12:00 am.  Jessica received an untimely call from Sunny.  “Why are you calling at this kind of hour?” she groaned and rubbed her eyes.  She was in the middle of her deep slumber—her beauty rest.  What the heck?  She lazily cradled the phone against her ear.  “What do you want?” she asked with eyes closed.

“Jessica, I need your help!” Sunny sounded so helpless on the other line.  But it wasn’t a valid reason for her to disturb her sleep.

“Can’t this wait…?”

She was half-asleep and her lids were still too heavy for her to shut her eyes open.

“Please do me a favor.”

“Sunny…” she peeked at the digital clock on the bedside table.  “We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?  I’m really sleepy.  Night—”

“B-but Sica—wait—Jessica—still there?”

Yet Jessica drifted off once again to dreamland with the phone on her grip.  Only the static that took over the phone when Sunny hung up can be heard on that boundless dark…silent night.

∞

“Where are we going?”

Sunny was sitting on the passenger seat while Jessica took care of the steering wheel.  Since it was Saturday, Jessica decided to fetch her to talk about the favor she told her.

“We’ll meet my sister first, and then we’ll talk about your request later.”

They arrived at Seoul Academy minutes later.  It was a weekend so only a number of students were in school.  Only those who have extracurricular works were there and Jessica’s sister was one of them.  She took two big paper bags from the car trunk before walking to the courtyard.  Sunny followed with a suspicious look on her.  Why?  Jessica was smiling while catching her little sister watching two guys dancing a few meters from her.

“Hey, Krystal!” she waved at her when the latter looked at their direction.

“Unnie?” she smiled before giving her a tight embrace.  “I miss you.”

“Miss you, too, Krystal.  By the way, these are all for you.”

“Really?”  Her smile grew wider.  “Thanks a lot, Unnie—Oh—Hi there, Sunny-unnie.”

“Who are they, Krystal?” Jessica said suddenly, throwing her a meaningful stare.

“E-eh?”

“Those guys—” she pointed at their direction.  As expected, Krystal’s cheeks turned as red as tomato.  And she found it amusing to see her like that.  “Are they your friends—?”

“N-no,” she denied.  “Wait here, I’ll be back.”  She left them to put her gifts on her locker—avoiding Jessica’s intriguing questions.

“Are you having fun teasing your sister?” Sunny asked Jessica.  “A bit—she won’t take it seriously, anyway.  C’mon, let’s go talk to those guys,” Jessica winked.

∞

“Annyeong Haseyo,” Sunny greeted the guys whom she thought might be members of the dance club.  They politely acknowledged her presence while they just smiled at Jessica.  “Aren’t we bothering you?”  Sunny was apologetic for disturbing their practice.

“No, it’s fine—”

“Call me, Sunny-noona.”

“Uhm…K-Kai-imnida.”

The way he stammered was too cute for Sunny to handle—thus making her smile.  She felt how timid he was unlike the other guy who wore more confidence on his sleeves.

“Sehun-imnida,” he sounded so formal and somewhat distant despite his lisp.

“Nice to meet you, guys.”  It was Jessica’s turn to introduce herself. 

But once she mentioned her surname, their mouths gaped wide.  “JUNG?” Kai and Sehun chorused.  They were surprised to hear her last name.  They looked at each other nervously.  Seconds later, both of them flushed red.

“Does the name ring a bell?”

“N-no, noona,” Kai tripped over his words again.  Sehun, meanwhile, looked away hiding his crimson red face.  And Jessica was sure she heard him mumble.  “It’s hot here,” then fanned himself.  She chuckled.

“But we have a classmate named Jung Krystal,” Kai continued.

Got ya!  She smirked this time.  That girl—she lied to us.  “Real