All the staff and crew plus some of the contestants boarded the same flight that was bound for Manila. It would take us more or less three hours to get there. The others were going to fly there later today since they still have a scheduled program to attend to but we were all going to the Caramoan Islands together.

I took the seat in the aisle and Sunye took the seat beside mine. I looked to my right and saw Taeyeon plugging her earphones to her music player. Other celebrities chose to not sit on coach save for a few which included Taeyeon.

She looked back at me and smiled. I quickly turned away and instinctively pulled my collar so she won’t see that I’m wearing the necklace that she gave me. I wasn’t going to wear it but my sister insisted that I use it saying it’s a waste if I didn’t.

I found it odd because I know how she thinks about Taeyeon. Maybe what I thought was right. Maybe Krystal would trade me for video games.  I mean, I can’t think of any other reason why she’s change her mind about Taeyeon.

I was unconsciously clutching on the dolphin pendant and unfortunately, Sunye had a glimpse of it.

“Is that a dolphin, Jessica-ssi? That’s really cute.”

I have no idea why she couldn’t have toned her voice down when I’m literally a few inches away from her. Thank goodness Taeyeon didn’t hear that.

I smiled back, hoping she wouldn’t ask where I got it from and she didn’t.

My mind wandered back to the memory of Yoona’s face when I bid goodbye to her earlier. It was so different from when she opened my gift for her.

I don’t know if she’s generally just a happy person or if she’s the type to get amused at pretty much everything. I gave her the bag that we both saw at the Jimmy Choo store on Rodeo Drive. I haven’t used it once so I asked my mom to ship it to Korea. It’s not that I couldn’t think of anything to give to her. It’s just that I remembered her saying that she really liked it.

It was either she’s faking her happy expression or she’s actually happy that I gave it to her. It’s like the huge grin I gave my parents when I was still a kid and they bought me and Krystal two gifts. One from both of them and one from “Santa”.

I have to admit that it’s refreshing seeing her like a little kid. She gets all the more adorable. I looked at Sunye and noticed that she was busy with whatever she was doing so I decided to take a nap.

---

When they arrived, the crew and the casts immediately went to the hotel so they could get some rest before going to the Caramoan Islands.

Some of the staff would start setting up on another island where everything that the contestants do would be monitored.

Jessica was assigned to assist the contestants and to supervise the staffs that were staying. She didn’t unpack but she did remember to take out the wooden box that Yoona gave her. She also took the key out and unlocked it, opening the box for the first time.

The first thing she saw was a pack of Skittles that had Yoona’s tiny handwriting on it.

‘Don’t forget to eat something every chance you get. Don’t starve yourself. It’s bad enough that I have to worry about my older sister being famished. Take care!’

She smiled at the sweet note and set the treat aside. There was a whole pad of post-it notes and the first one stated that she should only read one per day…or two when she really needs to. She has yet to understand what Yoona was trying to say.

She peeled off the first note and stuck it on the lid. The second note made burst into laughter. Her girlfriend’s best friend probably put it there.

There was a small photo glued on it and a note that said, ‘Choding’s when she was a kid.’ It was a cut-out of Yoona’s childhood photo showing off her . The note was messily written which convinced her even more that Yuri or Tiffany did it but she was leaning more on Yuri.

She mentally noted that she should remind Yoona to never leave a blank space if she ever does this again or to just keep her stuff away from Yuri.

The box also included little things that she never thought Yoona would keep like the tickets of the movies that they’ve seen together. Now she was feeling like because she just gave Yoona a bag that the younger girl could’ve bought with her own money. Yoona gave her something that she couldn’t buy in a simple store.

She was so sleepy but she’d feel worse if she doesn’t get to talk to the younger girl right away and so she dialled Yoona’s number and tried her best to not doze off.

“Jessica? Hey, where are you right now? Did you have a safe flight?”

Jessica noticed the grogginess in her tone. She checked the time and it was already 11:51 pm which meant it was way past midnight in Seoul.

“Sorry for waking you up, Yoong.”

“It’s fine. At least I get to talk to you. You should be sleeping though and getting all the rest while you still can.”

“I just really wanted to thank you for the gift. It was the first thing I did when I got in the hotel, check what the box had inside. I’m honestly surprised security hasn’t stopped me yet to check what’s inside it but, uh…yeah, thank you. It was very sweet of you.”

She heard Yoona’s chuckles. “Nah, it’s what broke people give their loved ones. I had to be sentimental so I could give you a decent gift for our first Christmas together.”

“You put a lot of thought about it though. I only gave you a bag that I probably wasn’t going to use.”

She heard shuffling from the other line and thought that maybe Yoona sat up on her bed. “You remembered what I said about liking it and I’ve said that a long time ago but you still remembered it. You’re not the type to remember random things like that so I really appreciate that you thought about that particular one that I’ve said and now I’m just rambling.”

Jessica sniggered to herself. “You do that when you’re trying to make up an excuse.”

“Hey, I didn’t know you observe me and my habits.” Yoona didn’t even try to mask her tone and the Jung figured out she was in for more taunting. “You like me that much, huh?”

“Yes, I like you that much.”

Yoona could feel her face heating up. “I miss you already,” she mumbled.

“I haven’t even been gone for twenty-four hours, honey.”

“I never thought long-distance would be this hard.”

“You’re exaggerating. I’ll be back soon and maybe we could go out on a date and you know, add more things that we could put in this box.” Jessica ran her fingers on the box’s lid. “You’re really cheesy, you know that?”

“I prefer the term romantic, honey.”

“That’s your sleepiness talking. You better go back to sleep.”

“Yeah, I have a class at 8 tomorrow.”

“Good night.”

“Good night to you too. I love you.”

Yoona hung up not giving Jessica a chance to answer back but for the latter it felt like the younger girl just save her from the impending awkwardness. The overwhelming guilt she was feeling would be enough for her to say those words back to the younger Kim but she didn’t want guilt to be the reason for her to say that.

The thought made her toss and turn on her bed but she eventually got a chance to sleep. Too bad it was only for a few hours since she had to wake up to assist the contestants that arrived in the morning.

---

Jessica was on the phone with her sister while taking occasional glances at the window where she could see several monitors for the different cameras that are being used in the island where the castaways are.

It’s been four days since they started filming. One person has been voted off and he was probably at the comfort of his home and eating all sorts of food that he’s sorely missed.

It was a pity that the first person to be voted off of the island was one of the strongest competitors. Witty, physically strong and knows a thing or two about making an alliance. Reasons why he also got an early target on his back. Too bad the others knew Kim Jong-kook and how strong of a competitor he is. As it turns out the people they’ve casted knew how to play the game and they got rid of the strongest one first.

Some of the crew have already picked their favourites and although Jessica wouldn’t admit it, deep inside she’s convinced that Taeyeon has a high chance in winning this whole thing.

The girl was surprisingly doing really well at her tribe. Well enough for the others not to see her as a threat or a dead weight. Jessica was already expecting her to do well on physical challenges and challenges that would involve a bit of thinking but she was honestly expecting her to at forming alliances.

She could tell that the older Kim was still adjusting to the whole “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine” thing but she wasn’t doing a terrible job. It resulted to people wanting to be her allies. Jessica somewhat expected that. There was something about Taeyeon that just charms people and pulls them in.

“Wait, Krys, you’re staying at the Kim’s house? What about our place?”

“Unnie, I’m bored there. I have nothing to do and I have no one to talk to.”

“What about Tiffany? You could invite her over, you know.” Jessica fanned herself with her hand but that did nothing to fight the hot weather.

“That fugly went back to States to visit her family for the holidays and didn’t even tell me.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say and why would she tell you anything. You two aren’t even going out.”

She heard a huff from the other line. “I hope you’re not bothering Yoona by being a brat.”

“I’m not being a brat. I even cook for her.”

“Is she there?”

“She’s with Yuri-unnie, painting the town red and by that I mean, they’re sleeping with random strangers because their lovers are away.”

“I didn’t ask you what you think Tiffany was doing back in the States, Krys.” She heard a low growl emitted by her sister and it made her laugh. She really never thought her sister would be this possessive.

“I have to go now. I’ll talk to you again some other time. God our phone bills would be a pain in the at this rate.”

“Don’t blame me. You call Yoona-unnie all the time.”

Fact. Jessica calls her every night to ask how her day went and she was doing it mostly because she didn’t want Yoona to be down and to miss her a lot. To her, it felt like an obligation to make Yoona happy.

“Shut up and go bug Tiffany.”

“Never. If she wants to talk to me, she should call me. I’ll hang up now. Bring me something when you get back, unnie. Bye.”

When her sister hung up, she got back inside the house that the team rented while the younger Jung got back to playing her video games. She cussed loudly when the doorbell rang.

She finally got her momentum but now she had to pause to open the door. She stood up angrily and walked towards the door.

“Yoo—“ The girl stopped talking midway when she saw the face of an angry baby Jung. She grinned awkwardly and said, “I’m back. How’s your Christmas?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

“In my defense, even Yul and Yoong didn’t know I was going back to the States to celebrate Christmas with my family but hey, I’m here to welcome the New Year with you, right?”

Krystal’s arched eyebrow didn’t flinch and instead of answering, she pranced her way back to the couch, leaving Tiffany on the same spot.

“Hey, don’t you dare walk away from me without talking back!”

“You always find a way to ruin my game time.”

“You’re like a little boy who’s addicted in video games. I bet your grades are always low or just good enough to pass the class.”

Tiffany who was now sitting beside the younger Jung cocked her head to the side when she received a glare from the latter.

“Are you saying I’m stupid and I get low grades because I play video games a lot?”

“Yes, that’s what I said.” Tiffany shrugged. “It’s most likely true.”

Krystal paused her game once again. “I’m sorry what are you taking up?”

“I’m majoring in Theater.”

“I’m majoring in Chemical Engineering and I’m doing so well at it that I could probably get a double major and take up Theater and still get a higher grade than you do. That’s how smart I am. What about you, could you handle Chemical Engineering? I don’t think so.”

“Shut up.” Tiffany crossed her arms and directed her gaze at the TV screen.

After a few seconds of silence, Krystal spoke again. “Your gift is under the Kim’s tree.”

“Gift from whom? Yoong?”

“No.”

“Yuri?”

Krystal stared at her and sighed. “No. Guess again.”

“Taeyeon-unnie?”

“You are so clueless I wanna cry. It’s from me. God!”

The older girl couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You got me a gift?”

“No, Santa did!”

“Are you on your period?”

“Oh my god, Tiffany, just go get your gift!”

“Alright, alright,” she mumbled as she stood up and walked towards the tree. It took her half an hour just to open the goddamn thing that was wrapped in all sorts of crap because of Krystal’s unconventional way of wrapping.

Krystal smirked when she heard Tiffany’s frustrated grumble while opening it. Tiffany was ready to toss it in the trash but when she finally got a hint of what it was, she started grinning to herself and opened it more eagerly.

“Oh my god, Krys, you got me a pink Prada purse!”

Krystal could feel her ears being damaged a bit when Tiffany squealed.

“It’s pink! How did you know I liked pink?”

“Your room looks like it was drenched with Pepto Bismol and you always make it a point to wear something that has pink on it.”

Tiffany’s expression went from being ecstatic to just plain guilt. “I didn’t get you anything. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you’d get me something.”

“There are tons of store out there. You could still buy me something. Goddamit! My combo disappeared.” She dropped the drumsticks and leaned back on the couch, placing her feet up the coffee table. “Yoona-unnie and her sister got me a video game. Now, I’m not saying you should get me something like that too but try to get me something better than what my sister got me.”

“What did she get you?”

“A hoodie. Again.” Krystal stared at Tiffany who was clutching a small paper bag. She had an idea about what was inside. “Don’t you dare give me a shirt that you bought at LA. I lived there and I don’t need a shirt saying ‘A friend went to LA and got me this shirt’.”

Dammit!

“I don’t know what to get you then.”

Krystal scoffed. “You’re not even gonna try?”

“How about this, I would be nice to you for a week and that includes me not disturbing you when you’re playing. Is that nicer than a hoodie?”

“Not good enough.”

“I can’t think of anything then.”

The younger Jung sighed. “Then I guess that’ll do. I’ll tell my sister her gift doesn’t that much anymore once she gets back. You already took the award for the iest gift Krystal has received this Christmas and to think that I only gave Tic Tacs to the others.”

Tiffany knew she was being guilt-tripped but she had to admit that it was really sweet of Krystal to buy her something when she didn’t even get her anything. She waited for Krystal to stop talking but the girl just kept on going so she stopped her with a kiss. She felt Krystal smiling so she kissed her deeper.

“You really like it when I kiss you.”

“Am I supposed to hate it?”

Tiffany smirked and brought out her phone, dialling Yuri’s number. “Hi, Yul. Is Yoona with you? Please tell her I’d be staying at Krystal’s and Jessica-unnie’s place tonight.” She made a face and shook her head. “No, Yul, I’m not gonna kill her. We’ll be doing other stuff tonight. Yes. Bye.”

She turned to face Krystal once again. “Turn off everything and meet me downstairs.”

“Why?”

“Just do as I say.”

“I’m not going to mo—“

“I’m going to give you a gift. Now move it!”

___

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