(Krystal’s POV)

(A few days after mom and dad left…)

It was the first day of the semester back from break. Mom and dad had only been away for a few days but I already missed them a lot. Jessie and I were getting along pretty well so far, even though I’ve basically taken on mom’s persona in the household. I made sure to wake her up for work every day and did most of the house chores. So, now that I was going back to school, I was a little worried about how we would both cope.

“Jessie, wake up… I’m going to have to leave for school so I don’t have time to keep waking you up…” I called out from outside her bedroom as I knocked on her door.

As I had expected there was no answer.

I don’t have time for this today…

Jessie was a big sleepy head and waking her up was a chore in itself. In the past few days, I didn’t really mind since I had time but now that I have to get ready for school too, it was starting to bug me.

“Come on Jessie, if you don’t wake up now, don’t blame me if you’re late for work…” I warned her as I entered her room.

To my surprise, she wasn’t in bed, asleep. In fact, she wasn’t in her room at all.

That’s weird… Is she already up? Couldn’t be…

“Jessie?!” I yelled, wondering where she was.

Just then, I heard some rustling sounds from the front of the house.

“Jessie, is that you?!” I called out again as I followed the noise to the front of the house. I found her in the kitchen, making a mess.

“Jessie, what the heck…?” I said disapprovingly at the disaster area.

“Oh, Kryssie… You’re up… Uhm… sorry about the mess,” she said as she flashed me an apologetic smile while trying to tidy up the place.

“Why are you up so early and what on earth are you doing? Look at the place…” I said sternly.

“I know, I know… I’m sorry. I know it’s you’re first day back to college so I just wanted to surprise you with breakfast,” she explained.

Aww… that’s so sweet…

I was delighted that she tried to do something nice for me but I was also annoyed that she had made such a mess…

“That’s really sweet of you Jessie but you really shouldn’t have…” I told her.

“I know mom always made you breakfast on days like these. Besides, I feel bad that you’re always doing stuff for me when I really should be the one taking care of you… Don’t worry about the mess, I promise I’ll clean it up. Now, come on… sit down and have some breakfast,” she replied as she gestured towards the dining table.

I sat down and she laid a plate in front of me. It had what looked like slightly charred pancakes drenched in syrup and some badly cut fruits. I looked at the plate with a little concern.

“Why aren’t you eating?” she asked when I didn’t touch the plate.

I reluctantly picked up my fork. I didn’t want her to feel bad since she went through all that trouble. I cut a small piece from the pancake and placed it in my mouth. The taste was… interesting… I forced myself to swallow it but it caused me to let out a slight cough.

“So…? How does it taste?” she asked eagerly. “It’s bad isn’t it…?” She sat herself in the seat next to me and fixed her eyes on me.

“Uhm… no, no… It’s good… just a little burnt?” I lied.

She had somehow managed to char the outside of the pancake while the inside was still undercooked. It was a good thing she drowned the pancakes in syrup, it helped cover the weird taste.

“Really?” she beamed. Then she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me. “Good, then make sure you finish everything… I’m going to get ready then we can leave together.”

Great… now I have to somehow finish all of this?

I stared at the plate and sighed.

I forced all of it down and started cleaning up the place. By the time she was ready, I had already had the place spotless again.

“Wha- Kryssie…! I told you I’d clean this up…” she said when she saw that I had cleaned up her mess.

“It’s okay… I don’t mind. I might as well have done it since I was just waiting for you…” I told her.

“Kryssie, you know I love you right? You’re the best sister EVER!” she exclaimed and then pecked me on the cheek.

Dugeun, dugeun…

“Yes, well… you are my sister… so I should look out for you,” I replied shyly.

Why does she make me feel like this? It’s making me crazy!

“That’s something I should be saying, you little rascal!” she joked as she planted more kisses on my cheek.

“Jessie… stop it… I’m not a little kid anymore…” I whined.

“Well… you used to like it,” she pouted. “And you never kiss me back anymore…” She stuck her cheek out at me, waiting for my reply. I don’t know why but she had been really sentimental lately.

I hesitated. We used to exchange kisses all the time when we were younger but I had stopped doing it. I looked at her but my eyes were drawn to her lips instead.

Stop it, Krystal! She’s your sister! What the hell are you thinking about, you sick ert!

She was still standing there with her arms folded and cheek sticking out, waiting for me. I could tell she wouldn’t budge until I kissed her back, so I gave her a light peck on the cheek.

She giggled and ruffled my hair. “Are you ready then? Let’s go.”

(Tiffany’s POV)

“You’re late…” I said to Jess the moment she walked in.

“I know… Sorry Tiff, I had to drop my baby sis off,” she replied causally.

She knew she was late and she was still sauntering in so coolly to her desk. It was part of the reason why I admired her so much.

“Oh, so classes started again for her? How are you two coping without your parents by the way?” I asked.

When Jess told me that her parents were going to be away for a few months, I thought she was just joking. Apparently not. I was really worried about her but come to think of it, I’m more worried about Krystal. She’s probably had to take on all the responsibilities since Jess is such a scatter brain.

Sometimes I wonder why I gave her this job at all since I ended up doing most of it. It was worth it though just to have her around every day. I know it’s totally unethical to hire someone just because you have a crush on them but this is totally different. We’ve been friends for such a long time and I was just doing her a favor. It just so happens that I have a gigantic crush on her so I couldn’t say no even though I knew she wasn’t the most qualified person.

Okay, so I’m terrible but I couldn’t help it.

“It’s fine. We’re both still alive and breathing,” she replied but she didn’t look too happy.

“Then why do you look so sad?”

She sighed. “I’m not sad, I just realized what a bad older sister I am. I mean, I’m 5 years older than Kryssie but she’s taking care of me instead. Do you think I’m a bad sister?”

Oh no… should I sugar coat it or should I tell her the truth?

“Uhm… It’s not that you’re a bad sister. It’s just the way your personalities are. Krystal’s the more serious and responsible type whereas you are the more… you know…” I answered but I couldn’t finish the sentence without insulting her.

“Whereas I’m what? Childish? Immature? Unrealiable?” she huffed.

“NO! I didn’t say that… but come on Jess, in these few years that I’ve known you, I've only seen you in the big sister role a handful of times, usually in emergency situations,” I said truthfully.

She gave me a spiteful look but she knew I was right.

“It’s okay, Jess. Just because you don’t act like a big sister doesn’t make you a bad sister. In fact, you’re a great sister. It’s not like you’re treating her badly... Don’t worry about it too much,” I told her.

“Well that’s easy for you to say… You’re the youngest and your siblings treat you like a precious doll,” she replied.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, a little too patronizing for me sometimes.”

“Well, Kryssie gets annoyed these days when I try to show her some affection. I guess she’s too old for that now. I was so determined that I didn’t want to be like the typical overbearing sister and rather be like friends, that’s why I never wanted her to call me unni. It wasn’t until mom and dad left that it became clear to me that she takes care of me so well,” she explained.

I had always thought it was interesting how Krystal never called Jess “unni” even since before I met her. She only used that term when she was talking to strangers about Jess. But their relationship was definitely not the typical sibling relationship, even for those who were really close; it didn’t suit Krystal to call her “unni” for sure, and I guess Jess doesn’t want her to either.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining. Krystal never has; she doesn’t seem to mind to me…” I said.

“I don’t know… Things have just been falling into perspective for me lately. Whatever, enough about my problems. What do we have today?” she finally dropped the subject.

“Pretty easy day today. We just need follow up on the two accounts that we just finished, and we got a new account in yesterday so we need to go over that. Everything else is just paperwork.”

“Oh, good… Which means we’ll get done early today.”

“Uhm, about that… Do you want to go out for dinner together tonight then?” I asked coyly, trying to sound as casual as I could.

“Oh, uhm… actually I was hoping to cook dinner for Kryssie and me. I tried making her breakfast today but it was a disaster. She was so sweet to lie about the food being edible; she even finished everything. So anyway, I want to redeem myself. Actually tell you what… why don’t you come over for dinner? There’s plenty of room for one more…” she said.

Gasp! Did she just invite me over for dinner? She’s never done that before. Although, is it safe to eat her cooking?

“Yeah, sure. Sounds great. Actually, I’ll come over and help; might as well just head over with you.”

“Cool, that’s settled then.” She was all smiles.

Jessica cooking dinner for me… that’s going to be interesting…