive. This was a fairly odd and weird situation Tiffany had put them in. She had tried so hard to keep her distance away from her. She kept her head down and did the work she was assigned and told to do. Never in her life would she have imagined that her and Tiffany would be sleeping in the same bed, let alone cuddling. This was all new to her and she had no idea what to do.

What a weird situation.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Tiffany pulled her close once again and whispered, “Thank you.”

As comforting as her hold around Jessica was, she felt more at peace with the voice that whispered in her ear. Tiffany always had that odd voice that always made her feel better no matter what the situation was. Even this situation was clearly nothing they have ever encountered at the times they had worked together. 

Jessica let out a content sigh and felt herself real in Tiffany’s embrace, “Goodnight.”