A/N: I know October has long passed, but since we’re all stuck safe at home and it was Jessica’s birthday the other day and SooSica were evidently hanging out with each other, I thought why not.

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A sequel to “Can you stay?”

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“So, when are we gonna talk about her?”

Jessica readjusted the position of the straw in her glass, angling it like so that it wouldn’t accidentally hit her if she leaned closer to the table—couldn’t afford looking stupid like that. They’d gone for environmental-friendly straws these days. The one she had for her juice was, she assumed, made of paper. She wondered how long it would take, if she left it untouched, for the straw to start dissolving.

“Sica.”

She looked up and met her companion’s knowing look, catching her midway of sighing. Sooyoung looked ready to drop the topic.

Sooyoung leaned forward— “Ack!”—and knocked her chin over her straw. See? Jessica knew what she was doing.

“As I was saying,” Sooyoung tried again, rubbing her chin, “when are we gonna talk about her?”

Jessica exhaled aloud. Perhaps she wasn’t ready to drop it after all. She looked back at Sooyoung; that determined look seemed permanent on her face.

She opened , paused, then closed it again. She could try playing dumb one last time before giving in completely. That wouldn’t hurt anyone. However, it did seem Jessica was as much a gambler as Sooyoung was, so instead she asked, “Why do we have to?”

“Because you’re here,” Sooyoung answered without missing a beat, eyes fixated on her, “despite your non-existent schedules.”

That’s a solid argument. Jessica was too tired to come up with an excuse this time around that she’d simply showed up at Sooyoung’s doorstep, knowing Sooyoung would let her in regardless.

Yet there had been a time she wouldn’t.

New York, a lifetime ago—or was it four year?

She looked at Sooyoung for a moment, really looked at her—at those big round eyes, th