(Tiffany’s POV)

“Jess, are you done revising the proposal? We need to get it in by tomorrow morning,” I pestered her.

This client had been giving us a lot of problems because he kept changing his mind about what he wanted so I really needed Jess to step up and come up with a great proposal. It could be a make or break case for us.

“Don’t worry, Tiff. I got this. I’m just making a few changes and I’ll be done,” she said.

She was being her usual nonchalant self so I wasn’t sure if she was actually putting any effort into the proposal but she’s never actually let me down before so I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Done! Come and take a look…” she called me over.

I read through the proposal and indeed my trust had not been misplaced.

“Jess this is brilliant! You are awesome!” I exclaimed.

I was so thrilled that I couldn’t help myself but throw my arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. Just as I pulled back, I felt embarrassed that I had lost my composure. I tried to read her reaction but she had her poker face on.

She raised her eyebrow at me.

“Woah, woah, woah… Ever heard of ual harassment…?!”

She kept a straight face for a while which made me nervous but then she eventually couldn’t contain her laughter.

“Oh man… you should have seen the look on your face! It was too funny…” she giggled.

“That’s not funny… I really thought you were mad at me…” I said feeling slightly annoyed.

“Why?”

“Uhm… I don’t know…”

“Girl, how long have we known each other? We’re basically sisters, and I do that with Kryssie all the time.”

For some reason, I’ve never even thought about it that way. It’s true; I kiss my siblings all the time too. The problem was, I never thought of Jess as being like a sister and I didn’t want her to think of me that way either. In a way, I felt a little disappointed; I’d rather have her being mad at me. Anything was better than thinking of me as a sister.

“Anyway, I’m going to send this in immediately. Hopefully, he’ll like it and not change his mind again,” I told her.

(The next morning at work…)

As usual I was first into work. Jessica strolled in casually and sat down at her desk. I swear, if I wasn’t in such a good mood and if she wasn’t so brilliant at her job, I would totally fire her.

“Jess, guess what!” I asked her but I actually couldn’t wait to tell her the good news.

“I’m guessing he liked the proposal…” she answered without any hesitation.

“Tch! You’re no fun...” I stuck my tongue out at her.

Even at 25, she was always able to make me act like a school girl.

“Why you gotta ruin the moment?! But yeah! He loved it! Thanks to you…” I continued.

“Finally…! That guy was starting to get on my nerves,” she responded coldly.

Oh no! She’s in a bad mood today!

“Uhm… You okay, Jess? Is something wrong?” I asked.

She was perfectly jolly yesterday...

“I don’t want to talk about it...”

“Did you have a falling out with Krystal?”

It was the only logical explanation I could think of, and I knew she was always extra cranky when she and Krystal fought.

“Ugh…! I said I don’t want to talk about it!” she snapped at me. “I’m sorry Tiff, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. Krystal was being a brat last night and we got into a fight. This morning she went to school without me.”

Even though those two had a great relationship, when they fought, all hell broke loose. Most of the time they made up quickly, but sometimes, their fights would last a while since they were both extremely stubborn and unwilling to give in.

“What happened? Just tell me…”

(Flashback to the previous night at the Jungs…)

(Jessica's POV)

“So how are classes going?” I asked Kryssie as we had dinner.

“Pretty crazy but good. In fact, a bunch of us are planning on going to a trance party this weekend to de-stress,” she replied.

“What?! Trance party. No way! You can’t go!”

I wasn’t about to let my baby sister go to a place filled with people getting drunk and high.

“You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not mom or dad. Besides I’m 20 now which means I am an adult and I can go to a trance party if I want!”

The fight quickly became heated.

“I’m the older one and I’m in charge, and I say NO!”

“Tch! Just because you’re older doesn’t make you in charge! You and I both know that I am the one mom and dad put in charge!”

That actually stung a little. This was the major disadvantage of not usually acting like the older sibling. When it comes time to be serious, I got no respect.

“Yah, Jung Soojung! I am still your older sister and you should still listen to what I say!”

“What’s the big deal?!”

“The big deal is that I don’t want you getting drunk and taking drugs… It is what people do at these kinds of parties!”

“Come on Jessie, I’m not going to do that! Don’t you trust me?! I just want to have a little bit of fun with my friends... I promise I won’t drink or do drugs…!”

“It’s not you that I don’t trust… It’s everyone else!”

“Ugh! You’re not even being reasonable! I can’t even talk to you right now!” Then she stormed off into her room and slammed her bedroom door shut.

(End of flashback…)

“I hate to say this, Jess, but I think you’re overreacting,” I told her after she explained what happened.

“WHAT?! You too?”

“No, seriously. Krystal’s always been a good girl. She’s never done anything wrong. She’s a hardworking student. She’s a responsible young lady. I think you should trust her to make her own decisions. It’s the first time she’s ever showed any interest in doing something social with her friends. Why are you being like this?”

She stayed silent for a while, unable to give me an answer.

“Because she’s my baby sister. I don’t want her to get hurt,” she said.

I could tell her resolve was starting to break by the tone of her voice.

“Come on, Jess... You should let her make her own choices now that she’s an adult. You can’t protect her forever.” It was weird just saying that she was the one doing the protecting. “You know I’m right…”

“I’m just worried… What if something happens to her?”

“Krystal is a smart and capable girl… She can take care of herself.”

“Maybe you’re right. Ugh! I feel like such a now. I didn’t handle the situation right.”

“I know you’re just being protective but she’s not a little kid anymore. As her big sister you can only give her advice not forbid her from doing things,” I told her.

I can understand how Krystal felt. I too got the same treatment from my siblings when I turned 20 since I am the maknae of my family.

“I still don’t want her to go though… Like I told her… it’s not that I don’t trust her, I just don’t trust other people. I don’t even know who these friends of hers are that she’s going with.”

“Man, with your parents away, your big sister instincts are really kicking in aren’t they?” I .

She gave me a death glare in response.

“Okay, okay… calm down… You know what? I was going to take you out to dinner to celebrate our successful proposal but why not we bring Krystal along and we can settle this thing rationally?” I suggested.

“She probably doesn’t even want to speak to me right now…”

“I’ll text her…”

I sent Krystal a text. “Krys. Jess told me about the argument. I convinced her to let you go. I’m taking you both out to dinner tonight and we can talk this out, yes?”

“Fine…” Krystal responded.

“She says she’ll come. We’ll swing by your house after work and pick her up. Oh, actually would you mind if I brought my best friend along? She just got back to Korea and I want you to meet her…”

I knew that it was a little awkward to drag Taeyeon into this situation but sometimes having an outsider was a good thing and I knew that she wouldn’t mind. Taeyeon was actually very insightful and gave great advice despite her kid-like appearance.

“Sure… why not… This situation can’t get any more awkward anyway…” she sighed.

“Don’t worry, Taeyeon and I will help break the ice. Just remember… no yelling in public!”