“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.”

- Lemony Snicket

Well, if that was the case, then Taeyeon was definitely the odd waiter serving Jessica, and although not always Taeyeon’s fault, Jessica was almost always displeased for no good reason, not to Taeyeon at least. And yet, Jessica would keep going back to that same restaurant and asking for that same waiter, who knows why. Maybe it was because Jessica had some… let’s say issues… but that’s a story for another day.

On the other side of that table was Jessica’s equal and opposite. Her baby sister, Krystal, had a lot of the same qualities as she did and yet they were quite the contrast. If Jessica was yin, Krystal was yang. If Jessica was water, Krystal was fire. If Jessica was night, Krystal was day. Opposites yet balanced. Opposing forces that neutralized each other. In fact, Jessica needed Krystal because Krystal really looked up to her and that gave her confidence, whilst Krystal needed Jessica because Jessica paid a lot of attention to her and that made her feel like she was exceptional.

And unlike Jessica, Krystal was rather fond of Taeyeon. Taeyeon adored her like her own little sister and was always really nice to her. The nature of how these girls met were irrelevant. They met when Krystal was just barely out of her toddler years. What was relevant was that Krystal took to Taeyeon immediately and Jessica was not thrilled about it, not… one… bit… Jessica did not want someone else stealing her only sister away from her but at the same time Taeyeon was one of the few “friends” she had, mainly because Taeyeon was such a relaxed kid that she tolerated Jessica’s odd behavior and it eventually became a quirk that was part of Jessica’s charm. Although, even Taeyeon had her limits too.

Unsurprisingly, Jessica had real problems making friends growing up. To simply put it, Jessica’s peers found it extremely difficult to get along with her. She was odd to say the least. Jessica wasn’t always the most agreeable person and unless you had a little patience to let her warm up to you, and for that fact, you warm up to her, you too would probably move on. You know how there’s always that one kid whom all the other kids seemed to blame for everything? Well Jessica was one of those. Well at least it started off that way. After a while, she wasn’t bothered any longer. She was tired of trying to explain her innocence which was to no avail, so why even bother. But once in a while, she got some payback. If she was going to get the punishment, she might as well do the crime. Although, there were instances where this problem worked in her favor. Some adults obviously noticed that Jessica was being blamed for everything, so they would obviously not punish Jessica. But if that was the case, the other kids would sometimes bully her instead.

Yes, it was a tough life for Jessica Jung.

Perhaps that was why she was so protective of her baby sister. There was no way she was going to let anyone bully Krystal like they did her just because she was a little awkward. But things got a little better after Taeyeon and Jessica became friends. Unlike with Jessica, everyone loved Taeyeon. Taeyeon could do no wrong. Taeyeon was so good at everything. Taeyeon is so pretty. Taeyeon is so talented. Taeyeon is so smart. Taeyeon is such a good girl. Taeyeon has such a kind heart. Yes, Taeyeon was a prized child. It was part of the reason why Jessica envied Taeyeon. Although, Taeyeon herself could not figure out why. She didn’t feel like she was special at all. If anything, she felt like she was a plain jane who just blended into the crowd. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Taeyeon being Jessica’s friend alleviated some of Jessica’s troubles. But by then her personality was already cold as ice and hard as a rock.

Krystal was lucky though. Aside from Jessica, Taeyeon also took to being Krystal’s guardian angel. Krystal was tiny as a kid and utterly adorable, so she was also rather well loved and yet everyone was overly protective of her. Poor girl. Smothered with love. Honestly, Krystal may have needed a little bit of guardianship when she was younger but it turned out that she grew up well and in fact did not really need both her beloved unnies’ protectiveness, even though she did really enjoy it.

Like everyone else, Krystal was also mesmerized by Taeyeon even though she could barely remember her first encounter with Taeyeon. She knew, however, that she always felt really safe around Taeyeon. It was probably why she enjoyed being carried by Taeyeon so much when she was little and later she would always find some (not so very subtle) way of initiating skinship with Taeyeon. It wasn’t that big of a deal, Krystal just always greeted Taeyeon with a hug or would playfully give her a back hug while calling her “unnie~” with aegyo or would hold her hand if they were walking together. Taeyeon herself wasn’t exactly the skinship type and she never usually initiated skinship but she never rejected Krystal. Taeyeon just always thought of it as Krystal being an adorable, albeit slightly clingy and very affectionate, little kid. After all, Krystal was so innocent… At least, that was how Taeyeon saw her. She couldn’t see Krystal as anything else.

It was no secret that Jessica was displeased, always displeased. Was there a way of keeping Taeyeon away from Krystal but still keep Taeyeon around her? Why was she even so keen on keeping Taeyeon as a friend? They knew that they didn’t really have anything in common nor did they even get along that well. And still there was something… something intangible… something that could not be seen nor expressed nor even understood. But it was there and they both felt it, a sort of connection by fate.

Taeyeon was always curious about what Jessica really thought of her because deep down, no matter how much Jessica seemed to dislike her, she believed that Jessica was somehow secretly quite fond of her. It was the way Jessica looked at her, the look in her eyes even when the expression on her face said something else. Or was she just kidding herself? She wasn’t sure. When Jessica was displeased about Taeyeon being too close to Krystal, Taeyeon always wondered who exactly it was that she was displeased with, or if she even knew for that matter.

But none of it mattered. It really didn’t. Because it worked. It worked for them. And despite Jessica’s vexation, she still… tolerated the situation. But was she really tolerating it or did she, in fact, not mind it at all? Who knows? Who knows? Jessica had problems… and they were just now simmering under the surface...

Author's Note: Hi my lovelies! I just want to thank everyone who subscribed and upvoted even before I posted the first chapter for this story. I would say that this story is going to be sort of like a beta/trial for me since I honestly don't really have a set plan for the story, and I'm working with my co-authors sylverain and hahasoshi and we all have very distinct writing styles. All I'm going off of right now is that I want it to be filled with crazies. So hopefully that will turn out well... Cheers.