Chapter 10

STS – Sales and Reservation Department

Knock, knock

“Come in.” Yuri spoke when she heard someone knocked on the door.

“Yuri-unnie, the personnel department just informed us that Yoona-unnie and Jessica-unnie will take a day off today.” Seohyun came in and broke the news to Yuri.

Hearing the news, Yuri’s expression turned irritated in an instant. She stopped typing on her computer and turned to look at Seohyun, “Did they mention why?”

“I heard that it was Jessica-unnie called in sick for Yoona-unnie.”

Yuri nodded her head even though she didn’t believe in that excuse. Yesterday she was still safe and sound, how could she be sick today? “Okay, I get it. You can go out now.”

Seohyun excused herself, walked out of the room and closed the door behind her back. Minutes later, Fany came in without knocking on the door carried a file on her hand.

“Hey, Yuri. You need to sign this file right now. It’s urgent.” Fany said as she put the file on Yuri’s keyboard to stop her from typing.

“If a customer comes in at this moment, they will think that you’re my boss not the other way around.” Yuri said as she took the file and signed it.

“Well, don’t expect me to treat you like a boss since not even the CEO Sooyoung’s treated like one.” Fany took the file from Yuri’s hands and looked through it. “Okay, I’ll get back to work now.” Fany turned around and walked out of the room.

“Wait, Fany-ah.”

“Huh?”

“Uhm… Do you know why they take a day off today?” Even though she had guessed the reason why they took a day off but a part of her still wanted to know exactly the reason. She didn’t ask Seohyun for details because she was afraid that the young girl might notice her worries over someone she was supposed to hate.

Yuri didn’t mention the name but Fany knew who she was referring to, “Don’t worry, she’s fine. She stays at home because she got herself wasted last night when she went clubbing.” She said with reassured smile on her face.

Yuri slowly nodded her head understanding then suddenly she realized what Fany just said, “Who said I’m worried? It’s just that I want to make sure if my guess was right. And she’s being lazy just as I expected.”

Denying again, Fany slightly shook her head at her friend. Yuri was hopeless. Despite of what Yoona did to her in the past, broke her heart in the worst way possible, Fany doubted if she will ever be able to get over that girl. 

“If you said so.” Fany shrugged; there was no point in arguing at this moment.

“Ah, how could you know that she went clubbing last night? Who told you that?” Yuri questioned out of nowhere.

Fany was startled when she heard Yuri’s question. Right, how could she know that Yoona got herself wasted last night, she couldn’t tell Yuri that she received a message from Taeyeon this morning saying that she had to stay home to take care of her sick friend today. Quickly thought of an explanation, Fany said, “It was Onew who told me that he heard Yoona was talking to Jessica about going to some club. So I just assumed that she was drunk after going clubbing. It made sense, right?”

Before Yuri could realize some illogical part in her sentence, Fany hastily said “Uhm, I really have to get back to work, thanks to someone my work has been piled up like a hill on my desk now, so talk to you later.” Fany quickly zoomed out of the room so that Yuri couldn’t say anything else.

Not long after Yuri got back to her work, her phone began to ring. She picked it up right after the second ring. After a few seconds listening to what her caller was saying, she shot up from her seat, holding the cell phone firmly to her ear.

“I’ll be there right away!”

&&&&&&

YoonSicTae’s house – Yoona’s room

Jessica stared at the sleeping figure on the bed. Yoona had been sleeping for 14 hours since the moment she fell into Jessica’s arms. With many difficulties and Taeyeon’s help, Sica could carry Yoona all the way back from the bar to her room. Every now and then, she would place her finger under Yoona’s nose to check her breathing. Yoona had been drunk before but she had never slept this much that’s why Jessica had to check if the taller girl still breathed.

There were so many different emotions running inside her body. She was worried about Yoona’s condition, mad at Yoona for doing this to herself; frustrated at Yoona for ignoring her pleads and doing all of these for someone who didn’t even acknowledge of what she did; angry at Yoona for being so clueless about her feelings for her; but most of all, Jessica Jung was jealous.

She was jealous of how Yoona could do this much for that girl despite the fact that she had tricked Yoona into trusting her lies, how that girl managed to have Yoona’s heart in only 7 days while she had been by her side for years, how Yoona could throw away her pride for the one she loved instead of Jessica – her best friend no more no less.

In short, she was jealous of Kwon Yuri.

Jessica let her eyes wander down to Yoona’s lips, those tempting lips that she had been dying to taste. Just like a magnet, or some sort of force was pulling Jessica closer and closer to what she had always wanted to do. There was only one goal on her mind at that moment: she wanted to feel Yoona’s lips against her.

Just when their lips were about to touch, Jessica let out a snort, “Pathetic…” She said to herself as she moved her head away from Yoona. Yes, it was true; Jessica admitted that she was pathetic, so pathetic that she even thought of taking advantage of Yoona while she was sleeping like this. She looked back at the sleeping figure and tears started to form at the corner of her eyes.

“Tell me why Yoona, you always hold my hand but never intertwine them, always hug me but never embrace me, always looked at me with care but never with love and you always kiss me on the forehead but never on my lips.” She stopped for a moment before continued, “This is the closest… I could get to you, right?” Jessica talked to Yoona as if she wasn’t sleeping but in fact the girl lying on the bed didn’t have a slightest idea about what Jessica said since she was still wandering in her dream land.

“Sometimes I wish while I was confessing to you like this you would sit up, gather me close in your embrace and tell me that you felt the same. But I know that it’s just a pipe dream. Even if you are listening there’s no way you would accept my feelings because there’s someone in your heart now. There was a time that I was determined to give up this hopeless one-sided love but you are being totally clueless about my effort when you held me close, let me sleep in your bed when there’s thunderstorm outside, pick out all of the cucumbers in my dishes even though it takes forever to do so, cook for me when I wasn’t feeling well, protect me if someone was trying to harm me, once in a while you’ll show me how much you care about me. Those little gestures like that made me fall for you all over again. It’s all your fault that I’m being like this. Tell me what you want me to do, Yoona. Can you give back my heart which you had stolen and didn’t even know that you did?”

Yoona hadn’t moved an inch on her bed. After drinking that much alcohol she certainly slept like a log, even a thunderstorm outside couldn’t wake her up. Jessica on her part, didn’t really expect any reaction from Yoona and she raised her hand to wipe away the tears were rolling on her cheek. Forcing her tears back, Sica stood up and left the room. She knew that Taeyeon would be home anytime soon, she needed to control her emotions as soon as possible.

As soon as she was out of the room, a familiar voice behind her back made her jump a little.

“You love Yoona?” 

Jessica turned around to see that Taeyeon was leaning her back against the wall outside of Yoona’s room. ‘Just great.’ Sica thought to herself.

“You heard everything?”

“Well, from the ‘I wish’ part, is there more?” Taeyeon smiled playfully.

“Uh… It’s not what you think it is.” Jessica still stubbornly denied.

“Really? Then enlighten me.”

“Uh… uhm… it was… a scene, yes a scene from a movie I just saw a few days ago. I was so touched by that scene that I just have to reenact it now.” Jessica mentally scolded herself for coming up with such a lamest excuse ever. ‘A scene from a movie? Come on, you can do better than that.’

“Oh, which movie? I want to see it too.” Taeyeon asked again as she decided to play along with Jessica, she just enjoyed watching the girl making up lies, it was kinda funny.

“Uhm… it’s a French movie but I just happened to forget the title.”

“Oh, happen to forget eh?” Taeyeon laughed amusedly. “Does that movie have a graduation’s picture scene?” Taeyeon asked as she decided to play along with her friend.

“Wh-wh-what are you talking about?”

Another chuckle escaped Taeyeon’s mouth as she revealed Jessica’s wallet which she had been hiding behind her back. “Here, I found it on the kitchen’s floor.”

Jessica immediately understood what Taeyeon meant by graduation’s picture scene as she snatched her wallet back from Taeyeon’s hand. In her wallet, there was a picture of the three of them at their high school graduation’s ceremony. Of course there was nothing wrong if she put their picture in her wallet however the strange thing here was the picture was folded and Taeyeon’s fake shocking face was hidden, there were only the picture of Yoona faked a kiss on the cheek for Jessica is left.

“Yah, why did you look through it? Have I no privacy?”

“Well first, I didn’t look through it, your wallet ‘just happened’ to be opened when I saw it on the floor.” Taeyeon said as she put an air quote on the words ‘just happened’ which Jessica just said moments ago. “Second, you do have your privacy since you have been able to hide this from us for such a long time.” Taeyeon said as her tone suddenly became more serious.

Jessica lowered her head, she suddenly felt guilty because of hiding this from her friends. Seeing that Jessica didn’t say anything, Taeyeon decided to break the silence.

“So what you said in the bathroom a few days ago was true?” Taeyeon asked and received a slight nod from the latter as an answer.

“How long?”

Jessica shook her head.

“Shaking your head means you don’t know or you don’t want to talk about it?”

Another shake.

“Sica-yah, this’s not going to work if you don’t say anything.”

“…I don’t know. Years I suppose.”

“How come you didn’t say anything for all those years? Or at least have some attempt to say it. Why did you keep all of your feelings to yourself and watch her go out with some brainless bimbo? You-”

Taeyeon was cut off by Sica, “Before you say anything else, I just want you to know that I did have few attempts to say it but things didn’t go as I planned. I still remember that very first time…” 

Flashback

SM girl’s high school – YoonSicTae’s senior year

Jessica was standing in front of Yoona’s locker while holding on the letter as if her life depended on it. This was it! She was going to put a stop for her secret crush on the latter right at this moment. She had poured all of her feelings for the past year since she realized her feelings for the taller girl were more than a platonic friendship into the letter which she was going to slide in Yoona’s locker later.

“Jessica Jung, you can do it. Fighting, fighting!!” She mumbled to herself and ready to slide the letter in.

“Hey yo, Jessica I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Come, I have something really amazing to show you guys.” Yoona who had an arm around Taeyeon’s shoulder called out for Jessica.

“Oh, okay...” Jessica quickly shoved the letter into her pocket and quickened her steps to follow her two best friends. ‘I’ll slide it in later.’ She thought to herself.

School’s cafeteria

“Look what I’ve got.” Yoona said as she pulled around 20 letters out and dropped them on their table.

“Woah! Where did you get all of this? It wasn’t that long since you broke up with Seohyun.” Taeyeon asked in astonishment. 

Yoona grinned proudly, “Some on my table and some were given in person. I still haven’t checked my locker yet. Let’s read them, shall we?” The two friends were totally in the conversation except for someone.

“Yah, you shouldn’t let us read your letters like this. Don’t you think this’s too much? They will be very disappointed since they put lots of their feelings and efforts into writing this. That’s no-”

“Aish, don’t be such a mood-killer Sica-yah. If they really do feel something for me, why don’t they just confess to me in person? Besides I don’t feel anything for these people, isn’t it much better if they are disappointed in me? Then I don’t have to refuse by saying it in their face. Talk about awkward.”

Jessica unconsciously crumpled the poor letter and shoved it deeper into her pocket. Right, what was she thinking? If Seohyun wasn’t by her side, there were plenty of other girls out there who would be dying to be Yoona’s girlfriend. She was just another girl who Yoona didn’t feel anything for.

“Look, look Yoona. There’s also Olivia here, the volleyball captain.” Taeyeon squealed in excitement as if the letters were for her. 

“Really? Let me see it.” Yoona took a look at it then let out a laugh. She read the letter loud enough for her friends to hear, “Look what she wrote, ‘You’re the first person I think of when I woke up and also the last person I think of when I go to sleep. My heart stopped whenever I see you walked past my classroom.’ How cheesy, I’ve got goose bumps already.” Taeyeon joined in with the laughing when Yoona finished reading the letter.

Looking at the scene in front of her, Jessica let out a relieved breath. It was a good thing that she didn’t slide her letter in. If she did, she probably was the topic of that conversation at this moment.

End of Flashback

“That’s totally different. We’ll never talk like that if it was about you. You should know better than that.” Taeyeon argued.

“That’s what you think. They wrote a letter to confess their feelings, so did I. What does that make me different? Anyway, I did try something else after hearing that she wanted to confess in person.”

Flashback

SM University’s gate – First year

“Hey Yoong!” Jessica called as she tapped the taller girl on her shoulder to get her attention from behind.

“Yo, Icy!” Yoona turned around to her friend and held out her hand in attempt to get a high-five from Jessica.

Sica quickly did the high-five, “Where is Taeyeon?”

“I don’t know, I heard that she had some extra class. Let’s wait here for now, she’ll be here soon I think.”

They stayed quiet for a while before Sica spoke, “Uhm… Yoona-yah. What kind of a confession do you like? A private romantic date or a shout-out at public place?”

“Why do you want to know? Is there someone you like?” Yoona asked, her eyes lit up when she heard about Jessica’s love life. She was totally excited since the latter never really talked about it like her and Taeyeon did.

“Uh... maybe, but I want to ask for your opinion.”

“Ohh, I sensed something is up here. You have to tell me who the poor girl is first.”

“If you don’t want to answer then forget it, I’m not gonna say anything.”

“Why? Taeyeon and I always talk to you about our love life.” Yoona pouted.

“Don’t expect me to say anything.” Jessica firmly exclaimed before put on a cold expression on her face.

“Jeez, Ice Princess always remains an Ice Princess. If you don’t want to talk about it then fine, I’ll answer your question then.” Yoona her chin while thinking about Sica’s question thoroughly, “For me, a private date or a shout-out would be fine. But I prefer I’m the one taking control of the relationship. The person who likes me will do something to make me notice her first, leave a good impression on me, make me fall in love with her then wait for me to make the first move and soon I’ll be the one confessing to her that I like her. And then after the confession she will say all the things that she did to make me notice her. Isn’t it more romantic this way?” Yoona smiled at the thought of her dream confession.

Jessica looked at Yoona strangely, her way of being in a relationship was kind of weird. Yoona liked the person who liked her but didn’t say that she liked her and in the end confessed that she did like her. Did that even make sense?

“Then what type of girls do you like?”

Yoona suspiciously raised an eyebrow at Jessica, “What does my type have to do with the person you like?”

“If you don’t want to answer then I’m not gonna force you.”

Yoona let out a chuckle. Jessica was the one who were asking for her advice yet she was like begging the latter to listen to her opinion, “Well, recently, I’ve grown to have a thing for girls who have a bright hair color, it kinda catches your eyes don’t you think? I’ve always like girls who are good at cooking. Well not much since I’m not the type who draws out their ideal person, I prefer love at first sight you know, fall in love with someone who catches my eyes at some specific moments.”

“Oh, look, Taeyeon is here.” Yoona quickly stood up when she caught a glimpse of Taeyeon’s figure.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. Blame my professor though. Let’s go home now.”

A few days later

University’s cafeteria

“Wow, Jessica… looking good. Blonde definitely suits you.” Taeyeon said when she first saw Jessica’s new hair. “What do you think, Yoona?”

“Hmm… maybe I’m used to seeing her with brown hair so it’s kinda strange to see her in this new hairdo. But it looks good though, don’t worry.”

Jessica smiled when she heard Yoona’s compliment, “Thanks guys.”

“By the way, why did you dye your hair? I didn’t hear you mention anything about being a blonde before.” Taeyeon asked.

“Feels like it. We should change the way we look once in a while you know?” No one else but herself knew the real reason why she dyed her hair.

Another week passed

YoonSicTae’s dorm

“Yah, Jessica Jung! Next time if you want to cook at least choose somewhere else other than our dorm. We’ll become homeless soon if you continue cooking like this.” Taeyeon complained, annoyed as she cleaned the mess Jessica just created.

“Seriously, Sica-yah. I already feel worried for the person who’s gonna be your girlfriend. Your food is either burned or raw meat.” Yoona also chimed in while cleaning the kitchen’s floor.

Jessica hung her head low as she retreated to her room without saying a word. A good cook? Totally failed.

End of Flashback

“Wow… you did all of that just because she said so?” Taeyeon was amazed at how much Jessica could do for love.

“I guess so.”

“And our Im Yoona didn’t notice anything. That girl was really clueless sometimes.”

“Told ya.” Jessica had a sad expression on her face as she tried to smile.

“So… you never tell her in person. Just dropping hints like this all the time?”

“Well, I do have one chance to say it…”

Flashback

Few days after ‘the incident’ - YoonSicTae’s house

“Cheers!!!” Yoona and Jessica cling on their class and drank up. Taeyeon had already passed out on the couch. When it came to tolerate their alcohol, Taeyeon always was the worst. Even Yoona drank twice the amount that she did, yet she was the one passed out first.

“You know what Icy? Let’s forget about true love, commitments, promises or whatever comes along with it. It’s all lies. Lies…I’m telling you. From now on, I only believe in my friends, my best friends Jessica Jung and Kim Taeyeon, no one else. And you too, Icy. Don’t believe in anyone else but us or you’ll get hurt just like me.” Yoona murmured in her drunk-talk.

“Don’t assume every girl is the same, you know? Maybe there’s someone out there who really loves you with all her heart.” Jessica said, tried to turn the situation around.

“When is that someone gonna come? I’m already tired of waiting.” Yoona continued to murmur as she leaned on Jessica’s shoulder.

“Maybe she had come already but you didn’t notice her yet. Maybe she was someone really close to you.” 

“Mhmm… really?” Yoona said barely audible but Jessica was still able to hear it.

‘This is it. This is now or never. I have to say it now rather than regret about it later.’ Even though it wasn’t a dream confession like Yoona mentioned to her before, Jessica couldn’t let this chance passed; she couldn’t wait anymore. Jessica took a deep breath in, ready to confess. 

“Uhm…Yoona… I have something to tell you. The truth is… I… I love you. It’s not that kind of love between friends. More like I’m in love with you. I’m-” Jessica stopped herself from talking when she didn’t see any surprised reaction from the latter because of this shocking confession.

She tilted her head slightly to the side to look at Yoona who was leaning on her shoulder at the moment. She saw the girl had drifted off to sleep since she had closed her eyes and her breath was steady. Jessica resumed her previous position and exhaled a deep sigh in disappointment.

“If you can open your eyes, you’ll see that someone’s always been here all along.”

End of Flashback

“Maybe, Yoona and I aren’t meant to be.” Jessica said as she stared into the view in front of her.

Taeyeon was speechless, she didn’t know what to say at this moment. When Yoona woke up, she would definitely flick her forehead several times to knock some senses into her head. Even a blind would easily see that Jessica felt something for her. It was reasonable if Taeyeon herself couldn’t see anything because Jessica only talked to Yoona when she wasn’t around. But Yoona couldn’t sense anything? It was unbelievable.

“Look, Sica-yah. I don’t care what that thick-head in there is thinking.” Taeyeon said as she pointed at Yoona’s room. “But now that I’ve known your feelings, I can’t stay away from this matter like before. Listen to me carefully, Jessica Jung. You have to confess to Yoona in person, a conscious one not the drunken one, forget about her dream confession, no more dropping hints. And I’ll be the one who helps you to do this.”

“I…”

“Okay… then it’s settle. Starting with a tray with chicken soup.”

&&&&&&

Elderly care – Yong appa’s room

“Yong appa, please listen to me, let me call your daughter to tell her about your condition.” Yuri pleaded with the old man who was being stubborn at the time. The call she received earlier was from one of the nurse from the elderly care. She told Yuri that all the elders just had a general examination. Unfortunately, Yong appa was diagnosed with a benign tumor. Which means it’s noncancerous. Still he still needed a surgery to remove it.

The nurse wanted to inform his daughter about his condition but he stopped them from doing so by threatening that he would starve himself. No matter how much the nurse tried to talk to him, the stubborn old man still refused to do anything. She even locked himself in his room, not allowing anyone to come in. That was why they had to call Yuri, all the nurses knew how close she was to Yong appa.

When Yuri first came to his room, he still didn’t want to open his room. Yuri had to trick him by saying that she was hurt and fainted so that he would open the door and Yuri quickly slide herself in.

“You don’t have to waste your time in convincing me, I’ve made up my mind and you’re not going to change it. Besides it’s not a cancer anyway.”

“Still you need to have a surgery to remove it. Just a text message to inform her would be fine.”
Yong appa stayed silent as he moved away from Yuri, not listening to her pleads anymore. Yuri pouted. Fine, if he don’t want to do the gentle way, the hard way it was then.

“If you are still too stubborn, I won’t come to visit you anymore.”

Still didn’t turn around.

“No more telling you about my ex and my work.”

Stay still.

“No more partner in crime helps you escaping this boring elderly care.”

Try to focus on the wall.

“No more giving you secret cigarette.” Yuri grinned evilly at the last sentence, she knew how much Yong appa loved cigarette.

Finally the old man was defeated, he let out a sigh and turned around to face her, “Do you have to go that far?”

Yuri smiled in victory, she approached the old man and kneeled down to Yong appa sitting’s level. “Come on, she’s your daughter, she must be very worried about you. If you don’t want to give me her phone number then at least let me send her an e-mail, okay? If she doesn’t come in 2 hours, I won’t talk to you about this matter anymore.”

The old man did a quick nod. Yuri smiled as she pulled out her phone to send an e-mail to his daughter like she always did every week to inform the young girl about her father’s condition.

“Done! I’ll wait with you for her to come, okay?” Yuri smiled warmly at the old man.

&&&&&&

YoonSicTae’s house – Yoona’s room

“How is it?” Taeyeon asked Yoona who was eating the chicken soup Jessica brought in.

“It tasted fine but it’s a bit different from the ones you used to cook. Did you learn a new recipe?” Yoona said. She had waked up 3 hours ago, it meant that she had slept 17 hours in total. And now her head was spinning like crazy.

“I didn’t but Jessica did.” Taeyeon smiled proudly as if she was the one who cooked while in face she was just told the girl what to do.

“Don’t tell me…”

“You guessed it, pal.”

“Wow, impressive! I hope that our kitchen’s still safe.” Yoona joked thinking about their ruined kitchens in the past.

“Still in a good condition, don’t worry. Our Sica did put lots of effort into making this, right Sica?” Taeyeon said as she nudged the blushing girl next to her who just slightly nodded.

“I never thought that I could eat the food cooked by Jessica in this life. Great job, Sica! I guess I should get myself wasted more often to get good stuff like this.”

Jessica lowered her head at Yoona’s compliment. Coming from her, it really meant a lot. “Ah, that reminds me. Last night, how do you know that Hyesun was there?”

“Thanks to Seohyun. She was once Siwon’s PA before she becomes Yuri’s PA. I think that Siwon ask her to learn about celebrities’ activities as much as possible just in case like this.” Yoona explained.

Suddenly the sound of Yoona’s ringing phone caught their attention.

“Who is it?” Jessica asked.

“An e-mail from black_pearl. I think I have to go to the elderly care right now.”

&&&&&&

Elderly care – Yong appa’s room

1 hour after Yuri sent the e-mail

“I told you. She won’t come anytime soon. She’s always busy doing her work oversea. There’s no way she made it in time to visit me.” Yong appa said even though he couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.

“Don’t s-” Yuri was cut off by the sound of someone knocking on the door.

“Appa! I’m here.”

“See! Your daughter cares about you a lot since she came only in 1 hour.” Yuri said when she heard the voice. Was it weird that she thought the voice was a bit familiar?

Yong appa turned away from the door. The older you get the younger you will act, just like Yong appa, he was acting like a kid right now. Even though he really missed his daughter he still acted like he didn’t want to see her. “I’ll open the door for you then.”

Yuri stood up from her seat, opened the door to see Yong appa’s daughter for the first time. When she saw the girl who was waiting outside, the first thing came to her mind was ‘It’s such a small world after all.’

“Yoona?”

The girl who had been waiting lifted her head up to address the person opened the door for her, “Yu-Yuri?”

Before Yoona could say anything else, Yuri slammed the door closed in her face as she turned to Yong appa who was totally surprised at the way she acted.

“Yong appa, by any chance… your daughter is… Im Yoona?”

TBC