Chapter 3

I want to die

This was the first thought to grace Jessica's mind as she rolled over on her fluffy white comforter. The sun of midday fluttered around the edges of her window shade and she deduced that she had missed the last day of the fall semester. The clock at her bedside read 2:23pm.

Looking at the half empty NyQuil bottle on her nightstand and array of used tissues scattered around her bed, anyone could see that she'd had a rough night. Standing with the window open for more than 5 minutes wearing nothing but pants and a camisole did a number on Jessica's already weak immune system. She was up half the night coughing until she finally guzzled nearly all of her cough medicine and knocked herself unconscious for 12 hours.

When her sister came in to wake her for school that morning Jessica was out cold, Krystal thought she was dead until she saw the bottle. Figuring she was sick still sick from the day before, the younger left her alone and let her sleep.

At least I got to start break early...

She hurled herself upright and looked around her dark room, all the shades on her windows fighting to keep out the sunlight. Still groggy from her overdose, though decidedly feeling better, she felt an overwhelming sense of hunger and she realized she hadn't eaten in nearly 18 hours.

She threw herself out of bed and stumbled down the stairs in her T-shirt and underwear. You'd never know it because of her unique and progressive sense of style, but Jessica didn't care for wearing clothes at home, she found them uncomfortable and inconvenient.

Today she should have paid more attention to the sounds coming from downstairs.

As she rounded the corner from the stairwell to the kitchen still in her half asleep state, she didn't even notice the quiet chuckles behind her.

“Uh.. Si-” a small slender hand found its way to mouth that would've blown their cover.

“Let's see how long it takes for her to notice,” one girl whispered bringing a finger to her lips.

Jessica opened the fridge and moved some things around. Not satisfied with her options, she scratched her head and slammed it shut, slumping her shoulders and twisting her face into a less than pleasing expression. “We're out of milk...” she grumbled to herself and turned, unknowingly, to face the three girls in the dining room.

The first thing she noticed was the 2 gallon carton of milk sitting on the table. She was almost happy.

“Morning Jess!” a smug voiced squeaked before Krystal burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

Identifying the three girls in the dining room, Jessica's face turned straight crimson and she jumped into the stairwell letting out one of her signature dolphin screeches.

She wouldn’t have cared so much if it was just her sister and Seohyun, they weren't the problem. The problem was the short blonde girl standing beside them, who's face had also turned a lovely shade of pink.

“You could've said something!” She yelled, her dignity slowly crumbling before her.

“But that wouldnt've have been nearly as fun” Krystal replied, still doubled over.

Jessica almost considered going back upstairs until she spotted the sandwiches on the table and felt her stomach ache for sustenance.

“Look, just give me a sandwich ok?” she held out a hand, still shielding her half body behind he wall, “and some milk too!”

The look she gave her sister could have been classified as murderous, but the younger wasn't fazed.

“Oh these sandwiches? Sure, you can have one. If you come get it.” Krystal teased.

Hyoyeon kept her gaze shifting from the window to the floor as not to further embarrass Jessica Jung, whom she had just met the day before. Her cheeks were warm and her hands folded behind her back as she rocked steadily on her heels. She felt bad for not speaking up, but she found it rather hard when the girls PowerPuff Girls themed underwear were dancing around the kitchen.

“Seriously? Fine, hold on.” Jessica said, turning to go up the stairs.

“Actually we were just about to leave,” Krystal called after her, “so if you want a sandwich, you gotta get it now. This is the last of the milk too!”

Jessica fumed at that. Was she kidding right now? She wanted to her walk half in front of a girl she would have to be neighbors with. She paused for a moment and turned back around, slightly calmer, and poked her head out around the corner.

“Come on Krys. Please? Don't be mean to your unnie.” She made a face and tried her hardest not to break her fist through the wall.

At that, Seohyun grabbed a sandwich and her glass of milk and brought them over to the poor girl.

“Here Sica, eat and feel better.” She said with a smile.

Jessica let out a sigh of relief and took the food, turning to glare at Krystal “See Soojung, this is what sisters do! Thank you Seohyun.” she smiled as the tall girl scurried back to the table.

“Yeah, Yeah, whatever. Listen, the three of us are going to see a movie in a few minutes so let mom know ok?” Krystal glanced at her watch.

“Yeah, I guess,” her sister replied, mouth full. “What're you seeing?”

“I wanted to see Safe Haven but Hyo wants to see Warm Bodies” she pointed to the blonde, “This is Hyoyeon by the way, she's the new neighbor and one of Seohyun's old friends.” Krystal nudged Seo who gave a slight blush.

“We've uhh... met.” Hyoyeon said, still averting her gaze from the brown haired girl.

Jessica's face flushed as it finally sunk in that Hyoyeon had been paying attention the whole time.

She cleared . “Where's Sulli? Isn't she going with you?”

Sulli was Krystal's best friend but lately Jessica had begun to wonder about about the real nature of their relationship.

Leave it to Krys to hop on the gay bandwagon. Sica thought.

“Ssul doesn't like zombies. Which is why I suggested Safe Haven, but Seo figured since it's her first week here Hyoyeon should pick.” She sighed, somewhat defeated.

“And if we don't leave now we're going to miss it!” Seohyun whined, “Sorry Sica we have to go, see you later” she finished as she pushed the other two towards the door.

Jessica's eyes met Hyoyeon's as the girls waved a quick goodbye. Hyoyeon smoothed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gave a small smile before being led out. Jessica heard her heart beat in her ears, remembering that she was still hiding, and nodded a goodbye in return.

When the door clicked shut Jessica placed her back against the wall with her chin to the ceiling.

She saw me in my PowerPuff Girls underwear. It's over. That could not have been more awkward.

The coolness of the wall sent chills down her spine, and her emotion calmed from an excited embarrassment to somewhere around melancholy.

She let out a sigh and took a sip of milk, making her way to the table to put the rest away.

The last of it, my .

She returned the milk to the fridge and finished up her sandwich, which was peanut butter and jelly, and made her way to the bathroom to take a shower. She figured If they were coming back, this time she'd be ready.

It was around quarter to 5 when Krystal walked through the door, seemingly rushed. Jessica had spent the day watching reruns of America's Next Top Model, which based on when she woke up was about 2 and a half episodes.

She sat upright and adjusted her designer clothes expecting the two from this morning to follow in suit, but was met with nothing. Nothing but her little sister running up and down the stairs, collecting things in a bag.

“How was the movie?” Sica asked bewilderingly, eyes still glued to the door.

“It was alright. Nothing special.” Krystal said between breaths.

The sound of her sisters footsteps filled the house, feeding Jessica's inquiry.

“So...” She started. “Where are the girls?”

It sounded like a perfectly normal question, but asking it made Jessica's body go rigid.

“They're over at Hyo's. I just had to stop by and grab a few things” she hoisted a bag over her shoulder, “her mom's out getting a few things from her uncles, so we're staying there tonight.”

“Oh...” Jessica felt a little disheartened. She didn't know why but she thought they might come back over for a while. Her clothes seemed a bit over the top now.

“Hyo said you could come if you were feeling better.”

What.

“I told her you were sick but she insisted I tell you anyway. I mean you don't look all that sick to me anymore, but judging by your clothes I'm guessing you already have plans?”

She wants me... to come over?

“Hey Jess, hello? Maybe you are sick. Do you have plans or not?”

“What?” Jessica was awakened from her thoughts. “Oh, uh. No. Yea, I'm free. I mean, I don't have plans tonight.” she stuttered, waving a nervous hand in the air.

“Okay, well we'll all be next door if you wanna come over or something.” Krystal gave a weird look and opened the door. “And please put pants on this time, I think you permanently scarred Hyoyeon” Soojung teased, walking out the door just as her sister threw a pillow at her head.

“I am wearing pants!” Sica screamed after her, but she was already outside.

It took a few moments for the information to properly process in Jessica's brain.

I've been invited to Hyoyeon's house.

She invited me to her house.

She wants me to come over,

Immediately her face dropped, literally, as she looked down to see what she was wearing.

Light blue skinnies with a pink and white top and a dark blue vest.

Not good enough.

Even though she specifically picked out that outfit in case she saw them again, it was not exactly fit for a sleep over, she wanted to look casual but stylish. Like she didn't care, but put a lot of thought into it.

She sprinted upstairs and tore her closet apart, stopping every minute or so to convince herself she wasn't going.

Eventually after 12.5 minutes of searching Jessica gave up and lay on her bed, promising herself she would stay home tonight.

DING DONG

Jesus it's cold out here, Jessica thought, standing outside the new neighbors house.

What's taking them so long?

Better question; why did I come in the first place?

I could still turn around,

but I already rang the doorbell.

They'd just think it was some kid playing ding dong ditch or something.

Fully prepared to turn around and walk back to her comfort zone, the door suddenly flung open and she was greeted but a tall brown haired Seo Joohyun.

“Sica unnie, we were beginning to think you wouldn't come,” the whiny makne said, “don't keep us waiting so long next time.”

No turning back now...

A million thoughts flooded Jessica's mind as she stepped into the house from the smell to the furniture arrangement. There were still boxes piled everywhere, mostly empty, but she could see they were far from done unpacking. It was very warm inside and the kitchen light gave the whole downstairs an inviting brightness, a welcoming glow. In the living room the TV was the main source of light as it bounced off of Krystal and Hyoyeon's serious expressions. They seemed to be playing a game but paused it and looked up when Jessica entered the house.

“Look who decided to show up” her sister said with a bitter face, obviously just wanting to resume her game.

“Hi, come on in, We were just playing Mario Kart.” Hyoyeon said, her gorgeous eyes boring holes into Jessica who was now moving awkwardly to stand beside the couch.

“Come on Jung lets start a new game, we already messed Seo up.” Seohyun who Jessica assumed was also playing, was now in the kitchen making healthy pan popcorn.

“Oh no guys, go on, I told you I'm no good at that game anyway. I'll just make us some snacks.” she smiled, “Maybe Sica unnie wants to play?”

Hyoyeon looked at Jessica expectantly, and held out the remote. “Wanna play?” her voice especially low and raspy.

All the oxygen in the room seemed to vanish.

“I uh... “ was all she could get out before Krystal forced the controller into her hand and sat her down on the floor next to an interesting looking plant.

“She'd love to.” she said in a maniacal voice. Krystal knew her sister was bad at Mario Kart, she just wanted to get back to the game. Besides, she'd have a lot of ground to make up on a count of Seohyun's inability to use the controller.

The game was unpaused and Yoshi (Jessica/Seohyun's player) was in dead last place.

Awesome.

As the other two were battling it out for first place Jessica was busy getting pummeled by giant penguins. They would be playing her least favorite course. Sherbet Land was a basically a mine field on ice, everywhere you turn there was killer penguin just waiting to belly slide you out of any decent place.

The nickname Ice Princess obviously does not apply in video games.

Thank god it was the last lap and Jessica could blame her loss on the previous player. Without getting the chance to cross the finish line, Jessica started to rise from the floor.

“Well that was fun, but I think I'll go help Seo--”

She was stopped by a hand on her forearm lightly pulling her back down.

“Aw come on Jessica, there's two more courses left,” Hyoyeon looked up at her, “and besides, you haven't gotten to show how good you are. You totally got screwed, its not your fault Seohyun doesn't know how to play!” She said the last part a little louder, making the girl in the kitchen squeal in frustration.

Krystal lowered her face and her body began to quake with silent laughter.

Unable to fight against those chocolate brown eyes, Jessica sat down.

“Fine, I guess two more couldn't hurt.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon Seohyun's return everyone selected their characters for a four player run.

Krystal- Toad

Hyoyeon- King Bowser

Jessica- Princess Peach

Seohyun- Yoshi (again)

They protested Seohyuns decision to keep Yoshi but she started whining and said she would “be faithful to Keroro” (whatever that meant).

Two games turned into 6, and 6 turned into 10. The popcorn was gone save the kernels sprawled across the floor and before they knew it it was 8:30 and the sky had turned a milky indigo.

“Okay, I'm really done now” Jessica said after they had all trekked the long and winding course that was Rainbow Road. “That was too intense” she finished, showing fake fatigue.

Everyone agreed and they sat for a while discussing the outcome.

The scores were as follows:

Hyoyeon won 2 cups and kept the lead most of the time.

Krystal was always close behind and stole the last cup.

Seohyun came in last place most of the time but never gave up.

Jessica was always in the middle, complaining every time she got hit.

“I told you guys, Bowser never loses!” Hyoyeon exclaimed with her hands to the ceiling.

“Yeah right, I just beat you out of gold” Krystal challenged.

“Yeah, but I won the last two cups and got silver on this one. I am the Gaming Queen.” She fell backwards onto the floor and lifted her feet in the air in victory.

“Unnie was always Bowser growing up, she liked him because he looked like a turtle, right?” Seohyun turned to her old friend.

“Mmhm. Exactly. But now I have a much more substantial reason for liking him.”

Inquisitive eyes met a proud face. “Oh yeah? What's that?”

The blonde girl inhaled dramatically signaling that this was going to be a long story.

“Okay so, one day I was looking up cool Mario things like facts and theories, that kind of stuff, and I came across this one theory about why Bowser kidnaps Peach. What I read suggested that Bowser and Peach were in love and instead of kidnapping her, they were always trying to run away together”

The room watched her facial expressions while she told the story. She was very animated in her tale and had her arms waving to show what they thought was the two characters trying to escape.

“But Mario thought it was inappropriate for a Princess to love a monster, so every time they left he would chase after her and bring her home. He thought he was a better match for her than--”

“He thought a giant turtle was inappropriate for a Princess, but not a plumber?” Krystal interrupted.

“Would you just listen?!” Hyoyeon asserted and continued her story.

“Anyway, the point is that Bowser and Peach were in love and everyone was trying to keep them apart. Isn't that sad, in a Shakespearean sort of way? It's so romantic and sweet,” she brought her hands together in front of her chest in a swooning motion, “I just love things like that; hopeless romance and junk.” Her eyes held a far away look as she concluded.

Bowser and Peach huh?

I never thought of that.

It is kind of a cute story.

Jessica had spent the entirety of her story staring unwaveringly at Hyoyeon, listening intently and picturing a love as strong as Romeo and Juliet's. She was so busy daydreaming, she didn't even remember her favorite character and chosen player was in fact Princess Peach.

She was snapped from her daze by the beginning of a slow clap from far side of the living room.

“Great story, very touching,” said the ever sentimental Jung Soojung. “and here I thought you only liked him for his looks.” she added with a touch of her sassy sarcasm.

Hyoyeon kindly picked up a piece of forgotten popcorn and hurled it at the younger Jung.

Jessica felt her eyes steal glances at the blonde, thoughts of hopeless romanticism in her head, until as if feeling her embarrassment, Hyoyeon turned to meet her stare.

“Well why did you guys pick your drivers?” she asked.

“Mine looks like Sergeant Keroro!” Seo Joohyun was the first to speak up, gaining the attention of the blonde and raising her hand like she were in middle school.

“Who is Sergeant Keroro?” Jessica begged. This was the fifth time tonight she'd referenced this thing and Sica was beginning to get annoyed.

As if on cue, Seohyun leaped from her spot on the floor and disappeared upstairs, leaving the Jung sisters in a stupor and the Gaming Queen with a hand pressed hopelessly to her forehead.

Upon her return the girls were met by a large green doll that vaguely resembled a frog. The excited Seohyun proceeded to wave said doll in the each one of their faces before plopping down and crushing it in an embrace.

“This is Sergeant Keroro. He's an alien from the planet Keron sent to take over Earth. Isn't he cute?” The smile on her face could have killed a diabetic.

Hyoyeon could tell the siblings didn't quite understand but also didn't want to ruin her moment, so she leaned over and whispered “It was an old kids show growing up, she's had that thing for forever.”

Their expressions changed to more enlightened state as they examined the frog and Yoshi side by side.

“I can kind of see the resemblance” Jessica tilted her head to the side, trying to humor the younger girl.

“They're both horribly deformed green blobs, so I guess so...” Krystal added, earning a distressed look from her friend who had then started to whisper reassuring thoughts into said blob's ear.

“So Krystal, why'd you pick Toad?”

The younger Jung shrugged.

“He was cute and small, I figured small equaled fast”

“That's deep, man” Jessica nodded, a smile slowly breaking her sarcastic character.

“Like you're any better,” her sister retorted “You only picked Peach because you think you're a Princess” she snorted.

As soon as Krystal said that, Jessica realized that she didn't really have a reason for picking Peach. Of course she thought she was pretty, she used to dress up like her as a child and go around saying “Peachy!” to anyone who would listen, she even made Krystal be Daisy and follow her around. They had matching pink and orange dresses that really didn't look anything like the real ones, but for little girls they did the trick.

“Actually, I like her because...”

The more she thought about it, the more perplexed she became.

Why do I like Peach so much?

The answer seemed simple at first; she was always there, why would she pick anyone else? But it must've been deeper than that, I mean she spent half her childhood obsessing over this woman.

Why?

“I think I know why she likes her,” Hyoyeon spoke up, Jessica slightly taken aback by the sudden outburst.

“It's because she's the soul of the game, the center of it all right? Without Peach, Bowser would have no one to kidnap and Mario would have no one to save; There would be no game.” Hyoyeon looked at Jessica.

“Plus she's kind of a boss. She's Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom but Mario treats her like some helpless damsel in distress. I mean have you ever played Super Princess Peach? She does just fine on her own.” She popped a piece of floor popcorn in and leaned back on her hands.

After a few nods of approval from the remaining two guests, everyone looked expectantly at Jessica, waiting for an answer.

“So is that why, Sica?”

The wind whistled against the windows.

“I was gunna say it's because she's cute.” Sica confessed.

The room erupted in laughter, Soojung was on her side and HyoSeo were practically piled on top of one another. Even Jessica clapped at the simple humor of her answer. Somewhere in Japan a Nintendo Programer slept soundly.

When the room died down a bit, Jessica's eyes were set on the soft white carpet of the Kim house.

Secretly Jessica knew Hyoyeon could not have been more right. Suddenly pieces of her childhood fit like a jigsaw puzzle. The way their eyes connected when she described Peach's character was like she saw through to the answer she could not find herself. There was a familiarity in Hyoyeons eyes, as if she had known her her entire life. It made Jessica shake in her bones.

“Wow, I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions.” Hyo held her hands up in surrender. “I guess we have a lot to learn about each other.” Her voice lowered as she gave Jessica one of her award winning smiles.

The darker haired girl blushed. “Well it's only been two days, we have time.”

An awkward silence engulfed the room as the two made eyes across the floor.

“Well I hate to be a party pooper,” Seohyun started, practically throwing herself between them, “but it's almost 9:00. We should be getting to bed.” She hugged her Keroro tight.

A collective groan was in order.

“Seo, when are you going to let up on your sleeping habits and have some fun?” Krystal begged.

They all knew Seohyun's nightly regiment better than they cared to. She was a stickler for health and the only way to get a good night's sleep was to go to bed early every night, even on break.

“Come on Hyunnie,” Hyoyeon pushed her friend almost violently “it's winter break. Besides, we haven't even played truth or dare yet.”

Jessica's posture suddenly improved ten-fold. “Truth or dare?” she repeated.

Hyoyeon sat up and crossed her legs under her. “Yeah, you know, Truth or Dare. Where one person asks someone else a question or dares them to do something? In my experience it's the best way to get to know somebody.”

Jessica's heart pounded in her chest for the second time that day as she thought about her experience with the game.

Why does she wanna play Truth or Dare?

It always ends up being ual. Always.

She thought back to the last time she played. It was at Tiffany's house last summer, all her friends were there along with a few she didn't know. Everyone was pretty tipsy but Jessica didn't drink, she liked to keep her wits about her, especially at a party. They were all gathered in the backyard around a few tiki torches for light and some people were a little too close for comfort. She didn't remember much about that night, or didn't want to, but what she did remember wasn't exactly fun. Holding back a jealous Sunny when some guy named Siwon dared Taeyeon and Tiffany to make out, and Sooyoung in a drunken ersion daring Yuri to do a for everyone, when at the time a confused Jessica may or may not have had a crush on her, wasn't Jessica's idea of a good time. In fact Truth or Dare had been completely ruined by her so called 'friends', but she fought to find some scrap of innocence in her neighbors intentions.

Maybe nothing will happen. I mean my sister's here after all. So is Seohyun and she's practically a child.

She tried to ration with herself.

But what else would she ask? This could get very personal very quickly.

Decidedly not ready for any level of questioning Jessica stood up.

“Seohyun's right, I'm pretty tired actually. I think I'm just gunna go home.” She even added a fake yawn and half stretch.

“Are you kidding? You just woke up,” Krystal checked her watch again, “six and a half hours ago.” The tone of her voice was flat in disbelief.

“Well I guess getting beat so bad at Mario Kart wore me down” she walked over to the counter and snatched the water bottle marked with a “J”.

“Fine, whatever. Just don't get upset if we wake you ok? Hyoyeon and I won't be going to bed for a while” she fist pumped her new friend.

Losers. Jessica laughed to herself.

By the time Jessica was almost to the door Hyoyeon rose to her feet. “I should have figured as much.”

Jessica turned, placing a lock of hair behind her ear.

“If there's one thing I've learned about Jessica Jung in my two days of knowing her,” Hyoyeon walked past the taller girl and over to the door placing a hand on the knob.

“It's that she loves to sleep.” She opened the door and smiled, letting a cool breeze into the previously warm house.

“Ain't that the truth.” Krystal raised a hand in accordance, attention drawn to something on her phone.

Jessica's body was less than a foot away from Hyoyeons and the difference had never been more apparent. She could see beautiful stray hairs sticking out from the waves of yellow, the perfectly imperfect cracks in her mascara, and most of all goosebumps arising on her neck from the bitter cold outside.

The combination of these things and the low husky “Goodnight” she uttered to Jessica as she made her way past her into the snow, made Jessica's blood pressure rise. She was almost glad she didn't bring a jacket, her body temperature alone was sure to be a hundred and four.

As she entered her house the first thing she did was fall on the couch. That girl literally made her weak in the knees. She lay face down with her forehead pressed deep into the fabric of a cool throw pillow in an attempt to calm her nerves.

I made it.

I'm alive.

I'm exhausted.

She stayed like that for a few minutes, thoughts never leaving the neighbor girls face, until she drifted to sleep with a soft smile painted on her her face.

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Hello all. 

This is your captain speaking.

Sorry i havent given you any signals that im alive. i've been.... busy. or lazy. 

anyway im here and i apologize for my terrible writing skills and horrible work ethic. 

Sorry this chapter ended abruptly, it was long and i got tired.

i just figured since i love this pairing that id give it a go. its not totally horrendous so far. though chapter 2 was kind of rough.

but anyways id love your feedback so dont be shy, im a total loser. 

xoxo goss--- 

Cassidy.