Jung Jessica – 2015

"So?"

"So?" Jessica answered absentmindedly. Eyes glued to the TV screen, the girl was totally engrossed in the eleventh season of Grey's Anatomy.

"How's the first week in Pink Pearl treating you?" Soojung eyed her sister curiously.

"Man, this show is not the same without Derek." Frowning at the screen, Jessica didn't even give Soojung a glance. "I think this season is my last."

"It's trash." The curiosity now tinted with worries, Krystal grabbed the remote from the couch and hit the pause button. "Answer my question. How's work?"

Jessica turned at her sister. Last year was so ty for both of them. It was only natural that Soojung tried to watch her back from time to time. "It's good. Very good even. The Boss is a bit egomaniac but the work is as magical as I always imagined it to be."

"You totally deserve it."

Beaming, Jessica couldn't help the sense of fulfillment from surging. For the first time in life, she held a job she actually loved to do. "I'm living my dream, learning while creating. Have I told you that we're working on our Seoul Fashion Week debut?"

"Nope. We hadn't met all week, remember?" Soojung sighed. "How about the coworkers? Are they all nice to you?"

"Yeah. Especially Yuri and Taemin." Jessica grabbed the remote back and hit play. "Do you remember, Taemin? The guy who drove us home that night? He asks about you a lot."

"Hmmm." Soojung reached for the script of her current drama laying on the coffee table.

"Can I give him your number?"

"Why?"

"He seems nice. I want my sister to be with someone nice."

Groaning, Soojung opened the marked pages and made a quick scan with her sharp eyes.

"Come on. There's no harm in turning a new page."

"Don't go there."

"What? I read the news. He has moved on. You should too." Jessica stared at her sister, forgetting about her TV show. Soojung didn't react easy and as her big sister, Jessica knew exactly when to wait. She had no intention of dropping this conversation until her sister give a positive answer.

"Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" She kept staring, adding a teasing smile.

"Fine. You can give Taemin my number."

"Yess!" Jessica immediately shuffled for her phone.

"On two conditions."

"Damn, you got me." Dropping the phone on her lap, Jessica pouted at her sister. "Say it."

"First. You help me memorize my dialogue."

"What? We were already neck-deep in that soapy script three months ago. I refuse to be the creepy prince once more."

"That creepy prince gets the drama highest rating of all time so the production team decided to add two more episodes. You know? For the sake of the ads."

Jessica laughed, torn between congratulating and teasing her sister. The budding actress was trying hard to pick a reasonable script but of course, she got nothing on audiences' demand.

"They want to shoot the additional episodes next Monday. You gotta help me." Soojung threw a copy of the script toward her sister.

Still laughing, Jessica opened one random page and groaned upon reading the cheesy dialogues. "What's the next condition?" She asked while trying to keep the lines from sticking permanently to her brain.

"On my first date with Taemin, I want you to tag along."

"Sorry, but it's against my basic principle to third-wheel."

"You can bring your own date too." Soojung flipped through the pages on her lap, hiding a smile. "There's no harm in turning a new page."

"Eyyyy"

"Page 256, please."

Getting to the mentioned page, Jessica could only swallow her own words. Dating wasn't something on the top of her mind right now but she'd do anything to help Soojung recover from her ugly breakup.

"Don't act like it's difficult for you to find a date. I know Pink Pearl is filled to the brim with men and women of your taste." Soojung stood up with the script in her hand. Easily getting into character, she started reciting the first lines of the dialogue.

Watching out for her turn to say the lines, Jessica's mind wandered to her good-looking colleagues at work. Somehow, as she mentally browsed for a potential date, the image of one person stuck in her brain.

Kwon Yuri.

"No. Not the flower festival. She's prone to allergy these days." Jessica carefully draped a sheet of baby blue wool around the mannequin. Taemin then came forward, hemming the fabric into shape with tiny pins. Jessica helped too. The two worked fluidly around each other until the design Key had sketched on paper slowly came to life. Once all was done, they stared at the mannequin for one good minute before shaking their heads almost simultaneously.

"The wool looks better but it needs something else," Taemin mumbled, rubbing his chin. "What kind of indoor activity does Soojung like anyway? Bowling? Arcade?"

"Her schedule is hectic, let's opt for something relaxing." Embodying Key's designs from the long list he created for the brand's SFW debut was proven to be hard but this last design got Jessica's head spinning. Their draped fabrics looked good on the faux human but it still felt not right. "How about a wide belt?"

"I heard there's a firework event over the bridge and I know a new dining spot nearby." Taemin picked a belt from the dozen on the work station then cinched the waist of the mock-up coat. "If we book now we might get the balcony table people have been raving about."

"Brilliant."

"The belt or the plan to watch firework from a balcony?"

"Both." Holding two thumbs up, Jessica scribbled quick notes on the side of the sketch. "I think it needs to be something other than leather though."

"Yeah, leather belt is so last year." Taemin reached for his thick note on the desk. They lived in a digital era but the junior designer was known for preferring the manual ways. "Let me see if there's a previous design that matches the whole look. Can you help book our spot for the double date? The restaurant's name is-"

"Double date? You guys are having a double date?" Key breezed into the room with his reading glasses perched on top of his blonde head. "Who's your date, Taemin?"

"It's a secret." Taemin thumbed through a few pages before showing a sketch to their boss. "Boss, we think wool is a better choice than poplin for design number fifty-four. We also agreed that a belt like this will make it look even sleeker."

"Fifty-four?" Key circled the mannequin for good thirty seconds before slowly pulling the belt off with narrowed eyes. "No belt. Stick to my design."

"But-"

"Who are you going with?" Cutting Taemin's protest, Key tilted his chin toward the junior designer. "Tell me."

"You can't force me to disclose personal information."

"You think?"

Six weeks worked around Key has given Jessica the ability to instantly recognize his bad mood. Stepping between the two, Jessica tried to deescalate. "He's going with Soojung. My sister."

"Soojung?" Key rubbed his chin in deep thought. "Oh, the girl I hit."

"Exactly." Jessica threw her boss an annoyed look. How could he forget about Soojung? "I think it's nice for them to get together."

"Ugh, she's not even that pretty."

"Excuse me?" Jessica glared at Key who was already busy checking other designs. Taemin simply sniggered, opening his notebook at a page that displayed a sketch of a similar design. "How about pockets? That waistline literally begs for something else, Boss."

"Nope." Key unpinned a sheer pink sheet of printed muslin from another mannequin and ceremoniously dropped it to the floor before walking toward Jessica. "Who's your date?"

"Ummm..." Eyes going back and forth between the abandoned fabric and the annoying boss, Jessica could only gape. She had been thinking of asking Yuri out but of course, she couldn't say that out loud. Not without risking losing her new job.

"You have none? Great. You're going with me."

"What?" Jessica panned a helpless lo