Sorry for taking so long to update everyone! Hopefully I've made it up with this long chapter (: Here, you'll learn more about Jessica's problems. Thank you guys for being so patient and I hope you all enjoy!

-Writer Wooper

~~~

Sitting on the grass by the riverbank, Sooyoung stares at the river’s water that is sparkling due to the setting sun. By her side is the strange blonde that unexpectedly saved her life and snapped her back to reality. She never realized just how deep she was in her depression, how she was drowning in the depths of her own sadness, slowly isolating herself in her head and wanting to stay away from everything that reminded her of the reality she must live through. It took one big slap and words from a complete strange to make Sooyoung realize her way of thinking and what she was about to do was wrong. Sooyoung feels guilty because she thought she was the only one suffering from Yuri’s death when there were others. Not only that, she is sure she has made her own loved ones worry because of her behavior and the thought makes her feel horrible.

“Thank you for what you did. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for you,” Sooyoung says to the blonde.

“You’re welcome. I hope you won’t think or do such things again,” the blonde replies.

“I’m Choi Sooyoung. May I know your name?” the taller girl asks and extends a hand.

Leaning over, the blonde lightly grabs Sooyoung’s hand and gives it a friendly shake. “Jessica Jung. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Sooyoung answers back, feeling a smile tugging on the corners of her lips. The feeling soon disappears when a question is lingering in the back of her mind. “I know this will be a personal question, especially since we just met, but earlier you mentioned something about your sister being in a hospital.  Does your sister have a severe illness she is fighting?”

Jessica solemnly shakes her head and stares sadly across the river. “No. It’s nothing like that. She’s in a coma. She’s been in a coma for about a year now…”

“A year?” Sooyoung exclaims in surprise. “That’s... That must be hard on you and your parents.”

“We’re orphans actually…”

“What? Then how do you pay for the medical bill?.”

Jessica smiles sadly at Sooyoung, a smile that makes Sooyoung’s heart flutter and tighten at the same time. “Would you like to listen to my story, Sooyoung?”

Sooyoung hesitates before silently nodding. Jessica takes a deep breath before beginning.

“My sister’s name is Krystal and she is four years younger than me. I’m eighteen right now, but she’s still thirteen since her birthday hasn’t passed yet. We’re originally from the city that’s a couple towns away from here. When I was about seven and Krystal was three, our house caught on fire, a fire that killed both our parents, with us barely surviving. The fire burned all our family documents, and the police couldn’t find any of our relatives that could take care of my sister and I. So they put us in an orphanage. We lived there pretty much all of our lives. It was hard those first few years, but we were content as longed as we had each other. Together, we persevered and when we were old enough, we found odd jobs that gave us some money, because as much as we loved our orphanage family, Krystal and I didn’t want to rely on them forever. We didn’t save much to be honest, but Krystal and I were positive that one day we’d have a normal life, with a house of our own and everything.

“That’s how it was supposed to be anyway…” Jessica slowly trails off.

Sooyoung blinks sadly at the blonde. “What else happened?”

Jessica’s eyes begin to water. She clasps her hands and rested her forehead on them. “Over a year ago, I almost lost my sister.”

Looking sympathetically at Jessica, Sooyoung moves closer to her.

Jessica lifts her head and continues her story with a serious expression. “It was supposed to be a normal day. Krystal and I were supposed to finish doing our chores for the orphanage, find some odd jobs to do, and then head back to the orphanage. But a particular job took longer to do and we were already late for dinner and past curfew. Krystal and I decided to cut through the alleyways because it was a short-cut.”

Jessica grits her teeth and pain shines in her eyes. “But that was a mistake… a huge mistake.

“In the particular pathway we took, we encountered a young man getting bullied by three guys holding bats and metal pipes. They were thugs and they were beating the poor man. They didn’t spot us so I whispered to Krystal we should leave, but Krystal ignored me and spoke up, catching their attention. She distracted the thugs by calling them names, giving time for the young man to escape but at the cost of us being new targets. It became a game of cat and mouse in the alleyways as we were being chased, but eventually Krystal and I ended being trapped, hitting a dead-end. Luckily we managed to lose two of the guys, but the one that found us looked to be the strongest. The entire time I was thinking I was going to protect Krystal with my life. As he slowly inched closer, I quickly grabbed a piece of plywood that was nearby. I kicked him hard in the shin and whacked him across the face with the piece of plywood. Once he was in a daze, I yelled for Krystal to run. She did and I tried to follow after her, but the guy grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me back. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes when I saw him raise his metal pipe and I squeezed my eyes shut to brace the impact.

“But I wasn’t expecting Krystal to jump in and take the blow for me.

“When I opened my eyes, Krystal was already on the floor… She… She was struck across the head and… I crawled to her and screamed for her to wake up, but… she wouldn’t… and there was so much blood… so much…” Jessica mutters, visibly shuddering.

“Jessica. Stop. You don’t have to say anymore,” Sooyoung protests, worry dripping in her voice. But Jessica ignores her and continues on.

“I thought we were done for. But then more guys came out of nowhere and took down the thug. I later learned that the guy we helped called for help to rescue us. Kind strangers called the ambulance and we were taken to the hospital, with my sister going immediately in surgery. She suffered a severe case of blunt force trauma, and several parts of her brain hemorrhaged. You have no idea how worried I was… It was the scariest moment of my life as I waited and waited for Krystal’s results.”

Sooyoung couldn’t think of anything to say so she rests a hand on Jessica shoulder as she retells a painful part of her past.

“Krystal ended up surviving the worst of it, but the part of her brain that’s responsible for arousal and awareness was damaged during the hemorrhaging and my sister fell into a coma. I was sad, but thankful that she was alive. My sister would remain in the hospital until she awakens. However, there was a problem. The hospital demanded a deposit for a patient who was staying for an extended amount of time, and even with the money Krystal and I have been saving, it wasn’t even close to enough. My sister was in danger of being kicked out, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

“But then a miracle happened. A wealthy, middle-aged entrepreneur happened to be passing by while I was crying and begging the doctors to keep my sister. He was listening to my pleas and offered to pay for my sister’s expenses... all of them.”

“Wait, this wealthy man offered you pay for all of Krystal’s medical bills even though you two were strangers to him?” Sooyoung exclaims with confusion. “Why would he off