"You're obviously still having a hard time," Seulgi said, leaning on the counter next to Jessica as she was washing dishes.

Jessica glanced at her unni anxiously, trying to avoid her eyes. "I'm fine," she said quietly, continuing to scrub the dish she was working on.

"Go home." 

Jessica whipped her head to her unni, stunned. "W-what?"

"Go home, Jessica," she repeated gesturing her head to the door.

"But unni--"

"I don't want to hear it."

Jessica could tell that as serious as Seulgi sounded, she was just concerned. She really wanted Jessica to go home and recover from whatever was bothering her so painfully.

"But...I've missed so much work already..." Jessica still tried to insist.

"You work all year round," Seulgi said, comfortingly placing her hand on her shoulder. "You deserve a break."

"You're sure?"

Seulgi nodded her head and smiled. "I'm sure."

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief.

Jessica walked into her bedroom, staring at her bed which was clearly just waiting for her to throw herself down.

She walked up to the nightstand next to her bed, picking up the framed photo of her and Siwon from a year back. She sat  on the edge of the bed with the frame in her hands.

They looked so happy together, It was the day that Siwon surprised her for her birthday and took her to a carnival for the day. He spent so much money on her that day. They rode all the rides - even the rollercoasters. Jessica was always terrified of heights, but Siwon was very persuasive.

She placed the frame back onto her nightstand and before she was about to launch herself back onto her bed, she looked at the floor and saw that something had fallen.

She picked it up and turned it over - it was a photo of her and Donghae. 

She couldn't help but stare.

She remembered this - it was from the day they went to Sido island together. 

Unknowingly, a smile began to tug at her lips and she was remembering the beautiful sunset, the smell of the ocean, and Donghae chasing her across the beach.

No matter how she remembered it, it was a good day.

"He makes you happy..." a voice silently whispered in her ear.

"Yeah...he does..." Jessica said in response, nodding her head and smiling like a terrible fool.

"Then why are you pushing him away, Sooyeon?"

Jessica's eyes widened at the familiarity of the baritone voice. Her head whipped to the right and she almost screamed in astonishment, covering .

"O-oppa?!" she managed to make out.

"Jessica," he smiled. It was Siwon. 

You'd think that Jessica would be used to seeing ghosts by now, but her heart still never seemed to handle it.

"But Siwon you're!...how are you?!...YOU'RE HERE," she exclaimed, her face paralyzed in a state of shock.

"You didn't answer my question," Siwon said with a grin. 

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"Donghae," he answered, pointing to the polaroid photo in her hand. "Why are you pushing him away?"

"You...you know about Donghae?" Jessica asked incredulously.

"Of course I do," Siwon wrapped his arm around her.

She couldn't believe that he was actually here. His arm wrapped around her was warm, like he was human again.

"So this is the punk that I ran into, huh?" he said with a smirk, grabbing the polaroid out of her hand. "You ahve to admit," he said raising an eyebrow and turning to Jessica, "he's a good-looking kid."

But Jessica couldn't smile as she looked at Siwon. "Oppa, I can't..I can't believe you're dead."

He turned around and placed the photo on the bed. "I know, I know," he said, finally becoming serious. 

"How could this happen. Why did this have to happen to us," she said, her voice beginnign to break. 

He brushed her hair behind her ear so he could see her face.

"Sooyeon, Donghae makes you so happy. I see what he's doing to you, he's good for you," he added. "Can't you see that?"

"But oppa, I love you so much. I miss you...I can't...I can't do this to you..." she said, her head waving back and forth.

"You're so unselfish," he said. "You think you're hurting me, don't you?"

"It would be wrong," she insisted, closing her eyes.

"Sooyeon, the last thing you would ever do is hurt me. And you're not, you're really not."

Jessica wiped her eyes and looked to her oppa. His face was glowing, his aura angelic. His presence made her heart relax.

"But...it wouldn't be right to Donghae, either. Every time I look at him, I think of you. And that's not okay, to either of you. No one should ever look at someone and think of someone else..."

"Can I ask you one question?" he leaned in closer to her face. 

"What?" she said, wiping her nose.

"Do you love him?"

Her eyes tightened at the sound of his question. Silence filled the air between them. She wasn't sure if she was procrastinating to answer his question or if just didn't want to answer at all.

"Sooyeon..."

"Yes," she blurted out. It was like a locked box in her chest had suddenly flung open and everything inside began to pour out. She felt a release that suddenly made her feel more open, free.

Siwon smiled. "Be with him..."

"Siwon," she said, turning to him. But he silenced her by wrapping himself around her, his hand caressing the back of her head. Jessica closed her eyes tears running down her face as she instinctively latched onto him.

"Do you remember when I told you that I was leaving my heart with you?"

"Yes," she said, trying to hold in a sob.

"It's still yours...It always will be," he assured her. "Do you understand?"

She puleld herself back as his hands rested on her shoulders, searching her face for a reply. She nodded her head affirmatively. 

"Good," he answered. "Donghae needs you, Sooyeon. He needs both of us. Let me save him."

"I know," she said, looking into his eyes.

"I'll always be with you."

His voice was so relaxing, heart-melting. He placed a gentle kiss on Jessica's forehead and pulled her back toward him and rested her head on his shoulder again. 

...

Jessica's eyes slowly fluttered open. She rubbed her eyes as she rose up from her bed and looked around. 

Was that...real...?

Siwon wasn't there anymore, but she still felt a blanket of warmth wrapped around her, like somone had been holding her for the longest time.

She looked at her bedsheet and picked up the polaroid of her and Donghae. She held the photo in her hand and smiled again.

She smiled like a fool.

--

[a/n]

I thought I'd try to update as much as I possibly could. Not sure if you heard about Hurricane Sandy on the east coast of the US, but because of it, I had to go home for the weekend. Because of some safety issues and power outages at my school and in the surrounding area, school's been cancelled for the rest of the week. My 3day weekend ended up becoming a 9-day break!

I am very fortunate that I was not so badly affected by the storm. Throughout the storm,despite the intense wind and terrible rain, we managed to maintain our electricity AND our internet! OR I WOULD HAVE GONE TERRIBLY MAD.

But my prayers go out to anyone who suffered any damages or difficulties during the storm and I hope that they are safe and sound!!

I'm also sorry this update is so short - but this particular moment just HAD to have its own chapter. I'm also sorry if I have any typos/mistakes - I jsut really wanted to release a new chapter for you guys as soon as I could.

I'll try to update soon - depending on how creative I'm feeling haha.