(Krystal’s POV)

“M-Mom!” I shot up instantly. “Y-You’re home!”

I tried not to show how much of a panic I was in but I could feel adrenaline pumping through my body in that instant and I started trembling in nervousness.

Ohmigod! What will she think?!

“Morning, sweetie. Actually it’s almost noon,” she laughed. She walked over and sat herself down on the bed beside me. “I hope you two have been well. Did anything important happen while we were away?”

“N-No… not really. It’s… It’s actually been really good. But I missed you so much, mom!” I hugged her tightly. “Where’s dad? How was your trip?”

“Oh my darlings, I’ve missed you both. I’m so sorry we’ve been away for so long. Your father and I had a wonderful time. He’s unpacking. I can see you and Jessie have gone back to your old ways,” she said cheerfully, my hair like she always used to when I was little and feeling down.

“W-What do you mean…?” I asked, still worried.

“It’s been a while since you crawled into bed with Jessie, haven’t you? Is everything all right, sweetie?” mom stated. She peered over at Jessie and smiled. “Although, I can see nothing much has changed with Jessie since we’ve been gone.”

“Everything is fine. Don’t worry, mom. We had dinner over at Tiffany unnie’s last night and when we got home, we just crashed,” I told her. I deliberately avoided any mention of how or why I was sleeping in Jessie’s bed but I also instinctively reached over and brushed Jessie’s hair back. I immediately realized what I was doing and quickly retreated my hand, hoping that mom did not take notice of my gesture of affection.

On cue, Jessie started shuffling and as she slowly came to, she too got up abruptly the moment she realized that mom was with us.

“Mom! You’re home! I’ve missed you and dad!” Jessie made her way across the bed and gave mom a bear hug.

I was quite impressed that Jessie didn’t stutter nor did she seem surprised to see mom. Technically we both already knew that mom and dad were arriving home today but I was nowhere nearly as ready as she seemed to be.

“I’ve missed you too, sweetie. I’m glad to see you both are in good health and that you’ve taken care of your sister so well while your father and I were gone. I’m very proud of you both for being so good,” she praised.

“Of course, mom. I love Kryssie. I would never let anything bad happen to her,” Jessie said without a single hint of hesitation.

I looked at her in disbelief. I was shocked. Actually it was more like amazement. I was astonished that Jessie had no trouble saying something like that in front of mom. But then again, if someone didn’t know any better, they would just think of it as sisterly love. I, on the other hand, was not as confident. I was afraid that I would do or say something that would give us away.

Jessie looked back at me and gave me a reassuring smile. But when I looked closer, there was a certain solemnness in her eyes that I recognized.

Oh, Jessie… Are you just being brave for me? For us?

I just sat and watched Jessie and mom having their conversation. It was one of those moments where you had video but there was no audio so you tried your best to follow the conversation half by lip reading, or at least attempting to, and half watching for reactions. But within a minute I was lost. My brain had ceased to register incoming information.

“I’m just going to wash up first,” I told them as I made my way off the bed.

“Okay, sweetie. Make it quick so your sister can get ready too.” Mom smiled and nodded.

“What are we getting ready for?” I asked.

“Out. Just to walk around and have lunch, spend some time together with your father and me since it’s been so long,” Mom answered.

“S-Sounds good!” I said as I left the room, trying to be as cheerful as I could. I was honestly really happy that my parents were home but I also wanted more time with just Jessie.

I was mindlessly brushing my teeth that I did not even notice the bathroom door open.

“You okay?” Jessie’s familiar voice suddenly crept up from behind me.

“J-Jessie?!” I shrieked and jumped from the surprise. “W-What are you doing in here?”

“Just wanted to see if you are alright…” Jessie replied in a soft tone. She proceeded to walk over and wrapped her arms around me from behind and gave me a back hug.

“What are you doing, Jessie?! I yelped.

“Shhh! I’m just giving you a hug,” Jessie shushed me.

“But mom and dad are-” I blabbered nervously but Jessie spun me around and slapped a hand over my mouth.

“You need to calm down. Just because mom and dad are back doesn mean anything has to change. I doubt they would suspect anything unless we start behaving oddly, and when I say oddly I mean you shrieking when I enter the bathroom when you didn’t even lock it…” she sighed, removing her hand from my mouth and caressed my cheek with it instead.

“I… I’m sorry, Jessie. I panicked. I didn’t think I would be this nervous to have mom and dad back but then again I wasn’t expecting mom to walk in on you and me in bed together,” I apologized and clung to her, only to realize I was still holding my toothbrush and I needed to rinse. So I let go and finished washing up.

“We weren’t even doing anything, Kryssie. Mom wouldn’t think anything of it other than we were just sleeping in the same bed like we did when we were kids,” Jessie reassured me.

I turned back around and looked into her eyes. She couldn’t fool me. Her words seemed confident and steadfast, but her eyes couldn’t lie. She was just as nervous as I was.

I took her hand in mine. “Jessie… I know I’m a bit of a nervous wreck right now but you don’t have to pretend. If you’re not alright, you can tell me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine…” she said unconvincingly as she averted my eyes. It was curious how she was so convincing in front of mom but not I could see right through her like a piece of glass. And just like a piece of glass, I knew she was just as fragile.

“You’re lying, Jessie… You think I don’t know when you’re lying?” I pulled her closer and embraced her tightly. “But… I really appreaciate it. I do. But it also hurts me because I can see the pain in your eyes.”

“Kryssie… I… I’m fine… I know everything will be alright,” she gulped, still trying to convince me that she wasn’t pretending.

God, she’s so stubborn. Fine… if she wants to be like that, I will just play along…

“You’re right. Everything will be alright…” I echoed.

“Yup! Now if you’re done washing up, get out!” she laughed in an awkward, cheerful tone. Then she gave me a slight nudge towards the door and a slap on the that was really out of character for her. She was definitely behaving way to weird to be fine.

“Jessie… but-” I began protesting and wanted to turn around to confront her again but she stopped me and actually forced me out the door.

“No time to argue. I have to get ready too and we both know that I take a while to get ready,” she joked again.

But as she pushed me out the door, I could have sworn… no… I was certain that I heard her voice crack slightly and sniffles coming from her; tell tale signs of when she was crying. It was then that I was knew she was just kicking me out of the bathroom so that she could hide her tears.

“Jessie…” I tried objecting again but to no avail.

“Shhh! Just go change. I’ll try and be quick,” she barked; her last words before she slammed the door shut and locked me out.

“Are you and Jessie arguing again?” mom yelled from her and dad’s room, obviously having heard our commotion.

“N-No, we’re not!” I hollered back.

Mom stepped out of her room just enough to give me a smile. “Glad to see things haven’t really changed.”

I smiled back awkwardly and scurried back to my room to get changed.

But things have changed…

---

(Taeyeon’s POV)

I laid awake in bed watching Fany sleep. It was still early and I didn’t want to wake her up but with my weird sleeping habits, I couldn’t fall back asleep. She looked so peaceful though, so beautiful. Even when she was asleep she had a slight smile on her face. Sometimes I wondered how she could be so cheerful all the time but not in a bad way. Fany was one of the few people who could lift my mood without even trying. I pulled the sheets up to cover her body; not wanting her to catch a cold. Then I brushed her hair away from her face and gently placed a kiss on her cheek.

“You’re watching me sleep again, aren’t you?” she suddenly asked in her husky, just-awakened tone. Her eyes were not even opened but she knew me too well.

God she’s so y… Her voice can melt me like butter.

I blushed a little. I hated that she knew me better than I knew myself sometimes but it wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, I also loved her because of it as much as it did not make any sense. And after all this time, even knowing who I am and what I was like, she still loved me anyway. And I, in return, loved everything about her. I knew from the very first moment and it hasn’t changed, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. No doubt, no hesitation. She was my other half, my soulmate, the love of my life. And for the longest time, I thought that she would never feel the same about me but amazingly, she does.

---

(The night before…)

The Jungs left before midnight but Fany and I decided to usher in the New Year with her family. I was hopeful about the new year. In retrospect, last year started of slow and a little rocky but returning home to Korea was the turning point and in the end, it ended with a bang. But I knew this coming year was a new chapter in my life. I knew now more than ever what I wanted and I wasn’t afraid anymore. We stayed to help clean up and left just before 1am. We considered staying over at her family’s place but I needed to take care of something at home.

“What’s so important that you need to do at this hour?” Fany asked me, her eyebrown cocked.

“It’s hard to explain now but you’ll see when we get back,” I said nonchalantly, trying not to give anything away. I just need to get her home and that was all she needed to know at this point.

“Hmmm, alright. Actually, I thought it would be awkward for us to be sleeping in the same room with my family around anyway,” she chuckled.

I was so relieved that she didn’t continue pressing me for an answer because I wasn’t very good at lying but it was important for us to get home for what I had planned. So we headed home despite it being late.

“Okay, so you don’t need me to help you do whatever it is you need to do, do you?” she joked as she headed into the kitchen to get a drink.

“Not exactly, no. But I have some news,” I told her as I put away my shoes and coat.

“And… it can’t wait till tomorrow?” she asked suspiciously.

“It won’t take long, okay? And it’s really important,” I said, rolling my eyes a little at her impatience.

“Okay, okay. I was just teasing you,” she grinned at me, caressing my cheek as she walked past me towards the living room where she took a seat on the couch. “What is it?”

I walked over and sat on the coffee table so that I could talk to her face-to-face.

I took her left hand and held it between mine. “Fany-ah…” I paused. I had thought about what I would say to her but when it came down to it, I was still nervous and unsure, worried about saying the right thing.

“TaeTae… is everything alright? You’re making me worried,” she gulped.

“Oh no… Everything is perfect. And I’m so happy Fany. Happier than I thought I could ever be. And it’s because of you. When I came back home, I really didn’t think there was any hope for us getting together at all. The time that we were apart, it was really hard for me and I missed you a lot. Honestly, I was really worried about what it would be like, things between us that is. If we would be as close as we were before we left or if the distance would change things…” I started.

“Tae-” she was about to interrupt but I stopped her.

“Don’t worry, I have a point,” I smiled. “And then you even had that little crush on Sica. So I thought I definitely had no chance with you. But somehow, this miracle happened. Actually you know what? Give me a second,” I ran to my bedroom and grabbed the thing I was looking for before we left.

“What on earth are you up to Taeyeonie?” she called out to me.

I ran back out quickly once I found it and I continued. “You have no idea how thankful I am. Everyday that I wake up next to you, I feel like I am the luckiest person in the world. I’ve known that I loved you the very moment we met, Fany. I have no doubt of that. And everyday I fall in love all over again with you. Every touch still makes me tremble and every kiss still makes me weak at the knees. And I know it’s crazy, I know the circumstances that we are in, I know the reality of our relationship in our beloved country and society but I don’t care. I want to keep this feeling forever and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So… I guess what I’m asking is… will you let me?”

“Let you what?” she asked looking at me blankly.

“D-Did you not get what I’m asking you…?” I stuttered, feeling a little stunned that my proposal wasn’t clear to her.

“No, TaeTae. What are you asking?” She looked at me in frustration.

“Oh… uhm… I… uhm…” I stammered, flumbling my words badly.

Then she burst out into giggles. “TaeTae,” she paused dramatically. “Let’s be together forever…”

“But… you… I thought… YAH!” I was about to go off on her for teasing me like that but before I could get another word in, she hand thrown herself onto me and her lips were locked onto mine, melting me instantly. She moved so suddenly that I almost fell off the table.

She sat back down calmly but rested her hands on my knees. “I know it took a longer time to get here than you did, Taeyeonie but I just want you to know that is doesn’t mean I don’t love you as much as you love me. I can’t even imagine living the rest of my life without you. Actually, it’s not that I can’t, it’s that I don’t want to. And even though we can’t legally get married, my heart belongs to you and you alone,” she confessed.

She leaned in for another but I stopped her yet again, “wait.”

She looked at me, a little surprised, as I pulled out the ring I had bought her with the money I had saved up pretty much since we first got together. That was how sure I was of how I felt about her.

“Taeyeon, you sneaky devil, you. When did you get that?” she beamed.

“Uhm, I’ve been thinking about it since we got together basically but I picked this out two weeks ago. Do you… like it?” I asked nervously. It took me a while to pick out the right ring and in fact I wasn’t even planning on getting her a ring. I thought it was too clichéd and old fashioned. But when I saw this ring, it changed my mind completely. It wasn’t that a ring was clichéd, it was classic and timeless. And it was symbolic. And I wanted her to have a ring, a symbol of my eternal, indestructible love for her.

“It’s gorgeous TaeTae! It’s perfect!” she exclaimed excitedly.

I was so relieved. I was about to slip the ring onto her finger when she suddenly jerked back. “One second!” She jumped up and ran off into her room, leaving me dumbfounded.

What happened?!

“Babe?” I called out.

She ran back out immediately, panting a little. “Sorry about that but…” And then she pulled out her own little small box and cracked it open.

I gasped. “Is that… what I… but how…?”

“You’re not the only one who has been thinking about this, you know?” she grinned, accompanied by her irresistable eyesmile. “What do you think?”

I looked at the ring she had picked out for me. My smiled widened even more. “I think we were meant for each other,” I replied.

I held out the ring I bought next to hers. It was astonishing that even though we had bought the rings separately, they seem to be matching. They weren’t the same ring per se but they looked similar. So they were perfect. We took turns to slip the rings onto each other’s fingers. It was cheesy but we were both so happy and it felt right.

“I know. I couldn’t believe it when you showed it to me. I’m so happy Taeyeonie!” She threw her arms around me and kissed me. “I had something planned too but you beat me to it,” she pouted playfully.

This was what I loved about her and our relationship. We were still the same as when we were best friends but on top of that we were more. We could lean on each other, depend on each other. We were better together than we were separately. But most of all, there was nothing we wouldn’t do for each other. And when you find someone like that, you would be stupid if you let them go.

“Well then you better step up your game,” she and stuck my tongue out at her.

“Come here… I’ll show you my game,” she smirked as she tugged on my collar and pulled me into a kiss.

---

“Fany-ah, you don’t have any plans today do you?” I asked her. I was pretty sure she didn’t but I just wanted to be sure.

“Mmmm… no…” she yawned. “So why don’t we just snuggle in bed for a bit longer?” She reached out and pulled me closer; pressing our bodies together. The warmth slowly drew me in but then I remembered why I asked that question in the first place.

“No, no! We should get up,” I told her, pulling myself up.

“We? Why?” she whined a little but she started getting up anyway.

“Well… I think we should go visit my parents, don’t you think?” I suggested but really I expected her to agree with me.

“Y-Your parents?” she stuttered, staring at you pretty hard. “W-Why?”

“Why do you think, silly head?” I . “It’s new years… and we should tell them about our news.”

“Okay, well I actually knew that but I’m still traumatized by your family’s reaction the last time we broke the news about our dating,” she cringed.

“Oh shush! It wasn’t that bad… was it?” I asked guiltily.

“Okay well, we had just came out to your parents and apparently, they had already suspected the nature of our relationship AND then proceeded to interrogate me on what my intentions were with you and if I was going to make care of you for the rest of our lives. I would say that’s rather traumatizing. Actually, it’s not so much the questions the asked but the entire time they pretended to be all serious only to tell me that they were messing with me at the end. Who does that?!” she sighed and shook her head but I could tell she wasn’t actually upset.

I chuckled. “Oh right, that… yeah… I’m sorry about that. You can tell where my weirdness comes from. Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Hmmm… let me think,” she paused. “TaeTae, I think I might have to take that ring back,” she smirked.

“Yah! Don’t even think you can escape. You’re mine now,” I warned her jokingly and slapped her arm playfully.

“Ouch! That hurts,” she sobbed.

“I’m sorry, babe! I didn’t mean to hit so hard,” I apologized.

“You’re lucky I love you this much otherwise your cute little would be out of here in a second,” she giggled.

“What? Just like that? What happened to forever?” I joked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Well then you better treat me nice,” she smirked.

“But I’m always nice, princess,” I looked at her innocently.

However, my calling her princess was too much for either of us to bear so we both burst into laughter.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go get ready to visit your parents. At least I know they’re keen for me to commit to you. So the news should be a good thing… right…?” she hesitated at the end.

“Don’t worry, Fany. I know they will be happy to hear our news. Besides, I haven’t been back in a while so that in itself would make my parents happy,” I attempted to comfort her.

“That would have sounded so conceited if I didn’t know it was true,” she shook her head at me.

“But my parents make a big deal any time any of us return from being away for a while,” I clarified.

“It’s really sweet though. I love that your parents are kind of quirky but they adore their kids so much,” she said as she walked over to the wardrobe. “And they are so supportive too.”

My eyes trailed after her, admiring her back that was now facing towards me. Her skin was milky and flawless and she was so effortlessly y.

“Okay, I know on paper that sounds perfect but hey we have out issues too. Sometimes they fuss over the smallest thing. I think my father hyperventilated when I first told him I was going to Paris,” I explained. I walked towards her, gave her a back hug and kissed her shoulder.

She wrapped her arms back around me. “Yes, well, most parents are like that so that’s no really a down side. Oh, by the way, are we going to call your parents to let them know we’re coming or are we going to surprise them?”

I thought about it for a second. “I think we should surprise them. They’re probably expecting the return of their darling daughter anyway since it’s the new years.”