(Tiffany’s POV)

“Taeyeon-ah, you busy tonight?” I called Taeyeon after the conversation I had with Jess.

“No, you do remember that I’m currently jobless right?” she replied sarcastically.

Why is everyone giving me so much sass today?

“Yeah… yeah… Anyway I’m taking Jess out for dinner tonight to celebrate a work thing… You should come. You said you wanted to meet her…”

I didn’t want to tell her the whole truth about Jess and Krystal because I didn’t want her to say no and leave me stuck in between those two. I know I was the one who dug myself into this situation but both Jess and Krystal were my friends and I just wanted to help.

“Yeah okay. You’re paying right?” she chuckled.

“You’re such a moocher. Anyway we’ll meet you at the restaurant at 7 okay? I’ll text you the address.”

“Okay.”

“See you later.”

“Bye.”

And then I hung up.

After work, Jess and I headed back to her place to pick Krystal up. She was already home from college and she was waiting for us.

“Hey unni. Thanks for inviting me. You guys really should have just gone without me,” she said monotonously.

“Don’t be silly. You know you’re like a sister to me too. I want you to come,” I told her.

After all, I had known her for just as long as I had known Jess. I gave her a hug because I thought she needed it.

“I’m on your side,” I whispered to her.

She gave me a little smile in return.

“So are you ready?” Jess asked.

“Yeah, let’s go…” Krystal replied.

The mood was stale. I was starting to worry about how dinner would go.

When we got to the restaurant, Jess and Krystal were still not talking to each other. Occasionally they would passive aggressively say something to me but it was obviously meant for each other. It was like being caught in the Twilight Zone.

“So Jess, wasn’t there something you wanted to tell Krystal?” I nudged her under the table, signaling for her to apologize.

Jess hesitated, unable to let go of her pride.

“Jess…?” I urged her.

“I… I’m sorry for how I reacted Kryssie. I should have handled it better. It’s just that you will always be my baby sister and I will always want to protect you,” Jess said to Krystal.

“I understand that Jessie but I don’t always want to do things like this. I just want you to trust that I can take care of myself,” Krystal responded.

“I know, and you’re right. I do trust you Kryssie but it doesn’t stop me from worrying. I guess I just realized lately that I haven’t been a very good elder sister and I just tried too hard. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just sprung that on you and expected you to just let me go. Your reaction was totally reasonable…”

Jess reached out to her sister and gave her a hug.

“So does that mean I can go?” Krystal asked cautiously.

“I’m not thrilled about it… but… I guess I can’t stop you… But I want you to promise that you won’t drink or take any illegal substances! I know you won’t but I still want you to promise.”

“I promise, Jessie. I swear!”

Just then, I saw Taeyeon walking towards us from the corner of my eye.

“Fany-ah, sorry I’m late… Commuting ,” Taeyeon said as she made a funny face.

“Oh, Taeyeon-ah… You’re finally here,” I greeted back. “This is Jessica and Krystal. And girls, this is Taeyeon, my best friend. She just came back to Korea after studying in Europe.”

“Europe? Really? Where did you study and what were you studying?” Krystal asked with bright eyes.

Taeyeon’s timing was perfect. Jess and Krystal had just resolved their issue and her entrance made for a good change of topic.

Taeyeon laughed at Krystal’s enthusiasm. “I was studying illustration and I did a year exchange in the Paris College of Arts. My true passion is Fine Arts though but a girl’s got to make a living…”

“That’s so cool! So you’re an artist?!” Krystal seemed to have forgotten about her fight with Jess and was now fixated on Taeyeon.

“Not exactly. I just graduated. I’m still looking for a job but I definitely would love to be an artist. Just creating and making my own pieces and get paid for that… That would be a dream come true.”

“Still, that’s awesome! I’m taking Art History, Culture and Criticism as an elective this semester and I’m really enjoying it. The great thing is that art is so subjective and it changes based on who is interpreting it, even if it’s not what the artist originally intended.”

“Exactly! And it carries so much of the creator’s thoughts, emotions and personality… Art is so dynamic, that’s why I love it!”

Taeyeon had wanted to meet Jess but it seemed like she and Krystal were really hitting it off.

“Ahem,” I pretended to clear my throat.

Taeyeon turned to look at me and I gestured towards Jess who was sitting silently with an uninterested expression.

“Sorry… I got caught up again… Hi, you must be Jess. Fany talks about you all the time… I feel like I already know you,” Taeyeon said to Jess.

“Really? You talk about me? All. The. Time?” she asked incredulously as she gave me a smirk.

“Let’s just say that you somehow manage to pop up in most of our conversations…” Taeyeon replied.

I couldn’t believe she said that. I felt myself blush furiously. I gave Taeyeon a kick in the shin under the table causing her to jump and cringe in pain.

“Uhm… I may have mentioned you once or twice… I mean we work together… Is it strange that you might pop up in our conversations?” I explained.

She shrugged. “I guess not… Anyway I think it’s adorable you talk about me. You think about me that often, huh?” she teased.

“What’s up with you two?” Krystal suddenly asked.

I turned to look at her and she was staring at me with a spiteful look.

What did I do?

“I’m just teasing her, Kryssie…” Jess told her and pinched Krystal’s cheek.

“Shall we order? I’m starving…” Taeyeon butted in, once again cutting the tension.

“Me too,” Jess seconded.

We placed our order and continued with our conversation.

“So yeah, Jess came up with a brilliant proposal that finally pleased our most picky client,” I announced. “This was a really important proposition and I really couldn’t have done it without her help.”

“Wow, congratulations you guys!” Taeyeon said.

“I’m so happy for you guys. Jessie told me what a difficult client that was. Jessie, I’m so proud of you. You really stepped up recently…” Krystal said as she rested her arm on her sister’s shoulder.

“I can be quite capable you know…” Jess leaned back affectionately on her sister’s arm.

“Oh, you have no idea how many times Jess has bailed me out of a tight spot,” I said.

“You know, I’ve never really seen you at work… I can’t imagine you being serious and professional,” Krystal giggled.

“Tch! You’d be totally impressed if you saw me like that…” Jess responded confidently.

She brushed the hair back from Krystal’s face and tucked it behind her ear.

It never ceases to amaze me how these two were. To think that just a mere half hour ago, they weren’t on speaking terms.

“Anyway, Taeyeon unni, I would totally love to pick your brain for my assignments.” Krystal turned her attention back to Taeyeon.

“Sure… any time. I’m always game for talking to fellow aesthetes,” Taeyeon happily consented. “Hey, there’s a new exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art, you want to go with me?”

“Call! I’ve been wanting to go…”

“Great! So what exactly are you studying in school…”

Taeyeon and Krystal drifted into their own conversation while Jess and I talked business. Once in a while, Jess would lose concentration and peered over at Taeyeon and Krystal. She must have been tired of talking about work.

At the end of the night, Taeyeon and Krystal exchanged numbers and made plans to go to the museum together.

“So, let’s meet next Saturday then?” Taeyeon confirmed.

“Yeap, sounds great. I’ll see you then unni!” Krystal chirped. “Tiffany unni, thanks for dinner and helping with our little problem. It seems like dinner with you always turns into an enjoyable night…”

“My pleasure. If Jess gives you any more trouble… remember our plan,” I told her.

“Well, Kryssie and I will head off together. Taeyeon is rooming with you at the moment, right?”

“Yeah, just for the mean time…” Taeyeon answered.

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” Jess said to Taeyeon.

“And you. Sorry we didn’t get to talk much. I got so caught up in my conversation with Krystal. Next time, it’ll be us…” Taeyeon said back.

We said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

“So that’s Jess, huh?” Taeyeon said to me.

“Yeap. She wasn’t in a very good mood today. She and Krystal had a fight but they sorted it out right before you showed up,” I told her. “Honestly, your presence really helped.”

“Really? I was getting a really weird vibe from Jessica. I don’t think she likes me much.”

“She’s like that when you first meet her but once you know her better, she warms up to you…”

“I thought she was jealous because Krystal and I got along so well…”

“Oh yeah, Jess is a little possessive of her little sister…”

“THEY’RE SISTERS?!?!” Taeyeon exclaimed in surprise.

“Uh, yeah... What did you think they were?”

“I thought they were a couple! Those two have a strange relationship…”

“They’re just really close… They’ve been like that since I’ve known them…”

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(Krystal’s POV)

“Taeyeon unni seems nice. I really like her…” I told Jessie. I was excited that I had finally found someone whom I could have a conversation about art with.

“Hmm… yeah I noticed. You two were in your own world the entire night,” Jessie said a little resentfully.

“What about you and Tiffany unni? Weren’t you two flirting earlier?” I responded.

“That wasn’t flirting… I was just teasing her.”

“And I was just happy that I found someone with a common interest…”

She just rolled her eyes at me.

Was she jealous? Why is she acting like this?

“Jessie… are you jealous?” I asked her.

“No…!” she denied.

“You’re jealous aren’t you? Because I was giving her so much attention…”

“Fine…! I may have been a little jealous that you seemed so interested in this Taeyeon person, okay?!”

“Don’t be jealous, unni!” I told her.

“Why are you suddenly calling me that?”

“To remind you that you’re my one and only unni. Everyone else comes second,” I told her. She doesn’t even know how my heart truly feels. “If you want I can always call you that…”

“No… I like Jessie better. Unni is too formal and binding,” she said as she wrapped her arms around my waist and leaned into me.

My heart raced and I couldn’t even bear to look at her for fear that these feelings would swallow me whole. I just loosely draped my arms over her shoulders.

“Do you mind that I’m going to meet up with Taeyeon unni next week?” I asked her.

“No. I don’t care.” She said no but I could tell by her tone that she was lying.

“I would love for you to come… if you don’t mind…”

“Really? I would love to come along…” she beamed.

“Good, then that’s settled. Now… about this weekend…"

 

 

 

 

 

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Author's Note: I just wanted to say hi and thanks for all the support so far. It seems like most of you are silent readers but still... Thanks! I really appreciate the few of you who have been commenting. Comments always help me with my writing process... Anyway, next chapter will be Krystal's weekend out... Watch out for that... >.<