Jessica 's POV. “Do you have to go, Unnie?” Soojung asked from her cot, and I froze, not wanting to turn around and face her. Her words were soft and small, filled with such sadness that it broke my heart. I let out a sigh, looking behind my shoulder, meeting her eyes. The teenage girl was wrapped up in several blankets, several pillows propping her up. She was also clutching an extremely battered teddy bear. Her eyes were full of tears and sadness and it was those that prompted me to walk back over to her cot. I sat down on the end, and reached over, brushing at her hair, pushing back the unruly curls. “I do monkey, but I’ll be here before you wake up, you know that, don’t you? I’m always here before you wake up.” Soojung didn’t answer, instead she just remained silent and I sighed. “I know you don’t like me working at nights, but I have to, and I promise you I’m going to be okay, I’m going to be safe. And if you’re a good girl tonight for Sunny, I’ll get you the mortal instruments book series you always wanted tomorrow.” Expectedly, hearing about me getting her the books she'd been begging me for would make her smile, her eyes should twinkle and light up like Christmas had come early but not tonight, she looked sombre, worried and I hate that, I hate that I had to lie to her every single night. “What about the money, how would you get it?” I shook my head, I wished nothing more than to protect my little sister from the world, the hell that we lived in. But I couldn’t. She knew a lot of what went on in the town, just how much of a bad area that was. She knew of our money issues. She also knew that I hated my job, that I worked in an agency. But she didn’t know everything. Soojung didn’t know just how little money we had, how I hadn’t had a proper meal in nearly a fortnight now. She also, and this was what I was most thankful for, didn’t know what a job at the babydoll agency actually entailed. And I hoped that she would never find out just what exactly I do for my job and if she ever did I hoped that by that time, we'd had long left the town, living the life that Soojung deserved. “You don’t need to worry about money,” I whispered, hoping that I could convince her that everything would be okay. “We’re going to be okay, we’re always going to be okay. And I’m sorry, I have to go but you know that Sunny is always here if you need anything, Right? Sunny is a nurse and my best friend, without her, I don't know if I could survive going to school, taking care of Soojung as well as my job. Soojung nodded, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you Unnie.” “I love you too, and I’ll see you in the morning, okay monkey?” Soojung nodded again, and allowed me to tuck her back into her cot. Another kiss was pressed to her forehead before, heading into the ensuite. Sunny was in the bathroom, collecting the laundry, consisting of Soojung's underwears. She stopped when she saw me, already sliding on my shoes. We both remained silent for a moment, and it wasn’t until I had fastened the buckles of my heels that I looked up, making eye contact with Sunny. “She’s worrying about money again.” I said even though I didn't want to tell Sunny, I didn't want to add another worry to our ever-growing piles of worries, but I knew that this was something that Sunny could keep secret. Sunny needed to know this if we where going to work out what to do next, how to help Soojung before she worried any more than she already was. She was just fifteen years old, she shouldn’t be worrying about money, or what I do, even if some of it was understandable and justified. But at the end of the day, I didn’t want my baby sister to worry about anything. That is my job as Soojung's big sister and a mother, since our mother's death during the terrible accident that left Soojung bedridden (at least until I can get the money for her surgery) I stepped up the role of a mother, father and a sister to Soojung, she'd lost so much more than I could ever imagine. Watching our mother die and getting paralyzed and unable to render any assistance to our dying mother isn't something even I can handle. I do not want her to worry about anything and I want to be able to give her a new life, full of happy memories and laughter. “She is?” Sunny asked, slightly confused. I'm sure she had never heard Soojung mention anything about the money issues that we were currently having. Sunny and I always kept it between us, not discussing the matter when we knew that Soojung was awake. I nodded, sighing. “I’ll ask Lilith, see if I can get a few more clients tonight.” “No,” Sunny shook her head, refusing to let me work extra if it were possible. “I’ll go out tomorrow, see if I can get some cash from my uncle.” "No Sunny, you've done enough for me and Soojung already, I'm grateful that you're always here with her while I deal with my studies and Job, can't let you give more." I protested, turning my back and standing up, grabbing my coat and putting it on. “Few more men won't hurt me, and besides, we need the money.” “Sooyeon,” Sunny tried to protest, but it was too late, because I was already heading out of the ensuite, the door slammed as I made my way out of the room, down the halls and out of the hospital, to the taxi that was waiting outside. ~~~~ "Okay, listen girls, we have a high roller, up in the VIP tonight, yes, this woman is loaded, she's more than what you were used to, I want five best of you girls ready, for her to choose from." Lilith eyed every each one of us as she spoke, her gaze lingered on me. "Jessica, you shouldn't be here tonight." She said, I could sense she was still angry with me about my absence last night. I had no choice, Sooyoung had invited me to her friend's birthday at the 'glitters' club, I couldn't refuse because she's a friend who always buys my lunch at school, asking me to meet some of her friends was just a little thing I could do for her. Besides, I left early lying to her that I had a call from the hospital asking for me. I was able to reach 'babydoll' late and since Lilith didn't say a word to me last night, I knew she was furious with my action. "I'll go Lilith." I said almost eargerly. I am in terrible need of money right now, Soojung's surgery notice is next week and since this client is a woman who is loaded, I wouldn't want this chance to slip my way. "Not you Jess, you always up with your clients causing the agency so much loss, I wouldn't take any chances with this woman, she's the best to ever patronize our girls, I won't let you this up. Lisa, Joy, Suzy, Jennie and Nancy would go." She spoke sternly. "Girls follow me." She added, turning on her heels as the girls excitedly ensued. "No," I whispered, heart thumping erratically in my chest, I felt my breath coming out in short pants as though I was about to hyperventilate. Shaking my head, I gripped onto the edge of my short dress with such force that I watched my knuckles turn white, as if doing so might solve my problems. I felt my eyes widen slightly and I visibly swallowed from nervousness. If I let these girls go, I would be letting this opportunity slip, and right now I needed the money more than any of them, I needed it so bad– for– for Soojung, I can't let this happen. I need to do something. Fast. "Lilith wait please," I strode towards the woman and grabbed her hand, the rest of the girls glared at me and continued to walk away. "Please Lilith, let me go, I promise I will not this up, my life depends on it, I will do anything." I beseeched, the nerves creating the knot in my stomach became stronger, and I felt the knot begin to expand. Lilith sighed, looking at me pitifully. "You do know I like you Jessica, you're like a little sister to me, I know the reason behind you working here, and I sympathize with you but I can't let this woman