I miss you…

Saying those words doesn’t lessen the pain, in fact it adds to it. How long has it been? 5 months? And still no sign of you. How long do I have to wait? How many more sleepless nights do I have to endure? I miss you. I miss you so much. Come back to us. Come back to me

Jessica close her eyes as tears fall down from the corner of her eyes. She’s standing on the dock where she last saw Yuri. She grips Yuri’s sweater tightly. The tanned girl’s vanilla scent still lingers in the sweater albeit faint but still it was good enough for Jessica. She reluctantly threw the stalk of daffodil to the ocean.

Is it wrong to stand here every day? Is it wrong to wait for you? To wait until you fulfil your promise? You promise remember? You told me you don’t break promises…

“Then why?!” Jessica cries and fell down on her knees. “Why didn’t you fulfil your promise to me? I hate you” the last words were barely a whisper.

I hate you. I really do. But doesn’t mean I stopped thinking about you, Yuri-ah

Jessica sobs. She thought by now she had stop shedding tears because she had been crying every night since that unfaithful day. But it looks like she has endless supply of water inside her body for tears kept pouring from her eyes whenever she thinks about her. Her sobs turned into cries, she had to clench her fist to her chest because it’s making her hard to breathe.

Jessica immediately clings unto the pair of arms who hugged her, like her life depends on it. “Soojung-ah” she wails.

Krystal, herself, is also crying. It hurts to see her older sister helpless and crying. Though Jessica tries to hide it, Krystal knows about her sleepless nights. She can hear sobs coming from Jessica’s room and sometimes she would hear Jessica calling Yuri. Jessica stopped sleeping and when she does she wakes up in the middle of the night screaming.

“It hurts” Jessica grips Krystal’s shirt tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Taeyeon had to look away, her eyes glistening with her unshed tears while Tiffany had to bite her lower lip while she sobs silently beside Taeyeon, her shoulders were moving up and down violently with couple of sniffs here and there. Jessica isn’t the only one who is hurting all of them are. But they know Jessica is hurting the most.

Loosing someone very dear to your heart if really very painful.

///

“Yuri-ah”

Yuri turns around and saw Taeyeon approaching her. She flashes a smile and return her sight to the scenery.

“All I see is darkness” Taeyeon said as soon as she stood side by side with Yuri.

Yuri nods her head. “Calming isn’t it. I like nights as much as I like mornings”

“Nights are calming while mornings are thrilling”

Yuri nods her head agreeing with Taeyeon’s words. “Just like…”

“Just like you and Jessica” Taeyeon interjected. “You are the morning and she is the night. Like a yin yang. You balance each other”

Yuri let out a chuckle. “She’s something right? Jessica I mean”

“She is…” Taeyeon answers truthfully. “She brings out your brightest smile. And you bring out hers”

Yuri turned to Taeyeon. No one had ever mention that but she expect nothing less from the ever keen and observant Taeyeon. She smiles and turn her sight in front. “Say Taeyeon?”

Taeyeon just hums in response.

“Do you think there’s a possibility of Jessica liking me?”

Taeyeon turns to Yuri like the tanned girl has grew another head or something. She let out her signature ahjumma laugh when she saw that Yuri is being honest with her question. “Oh Yuri…”

Yuri just pouts. Is there something wrong with my question?

When Taeyeon’s laugh finally died down, she place her hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “Only a blind person will say that there isn’t a possibility of Jessica liking you”

Yuri turns to Taeyeon with that goofy wide grin of hers. “You think so?”

“I know so” Taeyeon affirms. “Alright. It’s time for me to head back. Will you be alright by yourself?”

Yuri nods her head. “I’ll be down in a minute”

“Okay” Taeyeon pats Yuri’s shoulder and head back to hers and Tiffany’s stateroom.

///

A knock came and the owner of the room groans. She’s not really sleeping but she can’t just possibly let the person enter with her hair looking disheveled and eyes puffy.

Another knock again.

“Unnie?” came Krystal’s voice from the other side of the door.

“A minute” Jessica rubs her palms on her eyes hoping to lessen the puffiness.

“U-unnie. Auntie and Uncle Kwon is downstairs” Krystal informs. She bites her lips after saying those words. Seconds later, Jessica’s door swings open.

Jessica just merely nods at Krystal before dashing downstairs to meet the Kwons. She stepped right in time as her mother is dishing out drinks for their guest. And of course, she noticed the gloomy atmosphere in their living room courtesy of their visitors. “Umma… Appa”

Jessica calls Yuri’s parents umma and appa, just like Yuri calls her parents as mom and dad. They are that close. They were so close that their parents had even thought of arranging them in marriage but of course they don’t want to intervene with their lovelife, so the parents decided to just go with the flow.

“Sooyeon-ah…” Mr. Jung held Jessica’s shoulder and gently push her to sit down. He doesn’t want her daughter fainting and hitting her head to the cold hard floor.

Jessica’s mind is blank but she decided to comply with her father. She had to swallow the lump on . She knew well that when her father calls her ‘Sooyeon’ she will end up with a broken heart. That’s why somehow she hates it when someone calls her ‘Sooyeon’. Jessica felt a hand gripping hers. She trailed with her eyes and her sight landed on Mr. Kwon’s pair warm orbs. Like Yuri’s.

“Sooyeon-ah” Mr. Kwon starts, finding it difficult to speak. He finally let out a sigh. “We’re calling off the search party”

Jessica hears her heart breaking into pieces. Now she’s sure she hates the name ‘Sooyeon’.

“Y-you’re giving up?” Jessica cautiously spoke.

Mr. Kwon turned to his wife. “It’s been 5mos, Sooyeon-ah. If Yuri is alive…”

“She’s alive” Jessica firmly stated. “I refuse to believe she’s dead. Not until I see a body”

“Jessica…” Mrs. Jung’s tone doesn’t sound happy.

“Everybody might give up but I won’t” Jessica’s voice quivers. Her eyes glistening with her unshed tears. “Even if I have to search the ocean myself. I will. I won’t stop until I see her”

Everyone can see Jessica bailing her fist as she said those words.

Mr. Kwon let out a sigh. “I understand Sooyeon. But we’re still calling of the search party”

Jessica gritted her teeth. She harshly stood up earning everyone’s attention. “I don’t understand. You’re Yuri’s parents” she let the tears fall from her eyes. “You should believe in her. Believe that she will come back. Believe that she’s doing everything she can to come home. To come back to us”

“Jessica that’s enough” Mrs. Jung’s threatening voice boomed but her heart quickly softens when she looked straight into Jessica’s glistening eyes. This is the first time she had seen her eldest daughter since that event.

The bags under Jessica’s eyes were evident thanks to the sleepless, crying nights. She had shed off some weight to the point her supposed tight c