Honestly, Jessica wonders, hasn’t history had enough of messing with her?

She doesn’t run into Stephanie this time, at least. Instead, she almost trips over her when she’s coming home and somehow misses the figure sitting in front of the door.

“Hey, there’s no loitering in this building, you know.”

The figure raises a hooded head. “Hmm?” She’s bare-faced, with deep bags under her eyes, and her lips are bloodless except for the places where she’s been gnawing on them. Tiffany would never be allowed to look like this, and Jessica wonders if she’s lying in bed with her makeup on somewhere. “I’m not throwing any garbage out.”

“That’s littering, not loitering,” Jessica says reflexively. “Loitering means hanging around a place without permission.”

“Oh.” Stephanie blinks, eyes looking darker than ever. “Can I get your permission?”

“To sit outside my door? Go ahead.”

Stephanie lowers her head so it’s resting on her knees, which are pulled to her chest. She looks so small like that. With her plain clothes and bare face, she might have just been an ordinary person. No, not an ordinary one because Stephanie could never be ordinary, but a regular one. A girl who doesn’t have her face splashed across billboards and magazine covers, who doesn’t have fans who track her every movement, who doesn’t regularly break records and hearts.

“Okay.” Stephanie’s voice is quiet. “As long as I’m not loitering. Or littering.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean stay outside my door. You look like a homeless person.”

Stephanie looks offended. Good. It brings back some colour into her face. “A homeless person? You’re saying I look like a hobo?”

“Well, I didn’t say hobo.” Jessica opens the door. “Come in and you don’t have to be homeless anymore.”

She realizes belatedly that makes it sound like she’s saying her home is Stephanie’s, that Stephanie has a home with her. Well, she can’t take it back now and she wouldn’t even if she could. It’s not untrue.

Stephanie stands up, slowly. She’s always been thin, of course, but now she looks close to skin and bones. Jessica is afraid that a hug would crush her. “I know I have a home.” A smile starts to form on her face, the smile that has never failed to make Jessica stare. This time is no exception. “You told me, right? About home.”

“Did I?” Jessica murmurs as she closes the door behind them.

Stephanie’s expression is sombre, a little sad. “You don’t remember what you said?”

“No, I do. I just didn’t know if you would remember.”

“Of course I remember,” Stephanie says, sounding like she means more than just this.

“Sit,” Jessica says, patting the couch next to her. Stephanie does, but leaves some space between them. “You didn’t remember – or at least you didn’t follow up on your promise to me.”

“Which one?” Stephanie asks with a brittle chuckle. “I’ve broken more promises to you than I’ve kept.”

“You mean…” Jessica swallows, and she can’t help but remember the articles about Stephanie and half the male idols under the sun. Of course she didn’t believe them; she’s not as naïve as she was the first time she read about Stephanie and Taec-whoever, but still. They planted seeds of worry in her that only now start to bloom. Then again, Stephanie had never promised exclusivity during their break, but Jessica couldn’t even think of being with someone else and, consciously or not, she had held Stephanie to that as well.

“What?” Stephanie frowns. “Oh no, Jessi, I didn’t mean—I was never with anyone else. How could I be?”

“You could be,” Jessica says through a dry throat. “I mean, we never said we had to be exclusive during the break.”

“I could never,” Stephanie says emphatically, “but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t.”

“Taeyeon tried to set me up with her friend,” Jessica says, and watches Stephanie’s shoulders stiffen. “She’s really pretty.” Taeyeon had shown her pictures of Bae Joohyun – she really is. Not that it matters. “Her name’s Joohyun. Like your friend Seo Juhyun. But obviously she’s not your friend Seo Juhyun. I don’t even know her. I mean, I guess I know her through you now but I don’t know her.”

“Jessi.” Stephanie sounds like she’s going to laugh. “You’re so cute when you ramble.”

“Thanks?”

“Juhyun – my friend Seo Juhyun – would like to meet you one day. If that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Jessica’s mouth says before her brain can catch up. “I mean – she does?”

“So do some of my other friends. Maybe you can introduce me to your pretty friend Joohyun.”

“She’s not my friend, she’s Taeyeon’s.”

Stephanie watches her carefully. “Is she your girlfriend then?” There’s no anger, no bitterness on her face or in her voice. Instead, there’s a certain…resignation, like she’s already prepared to hear the worst answer.

“I’ve never even met her. I don’t have a girlfriend. I mean, unless you changed your mind.”

“I never changed my mind about you,” Stephanie says. “I love you. I never stopped loving you.”

She says it so simply, so candidly, that Jessica can’t even speak. It’s not like she thought it untrue, but just to hear it from Stephanie, to see in her eyes how much she means it, how much she’s hurting with it… She almost can’t handle it. It makes her want to slump against the wall and loiter there too.

“Then why did you…” Her voice cracks, just one more broken thing. “Why didn’t you want to be with me anymore?”

“Jessi.” Stephanie sounds like she’s trying hard not to let her voice do the same. “I never stopped wanting to be with you. It’s just that… I could see what it was doing to you. Us being together, but not being able to truly be together. All the nights you waited for me and I didn’t show up or showed up late and fell asleep. You lost so much weight. You weren’t sleeping well. You looked like – you looked like we were destroying you. Like I was destroying you.”

“You weren’t,” Jessica protests. It was Stephanie leaving that was the real destruction.

Stephanie shakes her head. “I was your girlfriend. I was supposed to make you happy. To give you energy. To make you feel safe. And all I did was the opposite.”

“I have coffee to give me energy and pepper spray to make me feel safe. And as for being happy…” Jessica draws in a breath. “Why are you here, Stephanie?”

Stephanie holds her eyes. “Because I want to come home, if I still have a home here.”

Jessica loses whatever air she just pulled into her lungs. “What are you really saying?”

“You told me, right? That home is where the heart is.” Stephanie’s chin trembles. “I’m sorry, that I told you I’d keep your heart safe and I didn’t. I know I don’t have the right to ask you to entrust it to me again, but I have to at least try.”

“Steph, I can’t give you my heart.”

Stephanie’s head slowly drops, like it’s too heavy for her to hold up. “I understand. That’s—”

“Because you still have it. You’ve always had it. I never asked for it back.”

Her head snaps up, and she stares at Jessica. “What?”

“You’ll always have a home here.” You’ll always have my heart. “Wait, just give me one minute.”

Stephanie watches her, bewildered, as she races to the kitchen and pulls out a jar from the back of a cabinet. It was originally a set with a jar that said COFFEE, but she lost that one a long time ago, and the ink has faded on this one so it just says T. She supposes that it’s fitting, as she retrieves a tiny object and holds it tightly in her palm.

Jessica, out of breath from her long and arduous journey, returns to Stephanie’s side and holds out her hand.

Stephanie looks even more bewildered. “Do you want to play rock, paper, scissors? Or do you want a fist bump?”

“What, why would I—” And Jessica realizes that she forgot to unclench her fist. She hurriedly does so and ends up dropping what she was holding. Then when she ducks down to retrieve it, she almost bangs her head on the coffee table on the way back up.

Stephanie looks like it’s taking her a lot of effort not to laugh. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jessica grumbles, dusting off her hair. “So? Do you want this?”

Stephanie’s eyes lock on the key in Jessica’s hand. The spare that she keeps just in case. “Jessi…” She worries her lip. “Are you sure?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t want you to really end up a hobo. Or get arrested for loitering. The security in my building take that pretty seriously, you know.”

Slowly but surely, Stephanie’s mouth starts to curve upward until it settles into the smile that Jessica loves. Even though Stephanie’s cheeks are too hollow and her skin too pallid, she still looks so beautiful.

“Thank you,” Stephanie says, shy, and Jessica realizes that she spoke out loud. “That means a lot coming from a youdess.”

Jessica just stares at her blankly. “A what?”

“A youdess,” Stephanie repeats. “It’s a combination of ‘youbody’ and ‘goddess.’ I made it up myself!” she adds proudly, as if Jessica thought it was a word she found in the dictionary.

Jessica’s this close to being rendered speechless. “You…”

“…dess!” Stephanie finishes brightly. “You’re the only one I know.”

“Uh,” Jessica says eloquently. “I’m…touched?”

“Great, I’ll call you that from now on!”

“I, er, can’t wait.”

Stephanie beams at her, and Jessica smiles back.

“Do you want to stay the night?” Stephanie asks, her fingers absently climbing over Jessica’s arm, like she wants to map out the maze of veins under her skin.

“You don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow?” Jessica takes Stephanie’s hand and laces their fingers together, partly because she’s starting to feel tickled, mostly because she just wants to hold onto her.

“I promised Juhyun I’d have breakfast with her. Yoona might be there too. You should come. I mean, if you want to.”

“Yoona? As in Im Yoona?”

“The one and only,” Stephanie says wryly. “I see that you know her.”

“She’s really pretty. I mean, that’s what Krystal always says. She’s a big fan. I should ask Yoona for her autograph. For Krystal.”

“Right, for Krystal.” Stephanie sounds amused, but also just a little jealous. It makes Jessica want to smile. “Does that mean you’ll come then?”

Jessica thinks about it for a moment, meeting Stephanie’s friends for the first time. Stephanie’s hung out with Taeyeon and Sooyoung and Yuri on more than one occasion, but Jessica has never met any of her friends.

“Okay,” she says. “I’d like that.”

“Great.” Stephanie curls up even closer to Jessica, even though they’re already pressed tightly together. “They really want to meet you. They’re tired of only hearing me talk about you.”

“Are you sure they’re not just tired of hearing you talk in general?”

“Jessi,” Stephanie whines, elbowing her in the stomach, and it’s all so…normal that Jessica can’t breathe for a moment. “Sorry, did I hit you that hard?”

“No, no, I have abs of steel, I barely felt that.”

“Abs of steel?” Stephanie repeats with a laugh in her voice. “You do realize I just saw your stomach, right? Were they hiding? Are they only steel part-time?”

“Only those purest of heart and swiftest of mind can see my abs,” Jessica says in the sagest voice she can muster.

Stephanie seems shocked into silence for a second, and then she bursts into laughter that’s so strong she rolls over and almost falls off the bed. Jessica has to grab her around the waist and haul her back.

“Hey, be careful, okay? My bed is pretty high off the ground. You could really hurt yourself.”

“You wouldn’t let me get hurt,” Stephanie says, such conviction in her voice even though it’s a casual statement that Jessica is left breathless again. “Okay, my Korean isn’t great but I know that’s from The Emperor’s New Clothes. What’s your spin, The Goddess’s New Abs?”

“The Goddess’s New Abs,” Jessica repeats thoughtfully. “I like that.”

“Of course you do.” Stephanie runs her hand along Jessica’s abdomen, really making her laugh from ticklishness now, before dipping it lower and making her gasp. “If I can’t see your abs, I hope that nobody else can either.”

“They can’t,” Jessica manages to get out through Stephanie’s ministrations. “There is nobody else.”

Stephanie gives her a smile that tells her it’s the same for her, before finishing the conversation with in another way.

There is nobody else. There is only you.

“Stop fretting, Jessi.”

“What do you mean stop fretting? You once spent thirty minutes debating between two pink shirts that looked exactly the same.”

“They didn’t look exactly the same! The shade of pink was obviously different. Plus one was longer.”

“Oh, excuse me. Seriously, help me decide here.”

“I tried! You rejected everything I suggested.”

“You suggested I go out wearing lingerie!”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to actually wear that outside. I just wanted to see you in it.”

“…You’re unbelievable.”

“Hey, you’re the one who owns that. It would be a shame to just let it rot in your closet.”

“You bought it for me!”

“And I made a great decision.”

“Okay, now help me make a decision.”

“Honestly, you’re not going for an interview. It doesn’t matter what you wear.”

“Of course it matters, I’m meeting your idol friend and potentially your actress friend who is the ideal type of like, every person in the country. I can’t just go out looking like a potato.”

“Jessi, you don’t look like a potato.”

“Yeah, because I don’t just go out wearing a pillowcase like what you’re suggesting.”

“You’d look great in a pillowcase.”

“Not this again, you just want to see me wearing as little as possible, don’t you?”

“No! Well—yes, but also, I’m serious. You’d look great in a pillowcase. You’d look great in anything. Plus, it’s not like my friends are fashion critics. They’re my friends. I didn’t have to worry about what I looked like in front of yours.”

“Mine aren’t celebrities.”

“And I don’t want you to think about mine as celebrities either. Do you think of me as a celebrity? As Tiffany?”

“No, you’re just Steph.”

“Exactly. They’re just Juhyun and Yoona. Not Seohyun and Im Yoona. Just think of them like that.”

“Easier said than done.”

“I believe in you, Jessi. And really, I meant it when I said you’d look great in anything.”

“I think you’d look great in anything too. You’d look great even in nothing.”

“Nothing? You sound like you want me to go nak—hey, Jessi! Come on, what happened to ‘you have to help me pick out an outfit’?”

“In a few minutes.”

Jessica clutches her thin cardigan closer to her to block out the wind. She had been in such a rush when she left her apartment that she accidentally grabbed the wrong one, which feels like a double insult considering how long she had spent choosing what to wear.

“Careful,” Stephanie says when Jessica almost trips over a manhole cover. She steadies Jessica with a hand at her elbow, but then just doesn’t let go of her afterwards.

“This is bad,” Jessica mutters.

“What?” Stephanie asks, pushing her sunglasses up. They’re a brand designed by some idol with a fancy-sounding name Jessica can never remember. Stephanie looks distractingly good in them with her windswept hair, like—well, a celebrity.

“We’re late. Really late.”

“Since when did you care about being late?”

“Since we’re going for breakfast with your friends.” Jessica checks her phone for the time again, even though she knows they’re already past fashionably late. “I don’t want to leave a bad impression.”

“You won’t.” Stephanie catches her arm and forces her to stop her brisk walking. “Jessi,” she says very seriously. “Stop worrying. You’re not going to leave a bad impression.”

Jessica finds dry at how intently Stephanie is looking at her. “How do you know that?”

“Because. You’re Jessica.”

That makes no sense, Jessica wants to say, but the look in Stephanie’s eyes renders her incapable of speech.

“I know they’ll like you,” Stephanie says with a confidence Jessica wishes she shared. “Hey, I wonder if they’ll be able to see your abs of steel.”

Jessica is startled into laughter, and Stephanie grins like that was exactly her intention.

“I mean, if there’s anyone purest of heart and swiftest of mind it would be Juhyun.”

“What about Yoona?”

Stephanie thinks about it for a second. “Yoona is…biggest of stomach.”

Jessica laughs. “Is she?”

Stephanie nods. “She has a black hole for a stomach. She could eat several people’s worth of food and have room left for dessert. And yet she never gains weight. I’m so jealous.”

“She sounds like Sooyoung.”

“Remember when I said I have a friend who could eat as much as a whole family and you said you do too?”

“Yes,” Jessica replies. That had been so long ago, before the first time they went to Noodle Shack, before they were even good friends, not to mention anything more. “That was a long time ago, wasn’t it?”

“It really was,” Stephanie says, “but at the same time it could have been yesterday. I don’t know, is that weird?”

“No, no I know what you mean.” Sometimes it feels like she’s known Stephanie her whole life, but she can still vividly remember the first time Stephanie bumped into her – or, as Stephanie would put it, she bumped into Stephanie – like barely any time has passed. Time is strange like that. “Plus, we agreed to accept each other in all our weirdness, remember?”

“I remember,” Stephanie says. “Just like I remember how you ran into me.”

“For the thousandth time—”

“We’re here,” Stephanie says cheerfully.

They’re finally at the restaurant. It’s an expensive, upscale one, definitely not one within Jessica’s budget. Stephanie hadn’t even mentioned the price when she named it, only saying that it offered good privacy as well as tasty food. Honestly, Jessica wouldn’t have minded if they went to McDonald’s, she has a feeling she won’t be able to focus on the food given the company anyway.

“Don’t be nervous,” Stephanie says, squeezing Jessica’s hand in reassurance. “They’ll love you. Even if they can’t see your abs either.”

Jessica smiles. “Yes, that was my biggest concern.”

“Plus, no matter what, I love you.” It should be corny, even greasy, but somehow when Stephanie says it, Jessica can’t find it any of those things. She feels the words slip past her ribs and wrap around her heart, mending the cracks there.

“I love you too,” Jessica says, and they walk through the doors together.

It isn’t hard to spot Seo Juhyun and Im Yoona. They’re so beautiful it feels like the light bends toward their table and casts the rest of the room into shadow. It makes Jessica realize again that Stephanie’s friends are famous, that Stephanie – Tiffany – is famous. What is she doing with these three celebrities whose faces are splashed over billboards across the country, whose songs are blasted through speakers everywhere, whose dramas are played in homes all over?

Jessica almost expects Stephanie to disappear behind a screen as soon as she has her head turned. As if reading her mind, Stephanie puts her hand on the small of Jessica’s back, a quick touch that is nonetheless grounding, that tells her it’s okay, I’m here.

It’s Seohyun – Juhyun – who sees them first. “Tiffany unnie!” Her face breaks out into a smile, but Im Yoona’s remains cool and appraising as she watches them. It makes Jessica’s palms break out into a cold sweat; she has to resist the urge to wipe them on her dress.

“Juhyunnie,” Stephanie says warmly as she half-drags Jessica to the table. “Yoong. It’s so good to see you both.”

“It’s great to see you too, unnie,” Yoona replies, her expression warming as Stephanie comes over to hug them. However, as Stephanie’s arms come around her, leaving Stephanie’s back to Jessica, she stares at Jessica with a piercing gaze that would have put lasers to shame.

Stephanie releases her in favour of Juhyun, hugging her so tightly Juhyun looks like she can’t breathe. “Look at you, have you gained weight?” she exclaims, squeezing Juhyun’s cheeks. “You look great.”

“Unnie.” Juhyun sounds embarrassed, like her mom came to pick her up and made a fuss over her in front of her friends. “I finished filming my drama and Yoona unnie asks me to go out and eat with her every night. She doesn’t put on the weight but I do.”

“You could do with putting on some more weight,” Yoona says. “And you, Fany unnie, really could. You look like you could cut someone with your jawline.”

“That’s what I was going for,” Stephanie says archly. “I’ve always wanted my face to be a weapon.”

It already is, Jessica thinks. It’s certainly devastating enough to be one, especially when she smiles.

“This must be Jessica unnie,” Juhyun says, just as Jessica is wondering if they forgot she was here. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long.”

“Me too,” Yoona adds, although she sounds considerably less enthusiastic than Juhyun. It sounds more like she’s been making her mind up on Jessica, and she’s still deciding what conclusion to come to.

“Well,” Jessica clears . “Here I am?”

It comes out as a question, and she’s mortified at herself, she sounds like a complete idiot, what a great first thing to say. However, Yoona laughs, loud and genuine, and Juhyun smiles like she finds Jessica endearing.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Juhyun says earnestly, holding out her hand. Jessica takes it, hoping her own isn’t too sweaty, and shakes it.

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” Yoona says in a rather foreboding way, like she’s saying and now let’s see if they’re true. Jessica sees Stephanie give her an expectant look out of the corner of her eye, and Yoona finally offers her hand. Jessica almost winces; she knows that Yoona is strong but she never pictured that strength being used to crush her hand.

Jessica means to say, good things I hope, but she just ends up blurting out, “You’re really pretty.”

Yoona gives a close-mouthed smile. “Thank you,” she says politely. She must have heard it a thousand times.

“You never said I was pretty when you first met me,” Stephanie says, sounding miffed. Jessica is quite certain she’s just playing it up to defuse the tension in the air, but she knows she still has to tread carefully.

“You’re not Yoona.”

“Are you saying you find her prettier than me?” Stephanie puts her hands on her hips. “Hey, I’m your girlfriend, you know.”

“Of course I’m not. Nobody is prettier than you.” Jessica means it. Yoona is incredibly beautiful, even more so in person, but it doesn’t matter because she couldn’t possibly hold a candle to Stephanie. Nobody could. There could be a hundred times the amount of celebrities there are in this room, and Jessica would still only have eyes for Stephanie.

Stephanie looks like she wants to kiss Jessica, but of course they can’t. They may be in a private section of a near empty restaurant, but they’re still too exposed, too in the open. Instead, Stephanie reaches her hand over to Jessica, who takes it and interlaces their fingers.

“You two are so cheesy,” Yoona says. “I feel like I’m watching a drama, and I’m an actress.”

“You’re very sweet,” Juhyun says. “Don’t mind Yoona unnie, Jessica unnie. She’s just grumpy because she hasn’t eaten yet.”

“Speaking of that, let’s order,” Yoona says. “Everything looks great.”

“What do you want to eat, Jessi?” Stephanie asks, opening a menu in front of them. Even though there’s one for each of them, Jessica feels no inclination to look at hers when she can share with Stephanie.

“Something spicy.”

“You’re doing this just to spite me,” Stephanie complains. “Fine, I’m going to order something with cucumbers then.”

“You don’t like cucumbers, Jessica unnie?” Juhyun asks.

“No.”

“They’re the bane of her existence,” Stephanie says.

“The way medicine is yours?” Yoona says wryly.

Stephanie makes a face. “Why are we talking about medicine? Nobody’s sick here.”

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty heartsick not so long ago,” Yoona says, with a not so casual glance at Jessica.

“I think we both were,” Stephanie says quietly, “but we’re better now. Right?” she asks Jessica almost uncertainly.

“Right,” Jessica replies, squeezing her hand. She meets Yoona’s eyes full on; she thinks she understands where her not so subtle animosity is coming from. “I know you don’t like me, because you think I hurt Ste—Tiffany. I understand that and I don’t blame you for it. The truth is…we went through a lot together. Not all good, definitely. I don’t know if she told you, but I didn’t even know she was famous when we became friends and I didn’t know for a good while afterwards.”

“I do know, actually,” Yoona says. “Not because Fany unnie told me outright, but because I pieced together a lot on my own. I even saw those pictures of you two together. And I know that she liked you a lot and you thought she was a fake idol who played you for an ego boost.”

Jessica winces at the reminder.

“Yoona, that’s not—” Stephanie starts to say.

“That’s not what happened?” Yoona challenges. “Did I get it wrong then, Jessica ssi?”

Jessica doesn’t miss how Yoona doesn’t call her unnie like Juhyun did. “No,” she says quietly. “No, you didn’t get it wrong.”

Yoona doesn’t look triumphant. She just looks—intent. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t understand what she saw in you given that.”

“I might have thought that for about five minutes, but it said more about me than it did about her,” Jessica says. “It came down to the fact that, just like you, I didn’t understand what she saw in me.” She hesitates, swallows. “Sometimes I still don’t see it.”

“Jessi,” Stephanie whispers, sounding pained.

Jessica keeps her eyes on the tablecloth, not daring to risk even a glance at Stephanie because she knows she wouldn’t be able to get this out if she did. And she needs to get this out, not just to explain to Yoona, but to explain it to Stephanie.

“I fell for her before I knew she was Tiffany, and I didn’t even realize myself that I did. When I found out, I felt…betrayed. I felt like I didn’t know her anymore, like I couldn’t trust whether my feelings were real or not. That didn’t last very long. I missed her, so much, and the more I found out about her, the more I liked her. But well, if I hadn’t gotten drunk, I probably never would’ve been able to tell her. I’ve always been a coward like that.”

“You’re not a coward, Jessi.” Stephanie’s voice is so soft that Jessica wants to fall into it, wants to wrap it around herself like a blanket and cocoon herself within it. “It takes someone so brave and selfless to go through what you have. You’ve endured a lot to be with me.”

“You make it sound like dating you is like climbing Mount Everest or something,” Jessica says in a forcibly light tone.

“Would you climb Mount Everest to be with me?”

“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t make it five feet up that mountain.”

Stephanie smiles. “Such faith.”

“Besides, anything I’ve endured doesn’t come close to what you have. You’re incredible, Stephanie Hwang.”

“I don’t feel incredible,” Stephanie says with a long exhale. “I just feel…tired. Not only tired physically but tired of this life sometimes. But you – you gave me energy. Because of you, I could keep going. When I was texting you, just writing the messages to you made me feel better. Knowing that you were on the other side, rooting for me, thinking of me, you don’t know how much strength that gave me.”

“I’m your girlfriend, right? I’m supposed to give you energy.”

“I was your girlfriend. I was supposed to make you happy. To give you energy. To make you feel safe. And all I did was the opposite.”

“And you do,” Stephanie says with a smile that begins in her eyes and continues on her lips. It must finish in Jessica’s heart, because she can feel the expression lighting it up. “You make me feel energized, and safe, and happy. Happy in a way I didn’t know could happen in real life, could happen to me.”

“You do too,” Jessica says, and she’s incapable of saying another word, but it doesn’t matter because she knows that Stephanie understands.

Suddenly, they’re interrupted by the sound of applause. Jessica’s head whips toward the sound, surprised, and she sees it’s coming from Yoona, who’s clapping like she just watched a great show.

“That was so beautiful I almost cried,” she says, wiping the corners of her eyes. “You two made me believe in love again.”

“It really was beautiful,” Juhyun says. “I didn’t know that you two went through so much. Fany unnie held back a lot.” She gives Stephanie a meaningful look before excusing herself to use the washroom.

“Sorry.” Stephanie looks abashed. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just.”

“Fany unnie is always like that,” Yoona says. “She’s always here to listen to our problems and talk about the importance of opening up but she doesn’t practice what she preaches.”

“You’d make a terrible pope,” Jessica says, and Stephanie gives a startled laugh. “Taeyeon said I’m allergic to talking about my feelings. You’re not catching it from me, are you?”

“I hope not,” Stephanie says. “I’d have to take allergy medicine and you know how I feel about medicine.”

“Except Pepto-Bismol, that is. I swear, they should just dye all your medicine pink from now on. I bet you’ll have no problem taking it then.”

“There’s an idea,” Yoona says brightly. “That’s brilliant, Jessica unnie.”

“Uh, thanks,” Jessica says, unsure how to react to Yoona’s 180 in mood.

“And you’re wrong,” Yoona says. “It’s not that I don’t like you. It’s that I wanted to check if you’re good for Tiffany unnie. She’s been through a lot, and I know she’s crazy for you and I just wanted to make sure you felt the same way.”

Stephanie groans. “Why are you acting like a protective unnie?”

“Hey, don’t complain about me being protective when you scared my last boyfriend away.”

“If he was so easy to scare away, he didn’t deserve you anyway.”

“Anyway,” Yoona says forcefully. “I hope you don’t have hard feelings, Jessica unnie. Ugh, your name is too hard to say. Can I call you Sica unnie?”

Jessica feels like she can’t keep up with Yoona. “Sure?”

“Great.” Yoona unleashes a smile on her. “I have to be honest, Sica unnie. I had a lot of expectations about you, with the way Fany unnie talks about you. Well, both what she says and doesn’t say. I know that she’s not this skinny just because of her promotions.”

“Yoona,” Stephanie starts in a warning tone.

Yoona ignores her and continues, unfazed. “I know she was talking about you in that interview when she got asked about her ideal type. So I built up this image of someone quiet and gentle with a great sense of humour who knows how to take care of people. Oh, and someone very pretty too, with the way she waxes poetry about your looks.”

“When did I ever—” Stephanie says indignantly.

Jessica clears . “I must have terribly disappointed you.”

Yoona looks at her in that laser-like way again. “No, you haven’t.”

It’s all she says, but Jessica is left feeling immensely relieved.

“You really are hot,” Yoona adds. “Fany unnie did well for herself.”

“You say that like I’m not hot,” Stephanie huffs.

“You’re hot until you open your mouth,” Jessica says, exchanging a high five with Yoona across the table.

“Jessica,” Stephanie says sweetly. “Didn’t you want Yoona’s autograph?”

Yoona positively preens. “Did you, Sica unnie? Where do you want me to sign?”

“It’s for my sister,” Jessica says quickly. “My younger sister. She’s a big fan.”

“How much younger?” Yoona asks. “And do good looks run in the family?”

“Yoona!” Stephanie sounds scandalized. “Stop trying to get a date with my girlfriend’s sister.”

“Hey, I just want us to be even closer. We could be in-laws. Isn’t that nice? Don’t tell me you don’t want me to be part of your family.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” Stephanie says.

Jessica is doubled over, clutching her stomach with laughter, when Juhyun returns to the table.

“It seems like I missed a lot,” she says, looking between the three of them.

Yoona throws an arm around her. “I’ll catch you up. But we should really order. I think my stomach just spoke.”

“What did it say?” Jessica asks.

“It said, feed me bi”—Yoona glances at Juhyun—“before I shrivel up from starvation.”

“Steph did say you have a black hole for a stomach.”

Yoona makes no effort to deny it. “What else did she say about me?”

“Uh, nothing much. She did say that Juhyun has a pure heart and swift mind.”

Juhyun looks touched. “Thank you, unnie.”

“Fany unnie,” Yoona whines. “You compliment Juhyun about her heart and mind, and all you have to say about me is that I can eat a lot?”

“Without gaining weight,” Stephanie says, like that makes all the difference. “Which I am really jealous about.”

“She did mention that,” Jessica says diplomatically.

Yoona sulks, or pretends to anyway, while Juhyun tries to comfort her.

“Let’s order,” Stephanie says. “It’s my treat, okay?”

Yoona perks up. “Great, there were quite a few drinks I wanted to get.”

“You should really meet my friends,” Jessica laughs. “I have a feeling you would hit it off.”

“Are your friends single and attractive?”

“Two of them are single. And yeah, I’d say they’re not hard on the eyes.”

Yoona looks intrigued. “What are their names? Do you have any pictures?”

“Unnie.” Juhyun sounds embarrassed. Again.

“Yoona, you can try to get girls after we eat,” Stephanie says. “Now that you mention it, I’m starving.”

“We have been talking for more than half an hour,” Yoona says. “Time flies when you’re having fun and all that.”

Jessica wouldn’t really call being interrogated by Yoona fun, but she’s barely surprised by how long it’s been. Time is strange like that, after all.

“So,” Stephanie says, once they’re back at Jessica’s apartment. “Was that as bad as you thought?”

“Do you want the honest answer?”

“I always want honesty from you,” Stephanie says, eyes dark and intent.

Jessica clears . “It was…both better and worse than I thought it would be.”

Stephanie doesn’t point out the contradictory nature of that statement, instead nodding with a thoughtful expression. “That sounds about right.”

“Yoona is a lot scarier than I expected.”

“She usually isn’t like that.” Stephanie hesitates. “She’s been…concerned about me. I didn’t know she’d react like that though. I would have warned you if I did.”

“She has a right to be concerned,” Jessica says, looking down at her hands. “She didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.”

“Jessi,” Stephanie says softly.

Jessica gives an airy chuckle. “You weren’t wrong about her black hole of a stomach though. I don’t know how she put away so much food. Where does it go?”

“Jessi.”

“Like seriously, if I ate like her I’d look like a whale. Her metabolism must be magical. Then again, she’s so pretty it’s unreal. But hey, don’t get jealous because I said that.”

“Jessica.”

She falters. “Yeah?”

“You don’t know what I see in you?” Stephanie asks, very quietly. “Do you really not know how amazing you are, how much you mean to me?”

Jessica swallows. “I mean. I’m just this regular person, and you’re. You know.”

“Famous? An idol? The Nation’s Sweetheart?” Stephanie’s voice climbs in pitch, but that’s not why Jessica winces. “I think we’ve already established how little that means.”

Jessica lowers her head, hair falling over her face like it can provide a shield. She opens , tries to speak and shuts it again silently.

“Do you think you’re not good enough for me?” Stephanie asks, and there’s so much pain in her voice that Jessica looks up, alarmed, and reaches for her immediately.

“Steph,” she says, helpless again.

“I never wanted to make you feel that way. I’m sorry if I did.”

“I know you didn’t. And I mean, I didn’t all the time. It’s just that – you are the nation’s sweetheart. You have millions of fans. And at the end of the day, I’m just one of them.”

“You are not,” Stephanie says firmly. “You would never be ‘just one of’ a crowd. You’re Jessica and there’s no one else like you.”

“I should hope not,” Jessica says with a weak smile. “My parents always said one of me was already more than enough.”

“You’re special, Jessi,” Stephanie says seriously. “Special in general and special to me. Please don’t ever doubt that.”

Jessica blinks, slowly, her lashes feeling heavy. Her vision isn’t blurring, at least, so her tears couldn’t have spilled over. “I’ll try not to,” she says in a thick voice.

“I want to say that I’m sorry for ever making you doubt that, but I think there have been more than enough apologies between us. I don’t want ‘I’m sorry’ to be the number one thing we say to each other.”

“I don’t either.” Jessica takes a breath and steels herself. “What are we doing to do now?” she asks, a question they’ve been dancing around.

“Well, I’m almost finished filming my drama and after this comeback I’m probably going to be on hiatus for a couple of months. So I’ll have a lot more spare time.”

“Until your next comeback.”

“Yes, until then,” Stephanie says.

And then what will happen then, Jessica wonders. She doesn’t want them to go down the same path again, one laden with old hurts and disappointments, one that has her heart aching already at the thought. Of course, she’ll be more prepared this time already, and Stephanie will no doubt be more cautious, but will that be enough to prevent history from rewriting itself?

“I love you,” Stephanie says, “and I know you love me but I think we both know that love alone isn’t enough.”

“I wish it were,” Jessica says childishly.

“I do too.” Stephanie’s expression is sad again, but it’s not resigned but rather the opposite. “We’ll have to try harder. And I promise you I will.”

Jessica understands. Stephanie can only promise to try, not that it’ll work. But that’s all that anyone can promise, right? Nobody knows for sure how the future will turn out; they can only try their best to shape the one they want. And Jessica knows that this time, they’re more aware of just how dark the future can be but they’re still resolved to be each other’s lights.

Love can’t solve everything, but it’s a pretty damn powerful motivator to work at a solution.

“I promise too,” Jessica says, and resolves to turn their I’m sorrys into I promise to try harders.

This time, they don’t seal it with a pinky promise but with a kiss.

“Do you think we’re tempting fate?” Stephanie wonders, standing at the flour-covered counter in a borrowed shirt from Jessica because she spilled marinade all over her own.

“Probably,” Jessica replies. “Do you think we should order in?”

Stephanie eyes the blackened and probably ruined pan with a wrinkled nose. “Sounds good to me.”

“What do you want to eat? Besides Italian,” Jessica adds quickly. “I just had that yesterday and I don’t feel like it again so soon.”

“But Jessi,” Stephanie whines, giving her quite spectacular puppy dog eyes.

“No, Steph,” Jessica says firmly, even though her resolve is weakening.

Stephanie heaves out a sigh. “Fineeeeee. But we’re getting pizza next time.”

“Okay,” Jessica laughs. “You’re such a pizzaholic.”

“But I’m a Jessiholic first of all,” Stephanie says with a smile that takes Jessica conscious effort to pull her eyes away from.

“Are you sure? That was so cheesy your pizzaholic is coming through.”

“I’m sure,” Stephanie insists. “You mean more to me than pizza.”

It’s not exactly a Grand Romantic Statement, but it makes Jessica smile more than one would have.

“What about pink?” she teases, and when Stephanie says, “Don’t push it,” she laughs and laughs.

“Do you want to put on a movie?” Stephanie gives her a tentative smile. “We could watch The Vow since we never got the chance to.”

Jessica remembers that hurriedly scrawled note on a pizza flyer and has a sudden fear that she’ll wake up alone yet again.

“Jessi?” Stephanie asks, voice soft, hesitant.

She relaxes and smiles. “No, I don’t want to watch that. Let’s choose a new movie.”

“Okay,” Stephanie says, with that look in her eyes again, like she can tell exactly what Jessica’s thinking about. “What do you want to watch?”

“Something with a happy ending.”

“I like those the best too,” Stephanie says, pushing Jessica towards the couch. “Okay, you go set up the equipment and I’ll call the piz—delivery place.”

“Steph, I swear—”

“Do you have popcorn?”

Jessica gives up. “Yeah, I do. It’s in my snacks cabinet.”

“Is it white cheddar?”

“Of course. What other flavour would I get?”

She’s startled when Stephanie suddenly comes over and gives her a long kiss. “What was that for?” she asks, blinking.

“Nothing,” Stephanie says. “I just really wanted to kiss you.” She makes a shooing gesture. “Now go pick a movie.”

“Okay,” Jessica says, bemused. “I’m on it.”

When she hears Stephanie excitedly ordering pizza two minutes later, she just shakes her head, resigned. If the corners of are pulling up, well, that’s just because of the funny movie reviews she’s reading.

They end up watching some cheesy romcom that Jessica barely remembers afterwards. She’s too busy watching Stephanie, who’s so absorbed in the movie that Jessica’s totally questioning her tastes. Well, even more than usual anyway.

The pizza arrives less than halfway through the movie, and Jessica’s only too happy to answer the door. She could use a break from what can only be described as plot in the loosest sense of the word.

“There’s chicken too?” Jessica asks, peeling back the grease-stained lid of the smaller box.

“It’s the spicy kind,” Stephanie tells her without looking away from the screen, “so you’ll have to eat it by yourself.”

It’s Stephanie’s turn to blink and ask, “What was that for?” after Jessica kisses her.

“Nothing. I just really wanted to kiss you.”

“You’re so romantic, Jessi,” Stephanie says, giggling and pointing to the screen, where the couple are in the middle of some dramatic farewell in the rain. “Kissing me because you felt inspired by the movie.”

“Er, right. Don’t you want pizza?”

“Yes, I’ll have some in a minute.” Stephanie suddenly unleashes another of those smiles at her. “Thank you for the pizza. Next time we’ll order what you want.”

“It’s fine,” Jessica says, once she finds her voice again. “I like the chicken.”

Stephanie curls up against her as she takes a huge bite of pizza that leaves sauce smeared around . “You should have some too,” she says through a mouthful of dough.

Jessica wipes up a bit of sauce from the corner of Stephanie’s mouth with her thumb. “I will,” she says, and watches Stephanie’s eyes go dark as she it off her fingertip.

It’s not such a surprise when they don’t finish the movie.

When Jessica goes to charge her phone, she discovers a barrage of Kakaotalk messages and texts from Taeyeon, Yuri and Sooyoung. It seems that they’re worried about her because they haven’t heard from her in more than a day.

“What is it?” Stephanie asks, sounding concerned, when Jessica groans.

“It’s my friends. They probably think I was kidnapped or something because I forgot to reply to their messages.”

“You can say I kidnapped you. It’s kind of the truth.”

“Yes, you’re clearly holding me hostage in my own apartment right now.”

“Definitely. Should I get the ropes out?” Stephanie asks with a wink.

Jessica clears , her face warm. “Maybe another day.”

“Your friends…” Stephanie trails off. “They’re probably not very happy with me, are they?”

Jessica grimaces. “They were just worried about me, that’s all.”

“I understand why they would be,” Stephanie says quietly.

“Ah well, friends are going to be overprotective, right?” Jessica sends a quick text: Hey, I’m alive don’t send out a search party. Just been busy these past two days. I’ll catch you up later to the group chat before plugging her phone in to charge.

“Yes, I think Yoona demonstrated that,” Stephanie says dryly, and Jessica can find enough humour in the situation to laugh at that.

“Seriously, she’s so scary. I think she could play a villain for her next role.”

“I think she wants to but our company won’t let her. They don’t want to ruin that protagonist image of hers.”

“I hope she’ll get to expand her horizons one day. How about you, do you want to try acting?”

“Maybe one day,” Stephanie says. “It’d be nice to act with a script in my hands for once.”

That’s right, Stephanie already has to act in her day to day life, doesn’t she? She has to play the hardest role of all: Tiffany.

“I’d like to see your friends again,” Stephanie suddenly says. “I mean, if that’s okay with you and them.”

“You want to see them?” Jessica asks in surprise.

“Well, now that we’re together again, they’re going to find out sooner or later, right? And I bet they’re going to bomb you with questions. I don’t want you to face that on your own.”

“It’s bombard with questions,” Jessica says absently.

“Bombard,” Stephanie corrects. “But I think bomb works too. I mean, questions can be like traps, don’t you think? Or ambushes.”

“I never thought about it like that, but – yeah. I guess they can be. Look at you being all metaphoric, Ms. My Korean Isn’t Very Good.”

“Language is a powerful thing,” Stephanie says. “I mean, I wanted to be a lawyer once, you know.”

“Right, like your brother said,” Jessica says, remembering that conversation in the hallway of Stephanie’s apartment, the day when everything fell apart.

“Do you want to see him again?” Stephanie asks. “I mean, you’re not allowed to ask him for those baby pictures, but my sister is going to be in town next week so maybe we could all have dinner together or something.”

“All of us?” Jessica hesitates. “And I’ll be there as your…?”

“As my girlfriend, of course,” Stephanie says steadily, without breaking eye contact.

Jessica swallows. “Your girlfriend,” she repeats, softly, almost like she’s afraid those words will shatter if she speaks them too loudly.

“That day, when I introduced you as my best friend…” Stephanie takes a breath, her eyes pained again. “You have to know – it’s not that I’m ashamed of you, or of us. It’s just that. My dad. He wasn’t the most…accepting.”

Jessica bites her lip. “You don’t have to—”

“No, no I do. You deserve the truth from me. I said that I always want honesty from you, and I want to give you the same in return.”

Jessica takes Stephanie’s hand and squeezes it, saying it’s okay, I’m here, and Stephanie squeezes back.

“Leo and Michelle have been very supportive of me, but with my dad it’s been. Complicated. He wasn’t supportive of me becoming an idol in the first place, and well, he’s come around but we still get into these big fights where he suddenly explodes with everything he’s unhappy with about me.” Stephanie exhales. “Sometimes I think he still thinks of me as a child who doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jessica hears herself say, while her blood is heating so much she worries she’ll pop a vessel.

“What?”

“It’s ridiculous he thinks that.” Jessica barely stops herself from saying he’s ridiculous. “You’ve worked so hard to reach your dream. You aren’t just some little girl who wastes her days away daydreaming of becoming an idol. You are one of a select few who made their dream into a reality. Look at everything you’ve achieved. If he thinks you’re anything short of amazing, that’s his problem, not yours.”

Stephanie, unexpectedly, bursts into laughter.

“What?” Jessica asks, wide-eyed, still indignant with the force of her anger but now confused on top of it.

“You’re so sweet, Jessi.” And Stephanie kisses her again. “Sticking up for me like that. Thank you.”

Despite her teasing tone, her eyes are bright, wet. Jessica is ready to brush her tears away, but they don’t come. Stephanie’s smile is small but strong, shining eyes and gently curved lips, and Jessica is overwhelmed with a surge of affection. God, she loves Stephanie so much, loves her for her moments of strength, when she overcomes challenges most crumble at with sheer willpower and resilience, loves her for her moments of weakness, when she shows that she’s fallible and trusts Jessica to catch her, and loves her for all the moments in between.

I love you.

And just like last time, she doesn’t realize she’s said it until Stephanie replies, “I love you too.”

Sooyoung is terrible at trying to be intimidating. Even though she has the natural advantage of towering over Stephanie, her crossed arms and deep scowl don’t do much to make her look daunting in any way.

Yuri isn’t doing much better, although from the way she’s positioned at the other side of Stephanie, it’s like she wants to make her feel trapped. Taeyeon, meanwhile, is standing to the side, looking calm and unbothered compared to the other two.

“So Stephanie,” Sooyoung says, like they’ve never met. “What are your intentions with Jessica now that you got her back?”

“Do you just want someone to wrap around your little finger?” Yuri adds. “Someone you know will never reject you?”

“No,” Stephanie says, her voice soft but unyielding. “Jessi isn’t a backup plan or an ego boost to me. She’s someone I can’t be without.”

Sooyoung frowns. “That’s not the message we got when you were busy doing everything except seeing her.”

“I tried,” Stephanie says. “I don’t want to use my…career as an excuse but. It’s hard to make time even for myself, not to mention someone else.”

“She is really busy,” Taeyeon suddenly says. Jessica gives her a grateful look for defending Stephanie, although she also finds it rather unexpected. “I mean, look at her. It doesn’t even look like she has time to eat, much less make dating plans.”

“Why are you staring at her figure?” Yuri asks suspiciously. “Are you checking out Jessica’s girlfriend?”

“What? No!” Taeyeon splutters. “Plus, you and Sooyoung are the crazy Tiffany fans. If anyone’s checking her out, it’s you two.”

Sooyoung sniffs. “Our friend means more to me than some idol I used to like.”

Stephanie winces, slightly, and Jessica touches her arm.

“No offence,” Sooyoung says, looking slightly apologetic.

“None taken. I appreciate the honesty.” Stephanie’s eyebrows draw together and her forehead furrows. “Honestly, I’ve spent a lot of time and effort constructing Tiffany. Building her up. Making her likeable. Ensuring she doesn’t show the negative things that I feel. I guess that in the process, I haven’t worked enough on my actual self. I know how to be Tiffany better than I know how to be Stephanie.”

Sooyoung and Yuri look taken aback. Taeyeon just keeps looking at her with that calm, assessing expression.

“I don’t really know what I’m getting at,” Stephanie says with an embarrassed laugh that’s nonetheless charming. Jessica can see Sooyoung and Yuri softening already, and she wonders if it’s deliberate or second nature to her by now. “Honestly, a lot has happened between Jessica and me, and I can’t share all of it. What I can tell you is that I’m serious about her and I will do my best to make her happy.”

“Well,” Taeyeon says, after a moment. “What can we say against that?”

Stephanie’s stare was so intense that Jessica is surprised Sooyoung and Yuri haven’t melted as her fangirls.

Sooyoung clears . “I don’t want to be dramatic, and I know you have bodyguards and all that, but I swear I’ll make you regret it if you hurt her again.”

“I believe you,” Stephanie says solemnly.

Jessica slaps a hand to her forehead. “What drama did you get that from?”

“It isn’t from a drama, it’s from my heart!” Sooyoung huffs. “I’m being a good friend here, the least you could do is sound a little appreciative.”

“I appreciate you very much,” Jessica says, each word precisely delivered like she’s reading from a script. “How about that?”

“No sincerity at all.”

Yuri suddenly asks, “You really love Jessica, don’t you?”

Stephanie looks taken off guard, but answers without hesitation. “Of course I do.”

“Some couples take a break because they don’t care about each other enough. I think you did because you care about each other too much.”

Jessica clears . “You’re really sounding like one of those advice columnists, Yul. You should consider running one.”

“I think we did too,” Stephanie says slowly. “I thought that maybe Jessica would be better off without me, but I definitely wouldn’t be better off without her. So maybe it was selfish of me to ask her to try again, but – I had to.”

“I don’t think it’s selfish,” Jessica says quietly, eyes and ears and whole being turned to her like they’re the only two people in the room, in the world, “and even if it were, well then I’m glad you were selfish.”

Stephanie leans in, eyes dark but bright, lips pink and inviting, and then—

“Hey, as much as I support you two getting back together, I don’t need a show,” Sooyoung says loudly. “Maybe I should become a Tiffany fansite. I would have such close up, candid pictures.”

“I thought you didn’t like Tiffany anymore,” Taeyeon says casually.

“Oh well, I’ve converted. Reverted. I’ve seen the light again.”

“Don’t blind yourself,” Jessica says dryly.

“I never stopped seeing it,” Yuri says. “I would make a much better fansite than you.”

“You wish,” Sooyoung sniffs, and then they’re off and arguing again.

Jessica sighs. “Taeyeon?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the only friend I know.” Jessica claps her on the shoulder. “Thanks for not being a total embarrassment.”

“Uh, thanks? I wish I could say the same to you, but—”

Jessica puts Taeyeon into a headlock, and next to them, Stephanie bursts out laughing. And Jessica can’t help but smile too.

“Jessi, help me pick out a shirt!”

“They look the same.”

“…They’re not even the same colour.”

“Oh sorry, I just assumed they were both pink.”

“You’re not taking this seriously at all!”

“Seriously, you’d look good in anything. Or nothing.”

“That’s sweet of you but I’m not going to Sooyoung’s party .”

“You’d better not.”

“Well, help me pick out something to wear!”

“What happened to ‘stop fretting, Jessi’? You seem to be busy fretting now.”

“At least I’m not freaking out that I look like a potato!”

“That’s a shame. I love potatoes.”

“You know what else I hope you love? Your hand.”

“You know, I really love the green shirt. It brings out your eyes.”

“…My eyes are brown.”

“Exactly, green and brown go beautifully together. Like, you know, trees.”

“Trees.”

“And other plants. Nature-y stuff. You like nature, don’t you?”

“…I’m going to message Yoona and ask her what she thinks.”

“Don’t forget to give her the details about the party!”

“You’re finally here.” Sooyoung has to yell to be heard over the music, or maybe she wanted to yell anyway. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, we were picking up a friend,” Stephanie says. “You know, the one I mentioned.”

Yuri emerges from the kitchen, her hands loaded with two plates of food. “Hey, I had to reheat the hors d’oeuvres. I hope you guys are hungry.”

Yoona steps into the room, taking off her sunglasses like a scene from a drama. Sooyoung and Yuri freeze. Yuri almost drops the plates she’s holding.

“I’m starving,” Yoona says brightly. “Do you mind?”

“N-no,” Yuri stammers. “Of course not.”

“Thanks!” Yoona picks up a spring roll and crams it into whole. Evidently, she doesn’t care about anything like image in front of them. “You must be Yuri,” she says through a mouthful of food. Yuri nods dumbly. Yoona swallows and gives her a big smile. “I’m Yoona. It’s nice to meet you. You’re even prettier in real life than your pictures.”

Yuri looks like she might fall over. “I should be saying that to you.”

“You don’t have to, I know that already.” Yoona turns to Sooyoung, who’s gaping at the two of them. “And you must be Sooyoung. Wow, you really do have a figure like a model. In fact, your legs put a lot of the models I work with to shame.”

“Th-thanks.” Sooyoung grabs Jessica by the arm and tugs her over. “You didn’t say your friend was Im Yoona,” she hisses.

“I figured it would be better as a surprise.” Jessica snatches up a pig in a blanket. “Steph, do you want one?”

“Ooh, I love these!”

“You are what you eat,” Yoona says, and Jessica wishes so badly she could take a picture of Stephanie’s face.

“Where’s Taeyeon?” Jessica asks just to change the subject. If Stephanie killed Yoona, it wouldn’t be a good way to start the party.

“Here,” Taeyeon says, seeming to appear from thin air – or probably just the washroom. “Did you miss me, Sica?” She nods at Stephanie. “Hey Fany, it’s good to see you.” Then she sees Yoona and her eyes widen.

“You must be Taeyeon,” Yoona says, flashing another smile.

“Y-yes. That’s m-me.” It’s the first time that Jessica’s ever heard Taeyeon stutter. She surreptitiously reaches for her phone and wonders if she can record this without Taeyeon noticing.

“What are you doing?” Stephanie asks with amusement.

“Shh, I’m getting blackmail material.”

The door opens again as yet another guest arrives.

“Sorry I’m late,” comes a familiar voice. “Jessica gave me terrible directions.”

“That’s unnie to you,” Jessica says with a scowl.

Krystal ignores her, eyes going to the food immediately. “Are those fried wontons? I love those.” She looks around, giving Sooyoung and Yuri nods of recognition, before her eyes land on Stephanie and Yoona. She whistles. “Wow, I feel like I’m on the set of a variety show where they invite regular people. Hello Counsellor, maybe. Did you come to a verdict about Jessica’s problem yet?”

Yoona’s laughter rings in the room. “I’m guessing you’re Krystal?”

“Yours truly,” Krystal says. “And you’re Im Yoona.”

“Nice to meet you,” Yoona says, passing her the plate with wontons, and then she turns back to Yuri.

Krystal stares at Stephanie for a long moment. “So, you’re my potential future sister-in-law.”

“Soojung,” Jessica hisses.

“Yes, I am!” Stephanie says brightly. “It’s great to meet you. Jessi said you prefer to be called Soojung. Can I call you that?”

“Sure, that’s fine with me,” Krystal says. “I can call you Fany unnie then?”

“Of course you can,” Stephanie says with a smile.

“Great,” Krystal says crisply. “Fany unnie, if you don’t mind, I have a few questions for you about my sister.”

Jessica groans so loudly that everyone looks over at her, from Yoona and Yuri who are deep in conversation, to Sooyoung who’s deep in food, to Taeyeon who’s deep in thought.

“Where are the drinks?” Jessica asks.

Sooyoung grins. “Coming right up!”

When everyone has a couple of drinks in them, Sooyoung raises her bottle towards Jessica and Stephanie.

“Let’s all give a toast to these two. They’ve come a long way to get here.”

“To Jessica and Stephanie,” Taeyeon says.

“To JeTi,” Krystal says.

“To JeTi!” they all chorus, probably because it’s too much work to say the combined six syllables of Jessica and Stephanie’s names.

“You know, I never got the full story from you guys,” Yuri says. “I still have a lot of blanks.”

“I can fill in some of your blanks,” Yoona says, somehow managing to make the sentence overflow with innuendo.

Stephanie looks at Jessica, and in the midst of a room filled with their friends and loved ones, Jessica feels like she can only see Stephanie.

“Do you want to start the story or should I?” Stephanie asks.

“Well, it all started when a girl who didn’t watch where she was going ran into me…”

“Jessi took the words right from my mouth,” Stephanie says. “So she was on her phone and she wasn’t watching where she was going…”

“Typical Jessica,” Sooyoung says, taking another gulp of her drink.

“I don’t need to watch where I’m going, I know,” Jessica says. “But this girl here definitely didn’t know where she was going, since she was a new student and all, just making her way around campus while avoiding her throng of admirers.”

“That must have been hard,” Yuri says sympathetically, like she wasn’t one of them.

“And then she ran into me,” Jessica and Stephanie say at the same time. “No, you ran into me!” they protest, still perfectly in sync.

“Honestly,” Yoona says. “They couldn’t be a cuter pair. They even finish each other’s sentences.”

“They also argue like an old married couple,” Taeyeon adds. “They’ve had this argument at least twenty times. And that’s only when I heard them.”

“I remember when unnie didn’t even know who Fany unnie was,” Krystal says. “Now they’re disgustingly in love. Young love is so sweet.”

“You’re younger than me, Jung Soojung,” Jessica says. “Don’t forget I’m your unnie.”

Sooyoung raises her bottle again. “To young love!”

Everyone follows, including Stephanie who nudges Jessica into doing the same. The three words echo in the room as they toast something that has been scoffed at, poked fun of, dismissed under foot, but has also been celebrated, cherished, immortalized and, especially in this room, something tried, tested and true.

“To young love!”

A/N: And there we have it, folks! I had originally intended this to be a oneshot but then I got stuck on a part and divided it into two so I could at least post the first part. Can't believe this ended up being 20k. It feels good to finish this but I'm also feeling rather...bereft because I've gotten so attached to Jessica and Stephanie in this universe. On that note, please check out my collection of extra scenes from this universe. I'll probably end up adding to that because I can't bear to let go of these characters yet.